Factors Contributing to Health and Disease

There are many aspects of the American diet that should be improved in order to promote health and prevent disease. The United States Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services are responsible for developing and updating guides to educate the public and professionals on nutritional health. The current guide: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 provides a wealth of ideas in simple, actionable health messages to improve the diet. This chapter reviews many of these principles for good nutrition health in addition to dietary reference intakes (DRI) important to assess the adequacy of specific nutrients in the diet as well as activity, a lifestyle that facilitates nutritional health.

Keywords: Dietary reference intakes, empty calories, estimated average requirement, food groups, healthy diet, MyPlate, nutrition health, physical activity and exercise, recommended dietary allowance, tolerable upper limits.