94
Part One Food Habits: A Lifestyle Choice
Focus on consuming nutrient-dense
foods and beverages. Nutrient-dense
foods and beverages provide vitamins,
minerals, and other substances that may
have positive health effects, but supply
relatively few calories. Foods that are
high in calories from solid fats and/or
added sugars, called SoFAS, should be
limited or avoided. For example, whole-
grain toast is a more nutrient-dense choice
for breakfast than a doughnut, which
is high in SoFAS. By decreasing the
amount of SoFAS in the diet, intake of
nutrient-dense foods can be increased
without causing calorie imbalance and
subsequent weight gain.
People sometimes use terms such
as junk food or health food to describe a
food’s quality. As you begin to analyze
foods, you will fi nd there is no such
thing as a perfect food. Likewise, there
are few foods that supply absolutely
no nutrients. Therefore, junk food and
health food are less useful than the terms
low nutrient density and high nutrient
density. Every food has the potential to
make a dietary contribution. For this to
happen, you must make variety, moder-
ation, balance, and adequacy a part of
your daily food choices.
Physical activity is important not
only for calorie balance, but also for
prevention of many chronic diseases.
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines addresses
the importance of physical activity in
health. The Dietary Guidelines encourage
Americans to meet the 2008 Physical
Activity Guidelines for Americans. The
Physical Activity Guidelines for
Americans specifi es amounts and
types of exercise that individuals at
different stages of the life cycle should
do to achieve health benefi ts.
MyPlate
In 2011, the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) released a new
food guidance system called MyPlate
that is based on the 2010 Dietary Guide-
lines for Americans. MyPlate replaced
MyPyramid. MyPlate is a simple, visual
message to help consumers build a
healthy plate at mealtime. The Web
site
ChooseMyPlate.gov
offers tools
and resources to help consumers make
changes in their eating habits that are
consistent with the Dietary Guidelines, 4-3.
MyPlate divides foods into fi ve main
food groups—fruits, grains, vegetables,
protein foods, and dairy. Foods from
each of these categories are required for
a healthy diet. The plate is split into four
sections representing fruits, grains,
vegetables, and protein. The sections
differ in size based on the recommended
portion of your meal these foods should
be. The circle next to the plate represents
Extend
Your Knowledge
Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL)
The first step in revising the Dietary Guidelines
involves a committee reviewing and analyzing current
scientific information on diet and health. The committee
prepares a report summarizing its findings, which serves
as a major resource for creating the Guidelines. The
committee used the USDA’s Nutrition Evidence Library
(NEL) for its work on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. NEL
is a government resource that evaluates, synthesizes,
and grades food and nutrition-related research.
To facilitate its review of the scientific information,
the committee submitted specific questions to NEL.
The NEL process then found studies related to the
question. The evidence from all the relevant studies
was integrated. From this collection, a conclusion
statement was formed and graded.
Locate the Nutrition Evidence Library online and
learn what questions the committee submitted for its
work on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. Select a question
of particular interest to you. Find the summary of
evidence for that question, the conclusion statement,
and how it was graded.