Rotating News Article

For:    Release week of February 21, 2005

To:      Rotating News Article

By:     Linda K. Bowman, Ext. Agt. IV - Family & Consumer Sciences

            UF/IFAS Santa Rosa County Extension

            Telephone: 850/623-3868

 

Spending Your Calorie Salary:
Tips for Using the 2005 Dietary Guidelines

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans place a stronger emphasis on decreasing calorie intake and increasing physical activity than past guidelines.

There are more specific guidelines about the types and amounts of foods to eat.

Greater consumption of nutrient-dense foods -- foods packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients but lower in calories -- is encouraged.

A "discretionary calorie allowance" that allows some flexibility to eat foods and beverages with added fats, added sugars and alcohol is introduced. This allowance may be spent if people eat nutrient-dense foods that let them meet their recommended nutrient intake without using their full calorie allotment.

Think of following the new 2005 Dietary Guidelines as spending your "calorie salary." Plan your calories the same as you might plan a major expense such as a car, house, vacation, etc. For example:

1. Stay within your budget.

Spending beyond our financial budget leads to consequences, such as losing our house if we can't make the payments.

Too many calories -- as few as 100 extra calories per day -- may lead to a weight gain of about 10 pounds per year!

2. Choose the most value for your calorie salary.

A great-looking car with bad brakes and a faulty heating/cooling system is no bargain if it wipes out our budget if we buy it and it provides undependable transportation.

Choosing foods that do little to meet nutrient needs -- even if they're within our calorie salary -- can put our health at risk. Four key recommendations of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines are:

1.      Consume a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables while staying within energy needs. Two cups of fruit and 2-1/2 cups of vegetables per day are recommended for a reference 2,000-calorie intake, with higher or lower amounts depending on the calorie level.

         Select from all five vegetable subgroups several times a week. Examples of vegetables from these subgroups include:

o        DARK GREEN VEGETABLES -- Broccoli, spinach, most greens such as spinach, collards, turnip greens, kale, beet and mustard greens, green leaf lettuce, and romaine lettuce

o        ORANGE VEGETABLES -- Carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, pumpkin

o        LEGUMES (DRY BEANS) -- Dry beans, chickpeas

o        STARCHY VEGETABLES -- Corn, white potatoes, green peas

o        OTHER VEGETABLES -- Tomatoes, cabbage, celery, cucumber, lettuce, onions, peppers, green beans, cauliflower, mushrooms, summer squash

  1. Choose a variety of fruits each day. Eat fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit, rather than drinking fruit juice, for most of your fruit choices.
  2. Consume 3 cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.
  3. Consume 3 or more one-ounce equivalents of whole-grain products per day, with the rest of the recommended grains coming from enriched or whole-grain products. In general, at least half the grains should come from whole grains.

3. Spend on extras after the necessities are purchased.

Buying new and expensive pieces of furniture can be more fun than paying for maintenance and upkeep of your house. But the enjoyment is short-lived if your house deteriorates over time.

Splurging on high-fat and high-sugar foods, while neglecting the basic recommendations, can have the same effect on our bodies. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines call these extras "discretionary calories." They're available "only when the amount of calories used to meet recommended nutrient intakes is less than the total daily calorie expenditures."

Discretionary calories range from 132 calories/1,600 calorie level to 267 calories/2,000 calorie level to as many as 648 calories/3,200 calorie level.

For more information or if you have a question, call Linda Bowman, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Faculty, The University of Florida/IFAS-Santa Rosa County Extension, at 850-623-3868, between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:30 pm weekdays.  Hearing-impaired individuals may call Santa Rosa County Emergency Management Service at 983-5373 (TDD).

Extension Service programs are open to all people without regard to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations.  The use of trade names in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information.  It is not a guarantee, warranty, or endorsement of the product name(s) and does not signify that they are approved to the exclusion of others.