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U.S. advisors warn against diets high in carbs or fat

MSNBC NEWS SERVICES


WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 — People who want to stay healthy need to exercise for at least an hour a day — double the previous workout recommendation — according to new dietary guidelines that also offer Americans more flexible rules on balancing fat, protein and carbohydrate intake.



THE PREVIOUSLY recommended half-hour of exercise is insufficient to maintain recommended weight in adults, the Institute of Medicine concluded in its report issued Thursday.
Instead, it urged a total of 60 minutes of moderate activity, such as swimming, brisk walking or jogging, to both maintain weight and obtain other health benefits.
The same amount was recommended for children and comes at a time when worry is increasing about the large number of obese youths.
“As difficult as it may be, if we are aiming at eliminating the major killers of today we will have to increase physical activity,” said Dr. Benjamin Caballero, director of human nutrition at the Johns Hopkins University school of public health.
The panel of 21 scientists and physicians, formed at the request of Congress and various U.S. government agencies and Health Canada, stressed that the guidelines are aimed at healthy people and not designed to help people lose weight.

EAT ACCORDING TO EXERCISE LEVELS
Panel member George Brooks, a professor of integrative biology at the University of California Berkeley, said people should try to to balance caloric intake with physical activity.
The report gives details of how many calories a person should eat based on weight and activity.
“Instead of recommendations based on age, height and weight alone, we’re basically saying, ‘You tell me what exercise you do, and I’ll tell you what you can eat,”’ Brooks said in a statement.


Dietary guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine estimate the daily energy requirements, in calories, for people age 30 and of various heights, weights and levels of activity.

Sedentary Active
Five-feet-one-inch, 98 to 132 pounds
Women 1,688 to 1,834 calories 2,104 to 2,290 calories
Men 1,919 to 2,167 calories 2,104 to 2,290 calories

Five-feet-five, up to 150 pounds
Women 1,816 to 1,982 calories 2,267 to 2,477 calories
Men 2,068 to 2,349 calories 2,490 to 2,842 calories

Five-feet-nine, 125 to 169 pounds
Women 1,948 to 2,134 calories 2,434 to 2,670 calories
Men 2,222 to 2,538 calories 2,683 to 3,078 calories

Six-feet-one, 139 to 188 pounds
Women 2,083 to 2,290 calories 2,605 to 2,869 calories
Men 2,382 to 2,736 calories 2,883 to 3,325 calories


Source: Institute of Medicine


In its dietary recommendations, the Institute edged away from previous guidelines that called for getting 50 percent or more of calories from carbohydrates and 30 percent or less from fat.




RANGES ESTABLISHED
“We established ranges for fat, carbohydrates and protein because they must be considered together,” said Joanne Lupton, professor of nutrition at Texas A&M University, chair of the committee that prepared the recommendations.



The Institute, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, said that because fats, carbohydrates and protein can all serve as sources of energy they can, to some extent, substitute for one another in providing calories.
The newly recommended guidelines call for getting 45 percent to 65 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 20 percent to 35 percent from fat and 10 percent to 35 percent from protein. The protein recommendation is the same as in the past.
Lupton noted that studies have shown that when people eat very low levels of fat and very high levels of carbohydrates their so-called good cholesterol declines. Good cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein, can reduce the likelihood of heart attack.
On the other hand, she added, high-fat diets can lead to obesity and its health dangers.
The report also calls for limiting added sugars but says everyone should get at least 130 grams of carbohydrates daily to maintain brain function.
The report is one of a series updating the dietary guidelines issued by the Institute in 1989. It is based on a review of thousands of studies of the effects of consumption of fats, protein and carbohydrates and the potential relationship with various diseases.
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The study noted that fat is a major source of energy in the diet, but urged avoiding saturated fats as much as possible because they can increase the risk of heart disease.
The main sources of saturated fats are baked goods, meat and full-fat dairy products.
Trans-fatty acids, often found in cookies, crackers and meats also pose a health risk. The Institute recommended in a report released earlier this year that trans-fatty acids be listed on food product labels so people can reduce their intake.

NEW FACTS ON FIBER
The report includes recommendations for daily intake of fiber, noting that diets low in fiber have been associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Adding fiber to the diet may also decrease likelihood of colon cancer, the study noted.
For adults under age 50 the report recommends a daily intake of 38 grams of fiber for men and 25 grams for women. Over age 50 the recommendations are 30 grams for men and 21 grams for women.