The New Dietary Guidelines

The start of a new year is a great time to hit the «reset» button on your health routine. What better blueprint for better health and well-being than the newly released 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans? Updated every five years, the Dietary Guidelines provide advice for making food and physical activity choices that promote good health, prevent disease, and serve as the foundation for all federal nutrition policy and education programs.

The 100+ page document reflects the overall body of nutrition science and details everything from specific food groups and nutrients Americans aren’t eating enough of, to recommendations for improving eating behaviors and environments across the nation.

Weeding through all these details can seem daunting, but healthy eating doesn’t need to be complicated. To help bring the new Guidelines to life on your plate, California Almonds has teamed up with nutrition expert Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN, to share simple tips, recipes and a nourishing meal plan, found on Almonds.com.

«These Guidelines are really focused on overall healthy dietary patterns, rather than individual nutrients,» says Largeman-Roth. «I especially love that plant-based foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and legumes are at the heart of the recommendations. Choosing these foods more often is a great first step toward improving your diet.»

Largeman-Roth recommends starting with small changes, like modifying recipes to include more of the foods you should increase (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts) and less of those you should reduce (sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, refined grains and foods high in saturated fat). «I find that the versatility and nutrient package of almonds makes them a go-to pantry staple to create healthy meals and snacks.»