The Benefits of Travel Meet the US Dietary Guidelines Report
Admittedly, this is not a twosome that make an automatic pair. Travel has never been a part of the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, a report compiled by scientists every five years to serve as guidance for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Likewise, travelers most likely don’t think about the Dietary Guidelines when they’re exploring and having adventures around the world.
However, in late 2024, destiny (and forward thinking) brought them together.
The report from scientists was just released this month and includes the first ever evidence scan on culturally responsive nutrition interventions.
The implications and meaning are that learning about healthy cultural food traditions – and making these culinary traditions a part of daily life – has a benefit that goes beyond the health benefits of travel. (Stay tuned for next month’s Substack to learn more about the health benefits of travel, but in general, travel has been found to bring stress relief and improve mental health.)
As Kelly LeBlanc, MLA, RD, LDN, my colleague and Oldways VP of Nutrition Programming wrote about the Report:
After more than three decades of working to elevate diverse cultural food traditions through Oldways’ programs and Heritage Pyramids, it is encouraging to see the committee acknowledge that “culturally responsive interventions may help promote better adherence and support uptake of dietary guidance by providing individuals with foods that align with their cultural practices and preferences.” Further, the committee “recommends more research to fully elucidate the effect of cultural tailoring on program acceptability and effectiveness for health outcomes,” and advises HHS and USDA to “allocate sufficient funding for culturally responsive research.”
Thinking about how to put this into practice? Join us in 2025 and experience cultural food traditions in Spain, France, Turkey and Italy. Pintxos in San Sebastian, extra virgin olive oil in Provence, manti and mezze in Turkey, wine and food pairings in Bordeaux, fava beans and pasta meals in Puglia and much, much more can become a part of your daily habits. Not only are these traditional dishes a great way to embrace cultural food traditions, they are also a great way to incorporate more of the healthy food groups that have nourished our ancestors for generations and are recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
For more information, please click here read Kelly’s blog on the US Dietary Guidelines Report, or click here for great recipes that embrace global cultural food traditions.