By Grant
McCool
NEW YORK (Reuters)
- The American Heart Association dished out new dietary guidelines
on Thursday, stressing for the first time obesity prevention and
overall eating patterns instead of recommendations on percentages
of fat or nutrients.
The association's
first diet update since 1996 said that a diet rich in fruits,
vegetables, legumes, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, fish,
lean meats and poultry was still the basis for its guidelines
to help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, the No. 1
killer of men and women in the United States.
``Weight gain
in our society is a very big issue right now that effects heart
disease both directly and indirectly, and it's a real concern
of ours,'' Bob Eckel, one of the authors of the guidelines, said
at a news conference in New York.
The guidelines
were based on hundreds of studies and will be published in the
Oct. 31 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
They apply to adults and children 2 years of age and older.
The guidelines,
``An Eating Plan for Healthy Americans,'' continue to recommend
people eat five servings of fruit and vegetables and six servings
of grain daily. It warns consumers against eating fatty fried
food and fast-food.
But for the
first time, the Dallas-based nongovernmental association recommended
people eat two weekly servings of fatty fish such as tuna or salmon,
including less expensive canned tuna and canned salmon.
``The guidelines
also consider individual variability in dietary needs,'' Ronald
Krauss, the principal author of the guidelines, said at the news
conference. ``We also consider the differences in food preferences
that are cultural and we recognize there is individual variability
in the way people respond to changes in their diet.''
Too Much
Food Not Enough Exercise
Krauss, a
senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
at the University of California, and other doctors said research
showed that Americans were eating too many calories and not exercising
enough. They said the portions they ate were too large and suggested
that in restaurants, consumers consider sharing an appetizer or
an entree with a companion to avoid over-eating.
Krauss said
the AHA ``had a dialogue'' with the food industry ''about the
need to put the emphasis in the right kinds of changes in the
food supply.'' He added that restaurants were ``a bigger challenge''
but the group wanted ``to work hand-in-hand to put the pressure
on the marketplace by educating consumers.''
The AHA said
obese individuals should aim for a gradual weight loss of no more
than 1 to 2 pounds per week. It said that rapid weight loss usually
did not lead to keeping weight down over the long-term.
``Simply put,
to lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you burn and
increase physical activity, such as brisk walking, to at least
30 minutes daily,'' Krauss said.
He said that
for people with high blood pressure, losing merely 5 percent to
10 percent of body weight, in addition to following the AHA's
recommended diet, could significantly reduce blood pressure.
The AHA said
that although the guidelines were developed to ''reduce or delay''
heart disease and stroke, research indicated that the recommended
nutritional diet could also decrease the risk of cancer or osteoporosis.
Main AHA dietary
recommendations:
+ Eat a variety
of fruits and vegetables, 5 or more servings daily;
+ Eat a variety
of grain products, including whole grains, 6 or more servings
daily;
+ Include
fat-free and low-fat milk products, fish, legumes (beans), skinless
poultry and lean meats;
+ Choose fats
with 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving, such as liquid
and tub margarines, canola oil and olive oil;
+ Limit foods
high in calories or low in nutrition, including foods such as
soft drinks and candy that have a lot of sugars;
+ Limit foods
high in saturated fat, trans fat and/or cholesterol, such as full-fat
milk products, fatty meats, tropical oils, partially hydrogenated
vegetable oils and egg yolks;
+ Eat less
than 2 grams of salt daily (2,400 milligrams of sodium);
+ Cholesterol
should be limited to 300 mg per day for healthy individuals and
200 mg for those at high risk for heart disease, a recommendation
that has remained unchanged since 1996;
+ The association
still recommends that people get their nutrients from foods, not
supplements;
+ Alcohol,
if consumed at all, should be limited to one drink per day for
women and two drinks a day for men.
+ Balance
the number of calories you eat with the number you use each day
and maintain physical exercise that keeps you fit and matches
the number of calories you eat.
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