Oh, what I wish they were. When you hope that things would change and someone would step up and make some changes. Nope, didn't happen. (The full guidelines can be found here)
Still hating on saturated fats and promoting oils. But not differentiating between bad and good oils. We know though that the GMO canola industry is huge though.
Why do Americans need sugar at all? 10%?! When we know that most added sugars are HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) which is literally poisoning our livers. Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is on the rise. Younger and younger children are being diagnosed with this and diabetes. How are we going to change this? Not by saying it's OK to have 10% of your calories from SUGAR.
Things I love! They recommend exercise, talk about eating nutrient dense foods, eating colorful fruits and vegetables.
This is a great example of a meal that could be horrible! Oils- mayonnaise is usually made with cheap canola oil. Make your own or buy your mayo with avocado oil. Daily- is it needed? Is the research outdated? Do adults even have the enzyme to digest milk after infancy..... right. Whole grain bread- is could be (is) wheat that is sprayed with gut disrupting glyphosate.
Here's the thing. We are not getting better. More screen time, more social media (have you watched social dilemma? scary). Also, it's cool to be overweight in our society. Yes, all shapes are beautiful, I personally am more curvy- BUT when I have excess weight on my body I know it's not healthy. Is the answer dieting? Absolutely not. It's looking for the root cause. Our body hangs onto excess fat for many reasons, a lot of the times- it's not your fault.
Another thing that is not mentioned is chemicals. Sometimes when I see people trying to eat healthy and they are not moving the scale, I think in my head. Wow, they should really be counting chemical not calories.
This graph makes me cringe. Sugar is everywhere and hidden in a lot of things. Ketchup for example- my kids love it. My dad is right though is saying my kids use too much. We get the non HFCS and organic, but organic sugar is still sugar. Carbs (including sugar) can be stored as fat and is contributing to the obesity picture.
I remember as a kid eating candy but I didn't do it everyday. Literally my daughter's friends eat candy every day. I think we are seen as strange that we don't allow free range candy and pop at our home. One seemed confused that we didn't have pop at our home. I said, sorry we don't drink that. We have Izzy drinks but only for special occasions. Don't get me started at holiday time when the Welch's grape juice comes out at my parent's home, I cringe because it's all HFCS. But my dad does buy organic ketchup now for the kids (because he doesn't have to hear me talk about it he said- haha!).
Change starts one family at a time. Try your best. We let our kids have halloween candy but we do not make candy a daily treat.
Added sugar- huge in drinks. The crazy thing is this doesn't even include 100% fruit juices- which your kids DO NOT NEED. Water. Water is where it's at.
Snacks and sweets- processed foods are a huge part of our sugar problem. They are easy, addictive and advertised all over.
What do you think about the new guidelines so far? I can dive in a little more if you would like!
Be well,
Dr. Jen