ISSA Nutritionist Chapter 14: Dietary Guidelines

If you have not yet signed up for the ISSA Nutritionist certification, you can get it here for free as part of a special bundle.

Get your copy of the ISSA Nutritionist exam cheat sheet. It helps immensely for studying for the exam.

My PTP students report cutting their ISSA Nutritionist study time and effort in half with Trainer Academy. 

Benefit from the Exam Pass Guarantee and Retake Fee Guarantee. Plus, take advantage of my current discount code PTPOCTOBER for 50% off the MVP Program (Ends October 14th, 2024).

Try it out for free here to see if it’s right for you, or read my detailed review for further insights.

Chapter Goals:

• Be able to give definitions and describe the dietary guidelines for Americans.
• Explain the United States Department of Agriculture’s nutrition programs that rely on these dietary guidelines.
• Be able to discuss the key elements of healthy eating.
• Find dietary suggestions to align with patterns of healthy eating.

Introduction

The US department of health and human services, also called the HHS, and the US department of agriculture, USDA, created and updated a list of dietary guidelines Americans should follow to promote a sustainable diet that gives lifelong health and nutrition.

Foods available in the United States will include fresh, packaged, and processed products. 

For the best choices, consumers must be able to read and understand the labels on their food. 

Exclusive PTP CPT Offers
Gold Standard Cert	Most Popular Cert	Best Study Materials
A Good Option	A Good Option	Best CPT for you?

Reading the nutrition label, ingredient lists, and food labels would make a world of difference. 

The current dietary guidelines are useful for those that are trying to make healthy food choices and craft their own well-rounded diet. 

Purpose of Dietary Guidelines

These guidelines are meant to guide the development of federal health policies, programs, food, and nutrition. The main audiences will be the people making the policies and the nutrition and health professionals, not so much the general public.

The publication of these guidelines is important for the professionals that are working with the population to change their daily choices and prevent chronic disease that is becoming prevalent in society.

The dietary guidelines are used by the USDA and HHS food programs and other programs that work with federal departments. This includes programs like:

• The USDA’s national school lunch program and school breakfast program are in charge of feeding over 30 million kids every school day.
• The supplemental nutrition assistance program
• The special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children
• The HHS Administration on aging older Americans act nutrition services programs. This looks at thousands of community-based service providers.
• The department of defense and department of veterans affairs food programs.

The dietary guidelines are also used to make programs and policies and communicate to audiences outside of those mentioned.

Five Focus Areas of the Dietary Guidelines

The dietary guidelines are organized progressively, so it starts with five core concepts and then follows those up with more detailed guidelines for choices in food.

First, follow a healthy eating pattern across your lifespan

All of your choices in food and beverage matter, so choosing an eating pattern that is at the right calorie level and allows the proper level of nutrients will reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

Second, focus on variety, nutrient density, and food amounts

Exclusive PTP CPT Offers
Gold Standard Cert	Most Popular Cert	Best Study Materials
A Good Option	A Good Option	Best CPT for you?

To meet the nutrient needs and stay within the calorie limits, you should choose nutrient-dense foods across and in all food groups in the recommended amounts.

Third, limit calories from added sugars and saturated fats and reduce sodium intake.

Healthy eating patterns would ideally be low in added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium.

Fourth, shift to healthier food and beverage choices

Choose beverages and foods that are nutrient-dense and in all food groups.

Fifth, support healthy eating patterns for all.

Everyone should have a role in helping to create and support healthy eating patterns in many settings nationwide, from school to home, at work, and in your communities.

Limiting added sugars

These came up in one of the guidelines and are worth repeating due to their presence in so many of today’s foods.

The recommendation for these added sugars is for them only to be 10 percent or less of your total daily calories taken in. 

Limiting unhealthy fats

Calories from trans and saturated fats should be less than 10 percent of the calories taken daily. Ideally, it would help if you replaced more saturated ones with unsaturated ones to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Limiting sodium

Sodium intake is ideal when it is 2,300 mg or less per day. 

This is set at the tolerable upper intake level, and it goes for people aged 14 and up.

Limiting alcohol

This is important to do, as alcohol is essentially the same as drinking empty calories. The ideal limit is set to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.

The Food Pyramid to MyPlate

Most recognize the food pyramid, and the MyPlate diagram is the new way to implement it. This is the breakdown of how an ideal plate should look for someone. 

This MyPlate tool is one of the main tools that nutrition coaches should use, and they break down the fractions of dairy, vegetables, grains, fruits, and protein that you should get.