Tag Archives: 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Healthiest Menu Choices at Long John Silver’s

Now that Lent is in full swing, you may be wondering what the best place is to get a healthy fish meal on the go, right? Well, we recently scoured the seafood chain Long John Silver’s menu for the healthiest options. Based on recommendations from our registered dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield and the new daily sodium recommendations, the following four items, when paired with a Corn Cobbette without Butter Oil, have less than 500 calories and less than 500 milligrams of sodium per meal. So go get your fish on!

Healthiest Meals at Long John Silver’s

1. Three Battered Shrimp. If you’re really craving fried food, indulge smartly with this small portion that comes in with a Corn Cobbette at just 225 calories and 480 milligrams of sodium.

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Posted on March 14, 2024 by Jennipher

Healthiest Meal Choices at Sonic

When it comes to most fast-food places I don’t have a problem driving by, but there’s something about Sonic that really tests my willpower. (Mostly it’s the tater tots, Cherry Limeades and the novelty of have someone serve you in your car.) In our ongoing review of what to eat and what to avoid at fast-food restaurants across the country, today we’re putting Sonic’s menu to the test. The below menu options meet the recommendations of our registered dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield’s healthy guidelines of having less than 500 calories and less than 500 milligrams of sodium, according to the the new daily sodium recommendations.

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Posted on March 13, 2024 by Jennipher

Healthiest Menu Choices at Panera

UPDATE 6/23/2024: While specific information isn’t available yet, Panera has reformulated a few of its soups, created a lower-calorie salad and reduced the amount of sauce on its sandwiches after consumers’ reactions to calorie counts were posted directly on menus in New York City and California. By the end of the year, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce new regulations that require any U.S. chain restaurant with 20 or more locations to post calorie counts for every item on its menu.

I am a huge Panera fan. I love their soups and salads and lattes and the like. Over the course of the last five years or so I’ve had my healthy Panera standbys that I knew tasted good and weren’t too high in calories or fat. However, once the new daily sodium recommendations were released, I knew it was time to go back to the Panera nutritionals and see how they stacked up. Below are the results of my research according to the guidance and expertise of registered dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield, who recommends that all meals should contain less than 500 calories and less than 500 milligrams of sodium.

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Posted on March 10, 2024 by Jennipher

Eat Less Salt in 2024 with the New Dietary Guidelines

Since the announcement of the new 2024 dietary guidelines for Americans, culinary experts and dietitians have been working to help their clients adjust their diets to reflect the new guidelines. One of these suggestions includes eating less sodium.

Registered dietitian Michelle Dudash, RD is working to help Americans do just that. Here are a few tips straight from her kitchen to help cut down your salt intake, which promotes overall heart health and may even help you slim down.

Hold the salt: Instead of adding salt throughout the preparation process, only add it at the end of cooking when it’s needed.  This method requires less salt, while still reaching your taste buds upon first bite.

Think fresh: Use good quality, fresh and seasonal ingredients whenever possible, which results in maximum flavor and leaves little need for added salt.

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Posted on March 4, 2024 by Maris

Healthiest Menu Choices at Chipotle

I’m a huge fan of Chipotle Mexican Grill. After all, they’re one of the few fast-food chains that serve only freshly prepared and unprocessed food that is sustainably-raised. Although its ingredients are no doubt healthier and more natural than most chains, we recently took a look at the menu to see if its meals met our registered dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield’s healthy guidelines of having less than 500 calories and less than 500 milligrams of sodium, according to the the new daily sodium recommendations.

Because Chipotle has more customizable serving options, it’s very easy to mix and match your own meal, as long as you pay attention to serving size. Below are our top picks for eating at Chipotle!

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Posted on March 1, 2024 by Jennipher

How to Follow the New Dietary Guidelines

In 2005 the US Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion made major changes to the Food Guide Pyramid. Vertical stripes replaced the building blocks to help represent moderation by the narrowing of each group from bottom to top, proportionality by the different widths of the stripes, variety by the new colors introduced, and the importance of physical activity and gradual improvement through the steps and slogan “Steps to a Healthier You”.

Recently, the USDA released new dietary guidelines for 2024, but the changes aren’t nearly as drastic. As Kelly said so well, “While it may be surprising that not much has changed since 2005 when our health obviously has, the new 2024 Dietary Guidelines show that how to eat healthy hasn’t changed, we just need to follow the guidelines now more than ever.” So just how do you follow the Dietary Guidelines for health and even weight loss? I have been teaching clients how to do this for the last five years with the help of the USDA and MyPyramid.gov.

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Posted on February 2, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

New U.S. Dietary Guidelines Continue to Endorse DASH Diet

Dietary Approaches to Stop HypertensionEvery five years, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is reviewed and updated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health. The 2024 guidelines were published today, and not only outline what foods are best for us, but also for the first time give advice on what foods to avoid.

In the introductory summary of the document, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH diet) is singled out as an eating plan that embodies the these updated dietary guidelines.

The DASH Diet is a way of eating that’s been proven to reduce blood pressure, and has also been recommended by the American Heart Association and the National Institute of Health. On this diet, you will eat lots of fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, nuts, beans and whole grains. This eating plan will not only help to lower your blood pressure, it’s also a safe and effective weight-loss diet.

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Posted on February 1, 2024 by Margaret

2024 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Finally Released, Not Much Has Changed

Well, they came a month late, but the much anticipated 2024 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have finally been released. The USDA and Department of Health and Human Services work together every five years to update the Dietary Guidelines to reflect changing and new research. The new guidelines aren’t drastically different than years before, but do reflect an urgency to address the growing obesity epidemic.

A few highlights from the new guidelines include a push to reduce daily sodium intake, eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and cut added sugars, especially those in sugary drinks.

Learn more in this video recapping the new guidelines:

The average American consumes around 3,400 mg of sodium per day. The new Guidelines recommend reducing that number to 1,500 mg, or 1 teaspoon, of sodium, especially for those who are 51 and older, African American, or have hypertension, diabetes, and/or chronic kidney disease. Many believe that focusing on slashing salt in our diets will in turn also cut our saturated fat intake.

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Posted on January 31, 2024 by Kelly