With today’s announcement of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, please look to nutrition nonprofit Oldways if you need analysis/comment. Here’s a sampling of our take:
 

PROGRESS

Oldways supports the Dietary Guidelines’ recommendations to:
  • Shift toward more plant foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and plant oils)
  • Limit sugar, salt, and saturated fat
  • Focus on overall healthy eating patterns like the Mediterranean Diet

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

We believe the Dietary Guidelines could go further by:
  • Encouraging Americans to make more than half of their grains whole
  • Emphasizing the quality of dairy products over their quantity
  • The DG’s depiction of the Mediterranean Diet was “Med Lite” — not the real Med Diet, which Oldways has been promoting for 25 years (we created the original Mediterranean Diet Pyramid)
  • We are disappointed that the Dietary Guidelines do not include a statement about sustainability, because the best dietary advice on the planet is meaningless if we aren’t able to produce or access the foods recommended for health

OLDWAYS PUTS (THE BEST OF) THE GUIDELINES INTO PRACTICE

Despite the importance of the food-based guidelines put forward today, Oldways believes that the best dietary advice should be practical, emphasizing quality over quantity. 
 
To help address this gap, and translate dietary guidelines into easy action, today Oldways introduces the Oldways Cart, which shows a week’s worth of groceries for two adults. An accompanying shopping list and meal plan detail how this sample cartful of foods can be mixed and matched to make up a healthy diet, in line with 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommendations. Check out the freshly released Oldways Cart materials here. 
 
For 25 years, we’ve been one of America’s leading voices in nutrition communication, changing consumer behavior with initiatives like our Whole Grain Stamp, Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, and “A Taste of African Heritage” cooking classes. We can arrange an interview with an Oldways expert including:
 
  • Sara Baer-Sinnott, President of Oldways
  • Cynthia Harriman, Director of Food & Nutrition Strategies for Oldways & The Whole Grains Council
  • Kelly Toups, MLA, RD, LDN, Oldways Program Manager and staff dietitian
Also, our Science & Media Clearinghouse connects you with prominent scientists who have made themselves available to reporters — many presented at our recent Finding Common Ground conference (and also appear in the new In Defense of Food documentary). Check out the list of scientists and topics on our website (we’re adding more scientists regularly).
 
Contact media@oldwayspt.org for scientists’ contact information, or for anything related to the Oldways Cart and Oldways’ comments on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines.