Nutrition is a hot topic in all places, with differing opinions and approaches all around us. For some honest, straightforward advice, there is still nothing that beats the current USDA guidelines. They are something everyone should know!

USDA Key Recommendations For All The General Population

Adequate Nutrients Within Your Calorie Needs

• Try to consume a variety of nutrient-dense foods and drinks within the basic food groups whilst choosing foods that limit the intake of saturated and trans-fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt, and alcohol.

• Meet the recommended intakes within energy needs by adopting a balanced eating pattern, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide or the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Eating Plan.

Managing Your Weight

• To maintain your body weight within a healthy range, balance the calories from foods and beverages with calories expended.

• To prevent gradual weight gain over time, make some small decreases in food and beverage calories and increase physical activity.

Physical Exercise

• Try to engage in regular physical activity and reduce your sedentary activities to promote health, psychological well-being, and a healthy body weight.

• To reduce the risks of chronic disease in adulthood: try to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, above usual activity, at work or home on most days of the week.

• For most people, greater health benefits can be achieved by engaging in physical activity of more vigorous intensity or longer duration.

• To help you manage body weight and prevent gradual, unhealthy body weight gain in adulthood: Engage in approximately one hour of moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity on most days of the week whilst not exceeding caloric intake requirements.

• To sustain your weight loss in adulthood: Participate in at least 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity while not exceeding caloric intake requirements. Some people might need to consult with a healthcare provider before participating in this level of activity.

• Achieve physical fitness through including cardiovascular conditioning, stretching exercises for flexibility, and resistance exercises or calisthenics for muscle strength and endurance.

Safety With Food

• To avoid micro-bacterial food borne illness:

• Always clean hands, food contact surfaces, and fruits and vegetables. Meat and poultry should always be washed or rinsed.
• Separate raw from cooked and ready-to-eat foods while shopping, preparing, or storing food.

• Cook your food at a safe temperature in order to kill micro-organisms.

• Put perishable foods in the fridge promptly and defrost foods properly.

• Avoid raw (unpasteurized) milk or any products made from unpasteurized milk, raw or partially cooked eggs or food which contains raw eggs, raw or undercooked meat and poultry, unpasteurized juices, and raw sprouts.

John Rifkind is a contributing editor at FitnessHealthArticles.com. This article may be reproduced provided that its complete content, links and author byline are kept intact and unchanged. No additional links permitted. Hyperlinks and/or URLs must remain both human clickable and search engine spiderable.