The reality of Nutrition guidelines
Nutrition guidelines
In our current post-modern state, ultra-processed foods represent 60-70% of the average American’s diet. To make things worse, conventional nutrition recommendations from many organizations such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been demonstrably wrong since the 1950’s leading many people to overconsume processed carbohydrates and artificial “shelf-stable” fats leading to predictable health outcomes like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, digestive disorders, and neurological/cognitive disorders which are widespread health epidemics.
Even today in first-world countries with modern food supply chains. The health crisis that we find ourselves in is directly related to poor nutrition and lifestyle which has been compounded by propaganda campaigns from the food industry to promote foods which are highly profitable but promote and manifest chronic disease.
In 1968, U.S. Senator George McGovern formed the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs. The resulting guidelines came out in 1977 and were heavily influenced by Ancel Keys, a promoter of the “Lipid Hypothesis” blaming fat consumption for cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. This hypothesis was presented for the first time on January 7th, 1953, when Keys presented a graph during a symposium at the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City supported by studies he had done based on statistical data from 6 countries during 1948-1949 correlating cardiovascular disease to fat intake.
He reported this correlation as, “…it must be concluded that dietary fat somehow is associated with cardiac disease mortality at least in middle age.” He gave a similar presentation to a World Health Organization expert panel in November of 1955. The largest problem with his presentation of the data was its narrow scope. When looking at a much wider range of data from 22 countries, the correlation between fat consumption and cardiovascular mortality did not look convincing at all. While there was an indistinct loose correlation, it appeared that there was a certain “cherry picking” style of statistical manipulation at the core of his presentation.
In contrast to Keys work, another scientist named John Yudkin published a study analyzing the relationship between various nutrient intakes and coronary mortality in men aged 55-64 in 15 different countries for the year 1952. This study revealed that the relationship with coronary mortality appeared closer with sugar intake than to animal fat, total fat, percentage of fat, or vegetable fat.
As an interesting side note, in the decades of the 40’s and 50’s close to 50% of Americans smoked cigarettes which continued to climb to 60% of Americans by 1960 and neither study attempted to incorporate this confounding variable which is widely known to be a primary factor. In fact, cigarettes were still being promoted as healthy, with health claims such as “They don’t get your wind” (Camel 1935), “gentle on my throat” (Lucky Strike 1937), “Fresh as mountain air” (Old Gold 1946), and even “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette” (Camel 1946).
Ultimately, the post-World War 2 period of nutrition science, as with most other fields of science, is marred with conflicting interests between governments, industry, and the health and well-being of the population at large. It should be no surprise at this point that the average person lost in this battle of money and power.
The truth is that science at large has become corrupted, and is now used as a manipulative tool of governments and industry which rarely represents truth. Nutrition is very complex, and cardiovascular mortality is a result of poor lifestyle choices including smoking, being sedentary, increased availability of sugar in the diet, artificial ingredients including fats/sugars/colors/preservatives, and the fact that the majority of American’s diets consist of processed and ultra-processed “shelf-stable” foods which are not compatible with health.
There is also a growing list of harmful chemicals in our environment which has been steadily growing since WW2. I generally recommend taking a “God food, not man food” approach which simply avoids processed foods, added sugars, and artificial ingredients. Returning to God’s provision and avoiding dependence on man’s is never bad advice.
The most familiar nutritional recommendation to many Americans in my generation is the food pyramid. The food pyramid most of us remember from childhood first evolved in Sweden in the early 1970’s in response to high food prices. Soon after this, similar food pyramids were made in other Scandinavian countries, Germany, Japan, and Sri Lanka.
The United States adopted its own version in 1992. The USDA food pyramid was initially divided into six horizontal sections with depictions of foods from each section’s food group and the recommended daily serving. At the bottom of the pyramid is the largest group consisting of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta, recommending 6-11 servings daily. Above grains are vegetables with recommendations for 3-5 servings, followed by fruits with recommendations for 2-4 servings.
The next group is meats, dry beans, eggs, and nuts with recommendations for 2-3 servings. Dairy is the next group including milk, yogurt, and cheese with recommendations for 2-3 servings. Finally, at the very top of the pyramid in the section that should be restricted the most according to the recommendations, there are fats, oils, and sweets that should be “used sparingly”.
The problem in these recommendations is obvious to anyone who has ever dabbled in nutrition, especially in the last 20 years with the widespread knowledge of the ketogenic and paleogenic diets which are essentially the opposite of the food pyramid at the extremes. What the food pyramid recommended is essentially the opposite of the ketogenic or paleo style diets with a high consumption of processed refined grains and very low levels of fat (and with an emphasis on the artificial “healthy” fats).
It should be no surprise with these recommendations that the average American has low levels of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K which are necessary for a healthy metabolism and immune function. Interestingly, artificial hydrogenated, trans-fats like margarine were popular at the time as they were mistakenly thought to be health foods, and they were listed on the original food pyramids in the fat section. Limiting or eliminating altogether these unhealthy artificial fats should be seen as a good thing in reality.
Another interesting point in the development of food pyramids is that while on the surface it seems like governmental bureaucracies giving practical guidelines on nutrition to its citizenry, behind the scenes these same agencies are engaged in a massive conflict of interest. This controversy surrounding the food pyramid focuses on the conflict between the federal protection of the rights of food lobbyists to act in their own self-interest, and federal responsibility to promote the nutritional health of the public.
What has become clear is that governmental agencies like the USDA, CDC, and FDA have sided with large corporations and become increasingly captured by industry through a process called regulatory capture. They therefore no longer serve the interests of the governed to any substantial degree, so buyer beware.
Ultimately, what all this means is that we are on our own when it comes to nutrition, wellness, and health, so we must educate and care for ourselves to the degree we can. A favorite quote of mine is from an ancient Japanese samurai named Miyamoto Musashi. He states, “Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend to its power or live a lie.”
If we take this quote to heart and apply it to this topic, it means that we must take responsibility for our health personally, rather than delegate that role to any outside agency since they have become corrupted and no longer serve their intended purposes of protecting the public. We should all become warriors of truth and health in the coming age, and if we do so we will be better served.
If you want to learn more about nutrition and its relation to health, I highly recommend reading an old classic by Weston A. Price – Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
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