The New Dietary Guidelines for Americans

The new guidelines were released in January 2011. They emphasize portion control, more fruits and vegetables, skim or 1% milk, lower sodium foods, and healthy fats. They also encourage you to drink more water instead of sugary drinks. 
To reduce portion sizes, use smaller plates and bowls, and order smaller sizes when eating out at restaurants. Also, eat slowly and enjoy your food. This will allow your stomach enough time to feel full, and will also help you feel more satisfied. 
Increasing fruit and vegetable intake can be as easy as snacking on fruit, adding vegetables as side dishes to meals, and eating fruit for dessert. Fresh, frozen, or canned fruits and vegetables are all good for your health. 
Changing to lower fat milk cuts out some saturated fat, or bad fat. Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature, and include high fat cheeses and milk, butter, high fat meats, and shortening. Shortening also contains trans fats, which are bad for your heart health. But, all fats are not bad. Some fats are actually good for you, these healthy fats are unsaturated fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated). You will find them in nuts, fish, vegetable oils, and salad dressings. Foods like boiled peanuts or tuna fish sandwiches have these good fats. 
Watching out for sodium, or salt, is also important in a healthy diet. The best change to make is to avoid the salt shaker at the table. Use pepper and other herbs and spices to flavor foods. Lite salts are also a good option as long as you are not on a potassium restricted diet, as these products replace some of the sodium with potassium. 
At first glance, it may seem difficult to change the way you eat, but small changes go a long way. If you look at your current diet, you are probably already enjoying healthy foods, like nuts, garden vegetables, and fish. For the less healthy foods, try gradually replacing them with better options. Make changes slowly and one at a time. This will also help your family or anyone else you may cook for, to adjust to the changes. Of course, moderation is the key. Find healthy foods that you really enjoy and let these foods make up most of what you eat, then you can occasionally splurge on favorites.    
To view the new Guidelines, visit http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DietaryGuidelines.htm