The WHO recommends that adults consume at least 400 grams of vegetables and fruits a day

2023-07-18 04:02:45

The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated this Monday its recommendations for total fat, saturated fat, and trans fatty acids and carbohydratesbased on the most recent scientific evidence.

Thus, now the international health organization of the United Nations advice to adults that consume at least 400 grams of vegetables and fruits and 25 grams of natural dietary fiber a day.

In the case of children, they should eat if they are between 2 and 5 years old, at least 250 g a day of vegetables and fruits; from 6 to 9 years, at least 350 g per day; and 10 years or older, at least 400 g per day. For natural dietary fiber, the WHO recommendations are that children 2 to 5 years of age consume at least 15 g per day; those 6-9 years old, at least 21 g per day; and those 10 years or older, at least 25 g per day.

The WHO advice published this Monday aims to reduce the risk of unhealthy weight gain and diet-related noncommunicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain types of cancer.

In its guidance on dietary fats, the WHO notes that both quantity and quality “are important for good health.” The WHO reaffirms that adults should limit total fat intake to 30 percent or less of total energy intake.

healthy fats

Likewise, they indicate that the fats consumed by all people from 2 years of age should be mainly unsaturated fatty acids (so-called healthy fats)“with no more than 10 percent of total energy intake coming from saturated fatty acids and no more than 1 percent of total energy intake from trans fatty acids, both from industrially produced sources and from ruminant animals.”

Regarding saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids in the diet, they point out that can be replaced by other nutrientssuch as polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids of vegetable origin or carbohydrates from foods that contain natural dietary fiber, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes.

saturated fatty acids they can be found in fatty meat, dairy foods, and hard fats and oils such as butter, ghee, lard, palm oil, and coconut oil, and trans fatty acids in baked and fried foods, pre-packaged snacks and meat and dairy foods from ruminants, such as cows or sheep.

Finally, WHO offers a new recommendation According to which the carbohydrate intake for all people from 2 years of age should come mainly from whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes.