Get ready for some changes! The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee(DGAC), a group of scientists who review the literature and scientific evidence to help come up with our Dietary Guidelines (every 5 years) just came out with their final report. They are responsible for providing evidenced-based recommendations to the secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services who will review the recommendations and eventually finalize the Dietary Guidelines.  These guidelines are so important because they will influence us all (especially schools, restaurants, food assistance programs, and the food industry in general). One of the biggest changes is they are no longer emphasizing a low fat diet as there is enough evidence that shows there is no strong relationship between dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol. They also concluded that reducing total fat in the diet and replacing it with carbohydrates does NOT lower cardiovascular disease risk. Instead, the guidelines are more general and focused on promoting healthful food that included more healthy fats, more veggies and fruits, whole grains, seafood, legumes and dairy products but less meats, sugar-sweetened foods and drinks and refined grains. Check out the article in the Journal of the American Medical Association for more details! In the meantime, I like the emphasis on including more healthy foods…a focus on health, not restriction : )