Who better to provide us with nutrition guidelines than the World Health Organization (WHO)?
Informed by the latest scientific research, these three new guidelines offer vital recommendations to enhance your lifestyle, reduce the risk of weight gain and combat non-communicable diseases.
Lifestyle and health benefits
Over the years, dietary recommendations have focused on balancing calories, energy expenditure and decreasing fat. Keeping saturated fats to a minimum has been a cornerstone of diet advice for preventing illnesses like cardiovascular disease.
Dietary fats’ role in disease risk and healthy fat sources remains unclear after decades of low-fat diets. Changing dietary recommendations to emphasize food-based dietary patterns could facilitate translation to the public and potentially resolve widespread misconceptions about what constitutes a healthy diet [1].
New guidelines from WHO
Three newly introduced guidelines for adults and children include the following:
- Saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake
- Total fat intake for preventing unhealthy weight gain
- Carbohydrate intake
These provide crucial recommendations to mitigate the risk of detrimental weight gain and non-communicable diseases associated with diet, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and specific forms of cancer.
In a recent news release, WHO notes that both quantity and quality are important for good health. The agency reaffirms that adults should limit total fat intake to 30% of total energy intake or less [2].
Fat intake, saturated fatty acids and trans-fats
For individuals two years of age or older, fat intake should be mainly unsaturated fatty acids, with saturated fatty acids consuming no more than 10% of total energy intake and trans-fatty acids from industrially produced and ruminant animal sources consuming no more than 1% of total energy intake.
Other nutrients can replace saturated and trans-fatty acids in the diet, including polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and carbohydrates from foods containing natural fiber like whole grains, vegetables, fruits and pulses.
Butter, ghee, lard, palm oil, coconut oil and other hard fats and oils are sources of saturated fatty acids. In contrast, butter and fried foods, pre-packaged snacks, and dairy and meat products from ruminant animals are sources of trans fatty acids.
Sugar intake, carbs and vegetable intake
In addition to WHO’s existing recommendations on limiting free sugar intake, the new carbohydrate guidance emphasizes the importance of carbohydrate quality. Whole grains, vegetables, fruits and pulses should constitute the majority of carbohydrate intake for people two years old and older.
A daily intake of 400 grams of vegetables and fruits and 25 grams of naturally occurring dietary fiber is recommended by the organization. For children and adolescents who are being guided for the first time, the suggested daily consumption of vegetables and fruits is as follows:
- 2 to 5 years old, at least 250g
- 6 to 9 years old, at least 350g
- 10 years or older, at least 400g
Everyday dietary fiber intakes are as follows:
- 2 to 5 years old, at least 15g
- 6 to 9 years old, at least 21g
- 10 years or older, at least 25g
The concept of healthy diets is underpinned by these new guidelines and existing WHO guidelines on free sugars, non-sugar sweeteners and sodium. This updated guideline offers evidence-based recommendations on the percentage of total fat in the diet, aiming to mitigate the risk of unhealthy weight gain.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5577766/
[2] https://www.who.int/news/item/17-07-2023-who-updates-guidelines-on-fats-and-carbohydrates
