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New AHA Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations
The new advice includes specific maximums for daily saturated and trans fat intake.
Sponsoring Organizations: American Heart Association Nutrition Committee
Background and Purpose: When the AHA last revised these recommendations in 2000, diet was the near-exclusive emphasis. In the 2006 statement, the authors attempt to be more comprehensive by emphasizing diet and including broader lifestyle recommendations.
Key Points:
1. The committee recommends a diet high in "deeply colored" fruits and vegetables (e.g., berries and spinach), whole grains, oily fish (eaten at least twice weekly), low-fat dairy products, and lean meats. Low-carbohydrate diets are not specifically discussed.
2. The committee now advises that <7% of daily energy intake come from saturated fat and <1% from trans fat. (In 2000, saturated and trans fats combined were recommended to be <10% of daily energy intake).
3. The committee now suggests limiting consumption of drinks with added sugars and still recommends reducing salt intake and achieving previously defined optimal blood pressure and lipid goals, although a normal fasting glucose level is now specified as 
100 mg/dL.
4. Unlike in 2000, the committee does not recommend antioxidant supplements and questions the value of soy products, folate and other B vitamin supplements, and phytochemicals for reducing cardiovascular risk.
5. Specific lifestyle recommendations include:
- avoidance of tobacco products (both use and exposure)
- physical activity
30 minutes/day to maintain a healthy weight, and 60 minutes/day to achieve or maintain weight loss
6. The new statement acknowledges that lifestyle recommendations might need to be tailored to other individual circumstances — socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental (e.g., lack of sidewalks).
Comment: These updated recommendations cast diet and lifestyle as components of overall health, although reducing fat intake (especially saturated and trans fats) remains a central feature. We still don’t have clear evidence that limiting saturated and trans fats improves cardiovascular outcomes. However, epidemiologic research suggests that this approach is reasonable until we have more robust clinical trial data on the subject.
— JoAnne M. Foody, MD
Published in Journal Watch Cardiology July 12, 2006
Citation(s):
Lichtenstein AH et al. Diet and lifestyle recommendations revision 2006: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. Circulation 2006 Jul 4; 114:82-96.
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- Medline abstract (Free)
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