Lean and Green

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#3: Eat More Non- or Low-fat Dairy Products
The new guidelines recommend three cups per day of fat-free or low-fat dairy products. We're already a skim-milk house, but I crave all fatty cheese: stinky, artisanal, Velveeta. Again, I'm not alone: Cheese consumption has tripled in the past 40 years, Jacobson says.

Stealth move: Buy "fakes." Many of the reduced-fat dairy products, from sour cream to cheese slices, taste almost as good as their full-fat counterparts.

Health benefits: Dairy is high in calcium. And dieters who consumed three servings of dairy products a day lost more weight than did a control group, according to a May 2004 study published in Nutrition Research Newsletter. Choosing reduced-fat dairy will also reduce your exposure to dioxin, which has been linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, reproductive damage and birth defects.

Environmental bonus: Buying organic milk products, such as Ben & Jerry's new organic line and Stonyfield's, means not only that cows haven't been given growth hormones or antibiotics but that they've been fed grains that haven't been genetically modified or treated with pesticides.

#4: Out with the Bad Fats, in with the Good
The old Pyramid urged that all fats be used sparingly, but the new guidelines point out that all fat is not created equal. They suggest keeping total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of total calories, with most of it coming from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids—such as fish, nuts and vegetable oils. Saturated animal fats should be limited to less than 10 percent of daily calories. Trans fats, currently found in about 40 percent of all processed foods, should ideally be cut to zero.

Stealth move: Designate a day or two each week as meatless; serve spicy rice and beans or vegetable stew instead. And outsmart the packagers. Beginning in January 2006, products containing trans fats must be clearly labeled, but don't wait. Reject foods containing "partially hydrogenated vegetable oils," aka trans fats.

Health benefits: Unclogged arteries and a healthier heart. Plus, eating fewer animal fats means you ingest fewer hazardous chemicals, including dioxins and PBDEs, fire retardants that have been linked to neurological, reproductive and thyroid damage in lab animals and have also been found in both farmed catfish and salmon.

Environmental bonus: Cutting back even a little on meat and certain fish can help. Manure produced by animals on factory farms saturates the ground with more phosphorus and nitrogen than the soil can retain, resulting in polluted waterways, according to the Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law & Ethics. Choose certified organic meat, and you won't be contributing to the widespread farm use of antibiotics that results in the drugs getting into our food and drug-resistant bacteria getting into waterways. Eat species of fish that haven't been overfished and are also lowest in mercury and other toxins (see the "Smart Shopper's Fish Picks" card at www.thegreenguide.com).