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Every five years the government assigns a group of experts to scour the latest scientific evidence to help form the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These experts convened in Washington , DC last week and the meeting was made public via a webinar.  This was the fourth meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.  I wrote about the previous meetings in posts titled Debating Our Diets and What Should Americans Eat.

The recommendations are expected to be finalized in late spring or early summer.  Then they’ll be translated into an updated food pyramid and will guide policymakers, nutrition educators, school lunch professionals and health providers.  So they’re a big deal.

It’s hard to say where the committee will end up, but here are some of the major points that I took away from the two-day meeting.

Two more meetings are planned before the release of the scientific report in late spring or early summer 2010.  I’ll keep you posted.  Sure, it’s easy to be cynical about the government guidelines and question if the average joe consumer is even aware of them.  But at least there is a systematic, evidence-based process of evaluating scientific research.  The guidelines are not simply a point of view — they’re based on peer-reviewed research.  So I can certainly support that.

2010 Dietary Guidelines, Dietary Guidelines, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, flexitarian, food pyramid, MyPyramid, nutrient-rich, Plant-based diets, Sodium