HEALTH: Is the Food Pyramid Obsolete? / New Alternative to USDA Dietary Guidelines

[Guest guest]

Is the Food Pyramid Obsolete?

Study: High-Carb, Low-Fat Diet Takes Another Beating

 

Listen to Richard Knox's report

 

Nov. 21, 2002 -- A landmark study published today calls into question

the U.S. government's official dietary guidelines, enshrined in the food

pyramid. For a decade, the government has advised Americans to stay away

from fat and eat a diet based largely on carbohydrates. But as NPR's

Richard Knox reports, a study published in the American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition shows the pyramid and other official guidelines are

most likely obsolete.

 

The Food Guide Pyramid is an American icon. At the base are breads,

cereal and pasta -- up to 11 servings a day. Veggies and fruits are

next, with two-to-five servings. As the pyramid narrows, it suggests

eating fewer dairy products, eggs and meat servings. At the tip are fats

and sweets -- to be used " sparingly. " As sensible as it may sound,

Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health says the food

pyramid is " a license to overeat. "

 

" I think the pyramid is so out of sync with scientific evidence that it

almost has to be totally dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up, "

says Willett.

 

To Willett, the pyramid's problem is that it assumes that only fat

calories can make people fat. " And the reality is, it's too many

calories from whatever the source, whether they be from carbohydrates or

from fat, " Willett says.

 

Willett and his colleague Marjorie McCullough decided to look at heart

disease and cancer among people whose diets matched the official

government advice. They compared these people to others who ate a

Harvard-designed diet containing fewer carbohydrates and more fats. Not

just any fat, but foods, such as nuts and vegetable oils, that don't

contain harmful trans-fatty acids.

 

The study found that those who ate the Harvard diet had a significantly

reduced risk for major chronic disease. " The benefit we've seen -- for

example, a reduction in heart disease by approximately 40 percent in men

and 30 percent in women -- is actually quite large, " says Willett. " What

we've seen is that the impact of diet can be just as powerful as the

best cholesterol-lowering drug in terms of prevention. "

 

When it came to cancer, researchers saw no benefit from the

lower-carbohydrate Harvard diet. The relationship between diet and

cancer is more complicated. Still, the study suggests that official

advice to minimize fat is obsolete. Alice Lichtenstein of Tufts

University agrees. She was on a federal panel that updated the official

guidelines less than two years ago. Lichtenstein says the new Harvard

study confirms what most nutritionists believe: The 2000 guidelines are

already out-of-date.

 

But she says the food pyramid and official guidelines alone are not to

blame for American obesity.

 

" I think we're giving the pyramid too much credit, that people are

actually following it to the letter and that's why we're getting

fatter, " she says. " I think there are a lot of reasons why we're getting

fatter. I also think a whole industry was spawned on low-fat food, so

people could consume fat-free brownies, fat-free ice cream, fat-free

cookies, and that really has contributed to the increased caloric

intake, the increased carbohydrates and the increase in obesity. "

 

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_851835.html

 

***********

 

New Alternative to USDA Dietary Guidelines Nearly Twice as Effective in

Reducing Risk for Major Chronic Disease

 

For immediate release: Thursday, November 21, 2002

 

Boston, MA- Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have

developed healthy eating guidelines and an alternative to the US food

pyramid that, when followed closely, significantly reduced the risk for

major chronic diseases. The researchers rigorously assessed the diets of

more than 100,000 men and women and found that the reduction in risk was

nearly twice as great for those whose diet met the new guidelines when

compared to those whose eating patterns reflected the current USDA

dietary guidelines. The findings appear in the December issue of the

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

 

The USDA measures the benefits of adherence to recommended federal

dietary programs such as the Food Guide Pyramid and " Dietary Guidelines

for Americans " by using what it calls the Healthy Eating Index (HEI).

The HEI scores the foods that are recommended and consumed by

individuals. Adherence to the HEI has been associated with a modest

reduction in risk for chronic disease. To determine if more specific

guidance would further reduce the risk for chronic disease, Walter

Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of

Public Health, Marjorie McCullough from the HSPH Department of Nutrition

(now an epidemiology researcher at the American Cancer Society) and a

team of researchers developed an Alternative Healthy Eating Index and

food guide pyramid emphasizing quality of food choices and compared it

to the current HEI.

 

" The current federal guidelines as displayed in the government food

guide pyramid emphasizes large amounts of carbohydrates, doesn't make a

distinction between types of fat or protein and lumps red meat, chicken,

nuts and legumes together, " said Willett. " We developed a food guide

pyramid based on the best available science and examined how people who

followed it did over the next ten to fifteen years and we found that

those who followed our guidelines had substantially reduced risks for

major disease. These benefits, achieved by healthy dietary choices, are

in addition to those from weight control and regular physical activity,

which are also very important. "

 

More than 100,000 men and women were chosen for the study from the

Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and the Brigham and Women's

Hospital based Nurses' Health Study. The participants were sent detailed

food frequency questionnaires assessing how often they consumed various

foods. The AHEI was designed to highlight specific dietary patterns and

eating behaviors consistently associated with lower chronic disease risk

based on previous epidemiological and clinical investigations. It also

emphasized the quality of food choices, such as white meat over red

meat, whole grains over refined grains, oils high in unsaturated fat

over ones with saturated fat and multivitamin use.

 

The researchers found that men whose diet followed the guidelines of the

Alternate Healthy Eating Index lowered their overall risk of major

chronic disease by 20 percent and women lowered their overall risk by 11

percent compared with those whose diets least followed these guidelines.

Men and women whose diet most closely followed the AHEI guidelines

lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease by 39 percent and 28

percent, respectively. When compared directly, using the same group of

study participants during an identical follow-up time period, the AHEI

reduced risk for chronic disease much more than the federal HEI; men

whose diets followed the federal HEI recommendations reduced their

overall risk by 11 percent and women by only three percent. Willett

added, " The current USDA dietary pyramid misses an enormous opportunity

for improving the health of Americans. It's clear that we need to

rebuild the pyramid from the ground up. Every American deserves it. "

 

The study was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes for

Health.

 

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press11212002.html

 

***********

[Guest guest]

Good catch on NPR -- and thanks for sharing this with us. A number of years ago I was on a committee to help redo school lunches in our district. We discovered that what was mandated by the state for the children to eat had nothing to do with nutrition but politics. Remember the catsup as a vegetable thing!! It was about the same time.

Thanks again for your input.

WildMouse <wildmouse wrote:

Is the Food Pyramid Obsolete? Study: High-Carb, Low-Fat Diet Takes Another BeatingListen to Richard Knox's report Nov. 21, 2002 -- A landmark study published today calls into questionthe U.S. government's official dietary guidelines, enshrined in the foodpyramid. For a decade, the government has advised Americans to stay awayfrom fat and eat a diet based largely on carbohydrates. But as NPR'sRichard Knox reports, a study published in the American Journal ofClinical Nutrition shows the pyramid and other official guidelines aremost likely obsolete.The Food Guide Pyramid is an American icon. At the base are breads,cereal and pasta -- up to 11 servings a day. Veggies and fruits arenext, with two-to-five servings. As the pyramid narrows, it suggestseating fewer dairy products, eggs and meat servings. At the tip are fatsand sweets -- to be used "sparingly." As sensible as it may sound,Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health says the foodpyramid is "a license to overeat.""I think the pyramid is so out of sync with scientific evidence that italmost has to be totally dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up,"says Willett.To Willett, the pyramid's problem is that it assumes that only fatcalories can make people fat. "And the reality is, it's too manycalories from whatever the source, whether they be from carbohydrates orfrom fat," Willett says.Willett and his colleague Marjorie McCullough decided to look at heartdisease and cancer among people whose diets matched the officialgovernment advice. They compared these people to others who ate aHarvard-designed diet containing fewer carbohydrates and more fats. Notjust any fat, but foods, such as nuts and vegetable oils, that don'tcontain harmful trans-fatty acids.The study found that those who ate the Harvard diet had a significantlyreduced risk for major chronic disease. "The benefit we've seen -- forexample, a reduction in heart disease by approximately 40 percent in menand 30 percent in women -- is actually quite large," says Willett. "Whatwe've seen is that the impact of diet can be just as powerful as thebest cholesterol-lowering drug in terms of prevention."When it came to cancer, researchers saw no benefit from thelower-carbohydrate Harvard diet. The relationship between diet andcancer is more complicated. Still, the study suggests that officialadvice to minimize fat is obsolete. Alice Lichtenstein of TuftsUniversity agrees. She was on a federal panel that updated the officialguidelines less than two years ago. Lichtenstein says the new Harvardstudy confirms what most nutritionists believe: The 2000 guidelines arealready out-of-date.But she says the food pyramid and official guidelines alone are not toblame for American obesity."I think we're giving the pyramid too much credit, that people areactually following it to the letter and that's why we're gettingfatter," she says. "I think there are a lot of reasons why we're gettingfatter. I also think a whole industry was spawned on low-fat food, sopeople could consume fat-free brownies, fat-free ice cream, fat-freecookies, and that really has contributed to the increased caloricintake, the increased carbohydrates and the increase in obesity." http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_851835.html***********New Alternative to USDA Dietary Guidelines Nearly Twice as Effective inReducing Risk for Major Chronic Disease For immediate release: Thursday, November 21, 2002 Boston, MA- Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health havedeveloped healthy eating guidelines and an alternative to the US foodpyramid that, when followed closely, significantly reduced the risk formajor chronic diseases. The researchers rigorously assessed the diets ofmore than 100,000 men and women and found that the reduction in risk wasnearly twice as great for those whose diet met the new guidelines whencompared to those whose eating patterns reflected the current USDAdietary guidelines. The findings appear in the December issue of theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The USDA measures the benefits of adherence to recommended federaldietary programs such as the Food Guide Pyramid and "Dietary Guidelinesfor Americans" by using what it calls the Healthy Eating Index (HEI).The HEI scores the foods that are recommended and consumed byindividuals. Adherence to the HEI has been associated with a modestreduction in risk for chronic disease. To determine if more specificguidance would further reduce the risk for chronic disease, WalterWillett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School ofPublic Health, Marjorie McCullough from the HSPH Department of Nutrition(now an epidemiology researcher at the American Cancer Society) and ateam of researchers developed an Alternative Healthy Eating Index andfood guide pyramid emphasizing quality of food choices and compared itto the current HEI. "The current federal guidelines as displayed in the government foodguide pyramid emphasizes large amounts of carbohydrates, doesn't make adistinction between types of fat or protein and lumps red meat, chicken,nuts and legumes together," said Willett. "We developed a food guidepyramid based on the best available science and examined how people whofollowed it did over the next ten to fifteen years and we found thatthose who followed our guidelines had substantially reduced risks formajor disease. These benefits, achieved by healthy dietary choices, arein addition to those from weight control and regular physical activity,which are also very important." More than 100,000 men and women were chosen for the study from theHealth Professionals Follow-Up Study and the Brigham and Women'sHospital based Nurses' Health Study. The participants were sent detailedfood frequency questionnaires assessing how often they consumed variousfoods. The AHEI was designed to highlight specific dietary patterns andeating behaviors consistently associated with lower chronic disease riskbased on previous epidemiological and clinical investigations. It alsoemphasized the quality of food choices, such as white meat over redmeat, whole grains over refined grains, oils high in unsaturated fatover ones with saturated fat and multivitamin use. The researchers found that men whose diet followed the guidelines of theAlternate Healthy Eating Index lowered their overall risk of majorchronic disease by 20 percent and women lowered their overall risk by 11percent compared with those whose diets least followed these guidelines.Men and women whose diet most closely followed the AHEI guidelineslowered their risk of cardiovascular disease by 39 percent and 28percent, respectively. When compared directly, using the same group ofstudy participants during an identical follow-up time period, the AHEIreduced risk for chronic disease much more than the federal HEI; menwhose diets followed the federal HEI recommendations reduced theiroverall risk by 11 percent and women by only three percent. Willettadded, "The current USDA dietary pyramid misses an enormous opportunityfor improving the health of Americans. It's clear that we need torebuild the pyramid from the ground up. Every American deserves it." The study was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes forHealth. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press11212002.html*************************************************************WWW.PEACEFULMIND.COM Sponsors Alternative Answers-HEALING NATURALLY- this is the premise of HOLISTIC HEALTH. Preventative and Curative measure to take for many ailments at:http://www.peacefulmind.com/ailments_frame.htm__________-To INVITE A FRIEND to our healing community, copy and paste this address in an email to them:http://www./members_add _________To ADD A LINK, RESOURCE, OR WEBSITE to Alternative Answers please Go to: http://www./links___________Community email addresses: Post message: Subscribe: - Un: - List owner: -owner _______Shortcut URL to this page: http://www.