Nutritionists Raise A Glass Of Whole Milk To New Dietary Guidelines

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture are teaming up to revise the country’s dietary guidelines, as they have every five years since 1980.

This time, though, they might drop a longstanding limit on total fat consumption, a quiet victory for nutritionists who have called for a shift away from the focus on low-fat foods. The government recommendations form the nutritional bedrock of school meal programs, which currently ban whole milk.

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, says people should focus on “healthy fats” like those found in nuts and fish, instead of fretting over calorie counts and a “fear of fat.”

• Watch the House Agriculture Committee hearing last week

Guest

• Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., cardiologist and epidemiologist, and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. He tweets @Dmozaffarian.

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