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  #1   ^
Old Thu, Oct-02-03, 11:19
doreen T's Avatar
doreen T doreen T is offline
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Default Congress Hears Testimony Calling for New Food Pyramid ... USDA Conflict of Interest??

Congress Hears Testimony Calling for New Food Pyramid


By Cyrille Cartier

WASHINGTON (Reuters) Oct 01 - Health experts on nutrition and diet on Tuesday called on the government to overhaul its public dietary guidelines, charging that heavy reliance on carbohydrates and fear of all fats has left the nation seriously overweight.

The Department of Agriculture's food pyramid oversimplifies the food groups and stresses such food as bread and pasta at the expense of more proteins and unsaturated fats, said several experts at a hearing of the Senate's Consumer Affairs and Product Safety Subcommittee.

"Looking at some of the recommendations from the Department of Agriculture gives the idea that they've forgotten that we're feeding people, not horses," said Walter Willet, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight and 30% are obese, according to the Surgeon General's office. While the USDA's flawed guidelines are not the only culprits, Willet said, "The pyramid, it hasn't helped. It probably made it more hard for people to control their weight."

The food pyramid outlines the government's version of the healthiest way to eat. Few revisions have been made since its release by the Department of Agriculture in 1992, said John Webster, a USDA spokesman.

The latest edition of the pyramid recommends that Americans eat six to 11 servings of carbohydrates a day, or the equivalent of six to 11 slices of bread. The pyramid also groups together fats, oils and sweets in one group and recommends they be eaten in small amounts.

"We need to get away from fat phobia," said Stuart Lawrence Trager, a clinical assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and leading advocate of the high-protein Atkins diet.

He said the pyramid does not account for the difference between the healthy unsaturated fats and high-fiber carbohydrates, such as those found in whole grains, and their undesirable counterparts.

"Is there a link between our ever expanding waistlines and our government dietary guidelines?" asked Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, an Illinois Republican, who announced he would introduce legislation to transfer the responsibility of dietary guidelines away from the USDA.

The USDA may have a conflict of interest by supporting grain and sugar producers while recommending that Americans eat fewer carbohydrates. "Putting the USDA in charge of dietary guidelines is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house," said Fitzgerald, the chair of the committee that heard the hearing.


http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/462375
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  #2   ^
Old Thu, Oct-02-03, 12:17
Arie's Avatar
Arie Arie is offline
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The USDA may have a conflict of interest by supporting grain and sugar producers while recommending that Americans eat fewer carbohydrates. "Putting the USDA in charge of dietary guidelines is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house," said Fitzgerald, the chair of the committee that heard the hearing.


How sad! How true!
If I was in the grain business, I'll be paying millions for lobbyist to roam the halls of congress and do all I can to influence the food pyramid.
I do not believe it should be the government place to tell me how to eat, but if they insist, it should be the FDA.. F is for FOOD!
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  #3   ^
Old Thu, Oct-02-03, 12:43
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Grimalkin Grimalkin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arie
If I was in the grain business, I'll be paying millions for lobbyist to roam the halls of congress and do all I can to influence the food pyramid.


This is already common practice. For instance we saw this earlier this year:

The sugar industry in the US is threatening to bring the World Health Organisation to its knees by demanding that Congress end its funding unless the WHO scraps guidelines on healthy eating, due to be published on Wednesday.
The threat is being described by WHO insiders as tantamount to blackmail and worse than any pressure exerted by the tobacco lobby.


from The Guardian, April 21, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/internati...,940287,00.html

FYI, the new WHO report suggests restricting sugars to <10% of daily caloric consumption, the industry wanted 25%. WHO published the report anyway and Big Sugar is still fighting it.
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  #4   ^
Old Thu, Oct-02-03, 12:51
korry1977's Avatar
korry1977 korry1977 is offline
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Big Sugar, Big Tobacco, Big Oil...

Whats next?

On a more serious note,

Is the new WHO dietary guidelines already published, if so, I would like to take a look at it.

Also, USDA guidelines, Do they have a preliminary guideline, or is it still in the works...


Thanks
Korry
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  #5   ^
Old Thu, Oct-02-03, 12:57
doreen T's Avatar
doreen T doreen T is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by korry1977
..Is the new WHO dietary guidelines already published, if so, I would like to take a look at it.

Also, USDA guidelines, Do they have a preliminary guideline, or is it still in the works...

Apparently, they're accepting submissions and proposals for new dietary guidelines, but at the moment, the old Food Pyramid is still the official stance.

You can read more here .. http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=139582


Doreen
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  #6   ^
Old Thu, Oct-02-03, 13:45
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Grimalkin Grimalkin is offline
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Korry,

The report in question is the WHO Technical Report Series 916, you can find it at http://www.who.int/nut/publications.htm under "Obesity and nutrition transition" section.

According to the WHO Director-General (Rome press release, 23rd April 2003) that, "the Report (916) is significant because we will be using it as the critical science-based foundation for the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health". This will be presented to the World Health Assembly in May 2004.
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  #7   ^
Old Thu, Oct-02-03, 23:15
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korry1977 korry1977 is offline
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Ok thanks Doreen, Grimalkin on the links...


I read both links, but what was particular interest to me was http://www.who.int/nut/documents/trs_916.pdf

This is the link to the study, I believe.

It stated on page 56, Chapter 5, Table 6, the population nutrient intake goals for carbs seem awfully high...

There are pushing 'complex carbs,' but the intake of 'free sugars' < 10%, > 400g of fruit

10-15% protein
15-30% fat

I also noticed that on page 58 Fruits and Vegetables that potatoes and other tubers are not to considered.

Interesting comments on the free sugars, though

Last edited by korry1977 : Thu, Oct-02-03 at 23:17.
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  #8   ^
Old Fri, Oct-03-03, 12:16
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Grimalkin Grimalkin is offline
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Korry, I noticed that too. Imagine 25% of free calories from sugar alone on top of all of the starches and fruits. The 10% recommendation by the WHO doesn't really seem like much of an improvement, but I suppose it's a start.

I imagine this report will have an impact on the new USDA guidelines as well. Big Sugar won't want to see sugar consumption guidelines in the US decrease, we are such big consumers of sugar (no pun intended )!
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  #9   ^
Old Fri, Oct-03-03, 14:37
cc48510 cc48510 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by korry1977
It stated on page 56, Chapter 5, Table 6, the population nutrient intake goals for carbs seem awfully high...


I think you typoed...It starts on Page 66.

Quote:
There are pushing 'complex carbs,' but the intake of 'free sugars' < 10%, > 400g of fruit

10-15% protein
15-30% fat


I think the 400g of Fruit is based on their weight, not on the carb content. That is 400g of Carbs from Fruit, that is 400g of fruit. 400g is approximately 3 servings/day depending on the weight of the fruit. That actually allows for a much wider range of carbs from fruit. For example, if you got all that fruit from Watermelon, that would only be 15g of Carbs. But, if it came from Bananas, it would be almost 60g of Carbs. If it came from Raisins, it would be almost 300g of Carbs. For Strawberries, that would be 18g of Carbs. BTW. "Carbs" as I use it means Net Carbs.

As for the fat intake, I think that mostly is because of Asia. They don't eat much fat there, and WHO doesn't want to cause them to increase their fat intake. They did point out that some countries do fine at higher than that level of Fat. They said 35%, but that's probably the highest average intake of fat in the world nowadays. It used to be 40% or more.

I think they mislead people with their Fat Supply chart. I don't have time to read 160 pages...So, I would assume "Fat Supply" means how much is available to each person, not how much we actually eat. The chart shows Fat Supply increasing. But, at least here in the US...Fat intake has gone down, though LFers will falsely claim it went up by comparing current levels to those in the mid-80s [height of the LF Fad.] What this means is that even though we have more fat out there, we aren't eating it. Basically, [as a nation] we are trimming the fat off our meats, skimming our milks, etc...

As for Protein...I honestly believe that eating so little Protein is what has created this generation of college girls, who are so short/thin [due to lack of tone,] they look like pre-teens even in their 20s and 30s. They also have chicken bones for legs nowadays [they'd probably break their legs in 20 places if they fell.] I read an article in my college newspaper about restraunts and one part caught my attention. There was a sophmore girl who said she liked a certain restraunt and ate a Kid's meal. Sadly, due to their small stature and tiny bodies...most of these girls probably could pass themselves off as under 12. Now, some folks may think that is a good thing. Having the face of a pre-teen is a good thing. Being the size of one isn't.
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  #10   ^
Old Fri, Oct-03-03, 16:02
korry1977's Avatar
korry1977 korry1977 is offline
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Quote:
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by korry1977
It stated on page 56, Chapter 5, Table 6, the population nutrient intake goals for carbs seem awfully high...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I think you typoed...It starts on Page 66


Actually is page 56 on the document (look at lower left corner of the page), and Page 66 on the thumbnail page... so I guess we're both right

Well, I wasnt that surprised, since these are World reccomendations...

on malnurished college coeds...:

Great... not only a present obesity epidemic, but maybe a future osteoporisis epidemic, along a whole host of endocrinological disorders.. (involving the Thyroid, Pancreas, Parathyroid, Hypothalmus, etc, etc, etc....)

Well at least the supplement industry wins big.... again...

JMHO,
Korry
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