Why You Should Ignore The New Dietary Guidelines

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The new federal dietary guidelines are about to come out, but the fight over the bad science used to create them is still raging.

The new federal dietary guidelines are about to come out, but the fight over the bad science used to create them is still raging.

It’s about time.

It seems that every 5 years the federal government rolls out the new dietary guidelines with hardly any criticisms. Sure you’d hear them from the various food special interest groups worried about sales, but very little about whether the recommendations actually work.

How times have changed.

Two articles, in as many days, both from The Washington Post, question the science the US federal government uses in developing the soon to be released 2015 guidelines.

Congress Skeptical Of The New Guides
First up, the Post reported on a Capitol Hill hearing where Congress asked pointed questions about the science behind the new guidelines. More than 29,000 people commented on a report issued by the guide’s advisory committee in February. Typically such reports garner very few comments.  The increased public scrutiny and the contentious fight over this year’s guides caused Congress to set up this hearing.

It was one of the few occasions where it wasn’t one party going after another. The politicians were united in questioning of the science behind the guidelines. That tells me something big is happening in our country as politicians follow the culture, they don’t drive it.

Of course those in charge of the US departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) claimed they look at the best available data.

What a crock. The truth is the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that puts together the guidelines isn’t looking at any new data on low carb/ketogenic/paleo diets. Yet, as this great podcast on the new guidelines indicates, the committee is promoting vegetarian and vegan diets without clinical studies to back it up.

Plus this same committee put together a far-reaching report to “transform the food system.” How so? They are calling for ‘electronic tracking’ of time we spend watching TV. Oh and my favorite, having trained obesity “interventionists” at our jobs. What the hell does that have to do with nutrition?

Rather than admit the guidelines were a total failure, these clowns want to double down on stupid and blame us for the rise of metabolic syndrome (obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.). You see we didn’t try hard enough. We lack will power. We’re eating too much and not exercising enough.

The fact that the rise in obesity, diabetes and other metabolic symptoms followed not long after with the introduction of the government’s dietary guidelines more than 30 years ago is completely ignored by this expert committee.

Instead, the experts are recommending more of the same but with way more government intervention in our lives.

Well I feel better now. UGH!

Whole Milk Is The New Black
The second article was critical of the government’s recommendation to replace whole milk with fat-free or low-fat options. The article delves into the dogma surrounding the view by the government, the American Heart Association, dietitian, nutritionists that saturated fat is bad.

There are more and more stories like this appearing in the mainstream press about how we got it so wrong more than 40 years ago and the toll it’s taken on our health.

I learned about this book via the wisdom of crowds!

I learned about this book via the wisdom of crowds!

The Wisdom Of Crowds
Only when I ignored the government’s guidelines and the mainstream views on weight and health, did I finally take charge of my health. Thanks to social media the solution for me was just a few clicks away.

One blogger I follow recommended Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes. It saved my life.

Thanks to social media, more people can and are learning from others who’ve successfully changed their health for the better. From bloggers to podcasters to indie filmmakers — all have helped me on my journey. Whether I agreed with them or not, I learned more about nutrition from these (mostly) self-educated folks than I ever did in school, from my doctors, or reading articles in women’s fitness magazines.

Blogger and filmmaker Tom Naughton calls this ‘the wisdom of crowds.’ We are turning away from the so-called experts in favor of social media because deep down we know what we’ve been taught isn’t working.

I recently watched a great video featuring Professor Tim Noakes where he talked about this. He spoke about a guy who lost a ton of weight following Noakes’ low carb advice.  This man ignored his doctor’s mainstream advice (eat less, exercise more, take medication) and did his own research. He found Noakes’ Banting diet online and followed it closely. In 28 weeks he lost over 160 kg. The point of this story? Noakes explained that doctors are failing and because of that, this — people doing their own research via social media — is the future of medicine if the medical community doesn’t wake up.

Amen!

6 thoughts on “Why You Should Ignore The New Dietary Guidelines

  1. Hi Dot, it is shameful to say the least. The new and old dietary guidelines are nothing but a joke. Like I posted in my Instagram a few days ago if vegetarianism is so good for you then why do we feed cattle grains to fatten them up?

    • Spot on about the cattle! When you look at our evolution, you see that the idea of carbs (grains, pasta, breads, sugars) really is the fad diet. It’s a blip in our evolution. I’ve come across some interesting reading on how we’ve changed physically once we started agriculture (it ain’t pretty).

      The frustration is people – scientist, doctors who rely on science specifically – that are not willing to look at or even acknowledge the clinical studies for the last 10+ years. Science is NEVER “settled.”

      • Yes, I have read the same. Knowledge is freedom. Although not everyone understands our choice to eat this way as a lifestyle they can’t argue with the results hubby and I have seen. He was a diabetic for over 15 years with fatty liver disease and high blood pressure to boot. I lived with great chronic pain and was pre-diabetic. He has lost close to 70lbs. I only had to lose 15. We have taken responsibility for own health. Rather than blindly follow what others are saying. Our doctors are super pleased and even my neurologist is now eating this way because of the dramatic changes he has seen in me. 😁

      • Good to hear about your doctor. Most folks I talk with have docs that still encourage low fat eating. Nutrition eduction is lacking for physicians (they pretty much handed it over to dietitians who get their training based on federal food guidelines). Taking control of your health via nutrition is the best way we can go.

      • I love my doctor he has been a godsend. I actually went to see him today and do you know what he told me? That I needed to write a book or something because what I have learned needs to be shared. LOL, I will have to keep this in mind and make sure he forwards the book 😉

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