Heart Assn. Takes New Tack With Dietary Guidelines

Eating right just got easier.

The American Heart Assn. revised its influential dietary guidelines Thursday, playing down complicated percentages of fat or nutrients in foods and emphasizing common sense.

It’s the first significant revision in four years of the association’s guidelines, which are widely mimicked by other health organizations.

The guidelines will be published in the Oct. 31 issue of Circulation, a journal of the association.

“We are moving toward a diet that focuses on food rather than strictly on the numbers,” said Dr. Ronald M. Krauss, lead author of the report.

The association is urging a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, fish, lean meats and poultry. Five servings of fruits and vegetables and six servings of grains are recommended daily.

And, for the first time, the association is recommending two weekly servings of fatty fish, such as tuna or salmon.

“In the past we have focused rather heavily on the percent of calories as fat and amounts of cholesterol,” Krauss said. “These are still important considerations, but the emphasis has shifted.”

The guidelines will have greater effect because they are easier to understand, said Dr. Meir Stampfer, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.