Comments on: 2010 Dietary Guidelines: Same Old $#@%

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:21:01 +0000

It gets into higher math. The difference between the “old” 10% saturated fat and the “new” 7% saturated fat, based on a “perfect” 2000-calorie diet, is 60 calories. Sixty calories is equivalent to 6/10 of a tablespoon of butter or 1/2 a tablespoon of coconut oil. But, according to Mary Enig, butter is only about 65% saturated, so only 65% of that 6/10 of that tablespoon of butter is saturated. And what about that tablespoon of fat you couldn’t trim from your pork chop. Enig says that’s really only about 40% saturated. . .

What a joke! Nobody’s going to fiddle with that shift from 10% to 7% saturated fat. They’ll either just throw up their hands at the whole thing (probably wise) or go out and buy packaged stuff which has all the math done for them.

Of they’re really smart, just eat the butter and stop worrying about it.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:38:30 +0000

Aside from the Tim McVeigh-flavored Tea-Party-esque anti-government rants, I agree – the USDA is corrupt and in cahoots with the AMA and Big Pharma to keep people fat and sick.

With the right-leaning SCOTUS ruling that corporations are people and can pay to put their politicians in government positions, the “Mr. Smiths” don’t stand much of a chance. We need people in government with balls who will stand up to corporations, corporate welfare, and corporate lobbyists. Wish we could educate Al Franken about this and then clone him. He ain’t afraid of nobody!

I don’t think the USDA is intentionally making people sick; I think they just want to sell grains. As Milton Friedman said, people have an endless capacity to believe that whatever is good for them personally is also good for society. So the USDA folks probably have themselves convinced grains are health food.

Much of the supposed power of corporations depends on forming a crony-capitalism relationship with government. Take away government’s power, and the corruption goes with it. Nobody bribes an official who doesn’t have the power to rig the game. As long as a handful of people in government have the power to make decisions worth billions of dollars, the corporations would be fools not to throw a few million around to ensure those decisions go their way.

By: Raphael

Raphael — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:26:57 +0000

At least they got something else right…

Unsaturated Fatty Acids
The AHA is currently in the process of publishing a science advisory on omega-6 fatty acids and the risk for cardiovascular disease. We believe this paper may be of interest to the Committee.
The paper will be available online after January 26th at
http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.191627.

They’re still pushing replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat:

This advisory was undertaken to summarize the current
evidence on the consumption of omega-6 PUFAs, particularly
LA, and CHD risk. Aggregate data from randomized
trials, case-control and cohort studies, and long-term
animal feeding experiments indicate that the consumption
of at least 5% to 10% of energy from omega-6 PUFAs
reduces the risk of CHD relative to lower intakes. The data
also suggest that higher intakes appear to be safe and may
be even more beneficial (as part of a low–saturated-fat,
low-cholesterol diet). In summary, the AHA supports an
omega-6 PUFA intake of at least 5% to 10% of energy in
the context of other AHA lifestyle and dietary recommendations.
To reduce omega-6 PUFA intakes from their
current levels would be more likely to increase than to
decrease risk for CHD.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:05:15 +0000

Sorry I didn’t read anyone else’s comments but I agree with Tom in that the food pyramid was developed to keep the government fat with cash, and also to reduce our surplus. Look, all this country had to offer to the world are grains, and we don’t even have that now because no country wants our GM cr@p, so who’s left to sell to? Americans, of course. So they develop this food pyramid and brainwash us because we’re so gullible to make us believe that grains should make up the bulk of our daily caloric intake. All the while knowing that this proposed diet is causing a huge health epidemic, they slowly but surly take over our health care. Can they say “cha-ching”?

A side note: the idea of using ethanol in place of oil was just another scheme to put a dent in our enormous surplus of grains (the stuff they’re trying to stuff down our throats)… but that just ended up being a huge FAIL.

And grains are about as good for cars as they are for people.

By: gallier2

gallier2 — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:51:08 +0000

Yes, in German diabetes was even called Zuckerkrankheit (sugar illness) or short Zucker (sugar). In expressions like: Tante Else hat Zucker (aunty Else has sugar). Everybody understood that she has diabetes and not a drawer full of sugar.
Funnily in French it was not the case, it’s always been diabète, and there was no (obvious) association with sugar.

From what I’ve seen in the data I looked up online, the French have a very low rate of diabetes, so they’re forgiven for leaving “sugar” out of the word.

By: ethyl d

ethyl d — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:33:25 +0000

Hmm…people are still eating too much saturated fat, so let’s go from 10% to 7%. And when people are still getting heart disease, let’s keep going until people are told to eat 0% saturated fat. And while we’re at it, let’s keep revising the salt guidelines ever downward as people continue to get all the terrible diseases that salt supposedly causes until we are advising people to eliminate all salt from their diet. But wait, they’re still getting sicker and fatter, and dying in alarming numbers, so it must mean everyone should eat even less calories and get even more exercise, so let’s keep going until people care enough about their health to eat 0 calories while exercising 24/7/365. Isn’t this the logical conclusion of guidelines that keep going down, down, down as fat, lazy Americans refuse to listen and do what’s best for themselves?

Are you sure you’re not gearing up to be a trainer on The Biggest Loser?

By: John Hunter

John Hunter — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:50:25 +0000

Diabetes, or if you are William Brimley, “Di-uh-Beet-us” When i was growing up i always heard it called “sugar diabetes”. Does this mean they are going to start calling it “saturated fat diabetes”? Funny how we used to know more about it then, then we do now.

That’s right, they called it sugar diabetes when I was a kid, too.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 06:53:04 +0000

Whenever I go on vacation and have to shop at a supermarket, I cannot believe how difficult it is to find full fat anything. Seriously, how are people supposedly eating too much saturated fat? Nearly everything I come upon in supermarkets today is low-fat, and at a store in Long Island, there was no full fat yogurt to be found. Even the beef is trimmed lean! Not to mention that companies have done their best to replace every gram of saturated fat with poly- or monounsaturated, so my bread can contain “good, wholesome canola oil!” Great. Plus, if you happen to be eating at a steakhouse or fast food joint, your “butter” is probably margarine, and the deadly-choke-on-your-own-fat-a$$ french fries are more than likely fried in “healthy-alternative” vegetable oil.

I live in Vermont, and we have access to all kinds of delicious fat-filled foods like local beef, cut however you like, raw milk, great cheese, and lots of butter, but most of the country doesn’t have this luxury. If the average American is eating too much saturated fat, I have no idea where they’re finding it.

They’ve made it tough, but we’re still above that 10% of calories the government recommends.

By: Brian Mallard

Brian Mallard — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:02:17 +0000

I dunno, Tom, information provided by the USDA that causes most people to choose carbs, no salt and no meat means there’s more for the rest of us smart people. I have essentially given up discussing my paleo food regimen with my carboholic friends and relatives. They do not eat enough saturated fat to have sufficient cognitive function to understand.

If only the effects of carb-laden diets took effect before breeding age, this problem would eventually solve itself.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:16:09 +0000

Some months ago, I heard from a NYTimes writer who was looking into the connection between subsidies and the recommended guidelines. He contacted me because I’d expressed concern about this, in the comments.

Thanks. I don’t want to expose his email address online, but I wrote it down.