New Australian Dietary Guidelines Released

The new Australian Dietary Guidelines were released on Monday 18th February, 2013. This is quite an extensive document that contains key general guidelines for optimal health as well as some sample meal plans. To view the guideline please go to; (www.eatforhealth.gov.au)

There is a now a greater amount of evidence linking nutrition and health.The process of creating these guidelines is complex and involved the review of around 55,000 scientific publications. However, the guidelines are not so complicated. Essentially the advice is to eat more vegetables, legumes, fruit, & wholegrains and minimise our intake of ‘food out of a packet’.

These guidelines are about health. This does include eating to maintain a healthy weight but also independently preventing disease by optimising nutrients such as fibre and antioxidants.

‘Sexy’ celebrity meal plans or diets are often written in a more compelling, convincing and prescriptive manner than the dietary guidelines but lack the research to back them up. They also tend to view food intake one dimensionally with weight loss being the only criteria, regardless of how this is achieved.

Our advice is to keep it simple. Change poor habits one at a time. Eat consciously – stop reaching for cheap biscuits at the next meeting, skip the soft drink and go shopping so you can prepare nutritious, satisfying meals.

For a review of your dietary intake and for individual advice, speak with dietitans Themis at LPT Hutt Street or Dominique at LPT Unley Studios who have proven success in helping people improve their health and weight.

-Tanya Lewis