Diet Style: Dietary Guidelines For Americans 2020-2025

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 provided recommendations of the healthy dietary patterns for general public of all life stages including infants and toddlers, children and adolescents, adulthood, women who are pregnant or lactating, and older adulthood. The Guidelines focused on the dietary patterns, foods consumed in various combinations over time, not individual nutrients and foods in isolation, because foods act synergistically to affect health.

The guideline was created based on the scientific studies that examined the relationship between diet and health across all life stages from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, who were healthy or at risk of chronic disease.

The general food and beverage recommendations of the guideline is to eat nutrient-dense foods which provide health-promoting vitamins, minerals, and other components; eat within calorie limits; have none or little added sugars, saturated fat, sodium, and alcoholic beverages.

Healthy diets can promote health and prevent or reduce the risk of diet-related chronic diseases, such as overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (hypertension, high LDL and total blood cholesterol, coronary artery disease, and stroke), some types of cancer (such as breast, colon, and rectum cancer), osteoporosis or reduced bone mass and muscle strength, and dental caries. It can lower risk of health related mortalities in general.

Though the Guidelines is not intended for treating chronic diseases, health professionals can adapt the guidelines to meet the specific needs for the people with chronic diseases, as part of a multi-faceted treatment plan.

The Healthy U.S.-Style Dietary Pattern at the 2,000-Calorie Level includes the following food groups. Each individual should consume nutrient-dense foods within a person's daily calorie needs based on age, gender, and activity level.

• Vegetables from 5 subgroups: 2 1/2 cup/day
  
  
  
  1. Dark green vegetables
     
  2. Colored vegetables: red and orange.
     
  3. Legumes: including beans, peas, and lentils.
     
  4. Starchy vegetables: such as potatoes, yams, taro roots, etc.
     
  5. Other vegetables: such as avocado, mushrooms, seaweed, etc.
     
  
  Notes: Some vegetables can be in fresh, frozen, canned, or juice form, and can be cooked or raw. Vegetables should have limited additions such as salt, butter, or cream sauces.
  
  


• Fruits: 2 cup/day
  
  
  
  • Prefer whole fruits in the fresh, canned (none or lowest amount of added sugars), frozen, or dried form. Whole fruits contain higher amount of dietary fiber.
    
  • Less than half of the fruits can be in the 100% fruit juices form without added sugar.
    
  
  


• Grains: 6 oz (170 g)/day
  
  
  
  • At least half of them should be whole grains, consume less refined grains.
    
  • Example nutrient-dense grains are whole-wheat bread, brown rice, oats, popcorn, cereals and crackers without or with little additions of sugars, saturated fat, and sodium.
    
  
  


• Dairy and Fortified Soy Alternatives: 3 cup/day
  
  
  
  • Milk, yogurt, and cheese (prefer fat-free or low-fat 1%), and/or soy beverages fortified with calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin D as alternatives.
    
  • Other "milk" beverages, such as almond or oat milk, are not part of the dairy group because their overall nutritional content is not similar to dairy milk and fortified soy beverages.
    
  
  


• Protein foods: 5 1/2 oz (156 g)/day
  
  
  
  1. Meats, Poultry, Eggs: Meats include beef, pork, lamb, etc. Poultry includes chicken, turkey, duck, etc. Also include organ meats such as liver. Meats and poultry should be lean or low-fat. Should lower the consumption of red and processed meats such as hot dogs, sausages, etc.
     
  2. Seafood: include fish (such as salmon, freshwater trout, sardines, tilapia, catfish, etc.), shellfish (such as Pacific oysters, shrimp, crab, lobster). Select seafood higher in beneficial fatty acids EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and lower in methylmercury.
     
  3. Soy Products, Nuts and Seeds: soy products are particularly tofu and tempeh. Tree nuts include walnut, cashew, pistachio, almond, etc. and peanuts. Seeds include pumpkin, sunflower, chia seeds, etc.
     
  4. Beans, peas, and lentils: can be considered as part of the protein foods as well as the vegetables.
     
  
  Learn more about Protein.
  
  


• Oils: 27 gram/day
  
  
  
  • Consume unsaturated vegetable oils, such as olive oils, canola oils, corn oils, etc. Polyunsaturated fat (omega-3 and omega-6) is preferred. Avoid or limit saturated fat oil such as coconut oil, butter, lard, etc. Learn more about fat here. (link to the Total fat detail page)
    
  • Some foods naturally contain oil, such as seafood, avocados, nuts, etc.
    
  
  

Limit foods and beverages higher in added sugars (such as cake, regular soda, Cafe mocha, fruit drinks), saturated fat (such as cream), and sodium (such as processed meats). Avoid trans fat, and intake dietary cholesterol as low as possible.

None or limited alcoholic beverages for adults age 21 years and older, and none for underage, pregnant woman, and whom taking a certain medications.