The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, a group of 13 independent experts, has just submitted a report with their science-based, dietary and lifestyle recommendations for the public. Using the information contained in this report, the government will be finalizing the soon-to-be released Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.
Similar to the last set of guidelines, the DG Advisory Committee is recommending that Americans consume a well-balanced, plant-based diet, which includes all of the food groups, coupled with adequate physical activity, to maintain a healthy body weight and to avoid obesity. They are also advising that solid fats, added sugar, and sodium be reduced in the diet.
Here’s a peek at some of their additional recommendations:
* Reduce saturated fatty acids intake to less 10 percent, and ideally, less than 7 percent of calories, with more emphasis on heart, healthy mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
* Limit dietary cholesterol to less than 300 mg daily. Those with heart disease or type 2 diabetes should shoot for less than 200 mg daily.
* Avoid trans fatty acids from commercially prepared foods.
* Consume two servings of seafood per week.
* Reduce sodium to 1,500 mg per day.
The public can comment on this report until July 15 on this website.
For more on reducing the sodium in your diet, watch this.
In an effort to stave off calls for an international inquiry and international criticism, Israel's cabinet approved a government-appointed commission with foreign participation to investigate the deadly commando raid last month on a flotilla bound for blockaded Gaza. But international relations Professor Augustus Richard Norton, author of "Hezbollah: A Short History," says the proposed Israeli panel falls well short of impartiality and credulity.
“The board is charged to address the blockade's legality, but it is noteworthy that the International Committee of the Red Cross, not an organization given to rash judgments, has already noted that Israel's blockade of Gaza is a violation of the Geneva Convention.”
Contact Augustus Richard Norton, 617-353-7808, arn@bu.edu
It's all BP all the time in Washington this week. After President Obama addresses the nation Wednesday on the BP oil spill situation, company executives on Thursday face a Congressional hearing on the matter. Visiting law Professor Elizabeth Nowicki, both a former SEC and Wall Street attorney, says BP CEO Tony Hayward would be well-served to remember what empirical research shows about the economic value of apologies.
"My advice to Hayward is to remember what behavioral research has shown: Corporations with senior management who willing and sincerely apologize are (a) less likely to get sued and (b) more likely to settle inevitable lawsuits more cheaply."
Meantime, political science Prof. Graham Wilson, author of "Business and Politics," wonders when other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and its aftermath will be put in the spotlight that thus far has swamped BP.
"It will be interesting to see if the American companies involved, such as Transocean and Haliburton, are also asked to set aside funds [for clean-up]. Only eight of the people on the rig when the well failed were employed by BP."
The U.S. and Jordan, it's closest Arab ally in the region, reportedly are negotiating a nuclear-cooperation agreement that would let American firms expert nuclear components and know-how to Jordan -- but won't allow Jordan to produce its own nuclear fuel. International relations Professor William Keylor, author of "A World of Nations: The International Order Since 1945," says the deal must balance Jordan's right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to produce its own fuel and the U.S. interest in not angering Israel or risk a Mideast arms race.
“The controversy will have to be resolved through compromise if the NPT is to retain its credibility and the Middle East is to be spared a headlong rush to develop national civilian nuclear industries.”
“Benjamin brings to Boston University an impressive spectrum of experience as an artist and leader in the performing and visual arts, a passion for creating a world-renowned conservatory, and a vision for the role of the arts in the fabric of a modern research university,” said Brown. “I have great optimism for the future of the College of Fine Arts under his leadership.”
Juarez’s forward technological thinking, coupled with his vast knowledge of the world of arts and his administrative experience in academia, will advance fine arts education at BU.
Prior to being appointed dean, Juarez directed the Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico’s national arts center, running professional schools in music, dance, arts, theater and film, research centers, the organization’s TV channel, and more than 20 theaters and performing spaces.
Earlier, Juarez served as director of cultural activities for Universidad Anahuac del Sur. For a decade from 1992, he led an international research project on Mexican cathedral music that provided for the transcription and performance of hundreds of works composed between the 16th and 19th centuries. The work yielded a dozen CDs bankrolled by UNESCO and other funders.
Dell is in settlement talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve allegations that its founder/CEO Michael Dell engaged in financial irregularities related to Dell's dealings with chip-maker Intel -- with no admission of guilt or bar of Dell from service as an officer or a public company. Visiting law Professor Elizabeth Nowicki, a former SEC and Wall Street attorney, says it indicates the SEC is focused on bigger issues and might be willing to defer in the Dell matter to a similar lawsuit filed by New York's attorney general.
"The SEC can only vigorously fight so many battles at a given time.”
Christopher Muller, a seasoned entrepreneur, fourth-generation restaurateur and decorated educator, was named dean of Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration by President Brown. Muller will succeed Dean James Stamas in August when he assumes the helm of SHA, which each year prepares some 400 students – in the classroom and in the field – for management positions in hotels, food service, travel and tourism, and entertainment. As new dean, Muller will bring to the program a decidedly holistic approach – a mix of educational, entrepreneurial and philosophical.
The Congressional Oversight Panel says in a scathing report that the government failed to exhaust all options before bailing out the insurance giant American International Group -- although the rescue did help the financial system avert collapse. Nonetheless, the watchdog panel says taxpayers may never be paid back all of the $182 billion funneled to support AIG. Former Federal Reserve Bank examiner Mark Williams, who teaches finance in the School of Management and is author of "Uncontrolled Risk" about the fall of Lehman Brothers, says the report speaks to the elevated role that policymakers have in conducting stronger risk management.
“Taxpayers deserve better decision making that incorporates basic risk-management tools, including risk measurement, worst-case forecasting, monitoring, and frequent reporting. With significantly more taxpayer money at risk, now it is time for policymakers to exercise better risk management."
"As important as the GOM is to U.S. oil production and to Gulf state economies, it is a pittance in the world market. U.S. production decisions have negligible impacts on world oil markets, and Middle East producers could easily offset the projected shortfall."
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