Tag Archives: food pyramid

Making America Healthy Again

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On Wednesday, NBC News posted an article about the new U.S. dietary guide.

The article reports:

The Trump administration released updated U.S. dietary guidelines Wednesday, encouraging Americans to eat more protein and full-fat dairy, while cutting back on ultra-processed foods and added sugars.

The guidelines — which are updated every five years by the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments — largely align with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, but stop short of the sweeping changes some nutrition experts had expected.

Gone is the MyPlate visual guide for what foods to eat — which recommended filling your plate with roughly equal parts grains, vegetables, protein and fruit with a small portion of dairy.

Instead, an updated version of the food pyramid is back, this time inverted and slightly jumbled. Protein, dairy and healthy fats, along with vegetables and fruits, dominate; whole grains are de-emphasized.

The new guide is much closer to the American diet before the beef shortage of 1973. It is also closer to the American diet before obesity became common. The change in the American diet from meat protein to grains is not the only culprit in America’s obesity epidemic. Fast food (which actually used to be cheap), processed food, excessive amounts of sugar in foods, and high fructose corn syrup all play a role.

The article includes the new food pyramid:

Revising the food pyramid is one more step toward making America healthy again.

The article concludes:

The recommendations call for avoiding ultra-processed foods, added sugars and refined carbohydrates. It singles out prepackaged snacks such as chips, cookies and candy in favor of “nutrient-dense foods” and home-prepared meals.

Added sugars should be limited to 10 grams per meal. To help people identify added sugar, the guidance advises checking the ingredient list for terms that include “sugar,” “syrup” or ingredients that end in “-ose.”

Fruits and vegetables should be consumed “in their original form,” although frozen, dried or canned fruits and vegetables can be a good option if they include no or very limited added sugars.

On sodium, the guidelines are unchanged: Most people ages 14 and up should consume less than 2,300 milligrams per day. Recommendation limits are lower for children, ranging from less than 1,200 mg per day to 1,800 mg per day.

The new guidelines appear to remove specific daily limits on alcohol, which were previously set at no more than one drink per day for women and two for men.

Instead, it advises Americans to drink “less alcohol for better overall health.”

Food Neutrality

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When I read the One America News article, I wondered if it was from the Babylon Bee.

On Thursday, One America News posted an article about Los Angeles Unified School District releasing a video claiming that diets are an example of ‘food oppression.’ The video claims that we should tell our kids that we’ve lied to them and no one food is better for them than another food (oppressive food hierarchy).

The article reports:

The L.A. Parent Union drew attention to the presentation. The Union alleged that ‘food choice’ is the result of a false standard of health. Nutritionist, Kera Nyemb-Diop, and influencer Blair Imani, are featured in the video. The two ladies encouraged students to eat whatever they want as no nutritional choice is healthier than another.

Now that’s really interesting. I remember in junior high school seeing a video of an experiment on white mice. One group of mice was fed vegetables and protein and the other group of mice was fed potato chips and soda. The first group of mice thrived and the second group did not. I realize that we are not mice, but somehow I think there are some things we could learn from that experiment.

Obesity is a problem in America. What is in our food? How much real (natural) food do we eat? How much sugar or high fructose corn syrup do we consume? Do children who grow up drinking sweet tea have more cavities? Do children who eat a lot of sweets tend to weigh more?

I will admit that I have never heard the expression oppressive food hierarchy before. I also realize that some of the information we were given as children about what we should eat has turned out to be false. The food pyramid puts starches on the bottom as things we should eat a lot of and puts fats and oils on the top to be used sparingly. Studies have shown that certain oils (coconut oil, olive oil) have nutritional benefits. Studies have also shown that many Americans are gluten sensitive, so the pyramid does not work for them. Many nutritionists believe that the Mediterranean diet is the healthiest way to eat, but according to the Los Angeles Unified School District that would be part of the oppressive food hierarchy.

At any rate, I think the introduction of the concept of oppressive food hierarchy sounds like something out of the Babylon Bee. We do know that Americans eat too much sugar and too much fat that those things are not good for you. Some foods are simply more healthy than others. Calling that concept oppressive food hierarchy does not change that fact.