The food pyramid has nothing to do with eating a healthy diet and everything to do with making money for the food manufacturing industry. I think saturated fat gets unfairly criminalized. Natural fats like saturated fat should be a part of your diet. Saturated fat occurs in nature. In any animal we eat….. any animal our ancestors would have flung a spear into and eaten 10,000 years ago… animals God put on this earth for us to eat. So how can it be bad for you? Trans-fat on the other hand is man-made, chemically altered. Your body can’t properly digest it. The food manufacturing industry loves it because it’s cheap and it keeps. It won’t spoil. It stays solid at room temperature. They can make more $$ selling you that then they can selling you fresh, natural food. And you’re just now starting to hear that trans-fat *might* be bad for you. Americans have become so brainwashed by the government and it’s low-fat mantra that it’s hard for most people to even consider that fat can be good for you.
The gov’t has been lobbied so heavily with so much $$ from big business, that their food pyramid and “guidelines” are inherently corrupt. Their definition of “proper eating” is the one that earns food manufacturers the most $$, it’s not the one that’s most healthy for you. Most people are too stupid, or too naive to see any of this. This should throw up a huge red flag:
The makers of Hershey chocolates, Budweiser and Spam urged the federal government “to put its considerable influence behind efforts to urge Americans to increase daily levels of exercise” but also asked it to recommend higher food consumption.
Higher food consumption? Are you f*@#%ing kidding me? We’re in the middle of an obesity epidemic and they want us to eat more. Or this one…
The Independent Bakers Association, representing bread makers, warned against a tilt toward protein consumption, influenced by regimens such as the Atkins diet.
Any nutrional specialist or personal trainer not working for a company trying to sell you a particular product will tell you Americans need MORE protein in their diets, not less. Processed carbs like white bread and cereals occupy the largest spot on the food pyramid, while fresh vegetables which are far more nutrious and better for you but with smaller profit margins fall further down the list. Be a skeptic. Read often. Question everything. And think for yourselves! Here’s the article…
Food industry weighs in on guidelines
Scientists worry corporate influence will sway policy at a time of radical overhaul.
BY RAJA MISHRA
The Boston Globe
Uncle Sam’s menu is about to change, and corporate America wants to help write the new edition. But scientists worry that the result will be more sensitive to the bottom line than to the ever-expanding American waistline.
Every five years, federal officials revise the cornerstones of national food policy: the national dietary guidelines and food pyramid. The last revision was 2000.
Together, these policies outlining the official, government-sanctioned healthy diet hold enormous sway over American eating habits. More directly, they control the federal government’s vast food-assistance program, which feeds one in five Americans.
Corporate food makers have bombarded federal officials recently with suggested changes. And virtually every food company wants the government to urge more daily consumption than most scientists recommend.
Many nutrition specialists fret that the corporate duress combined with considerable pressure to significantly change national food policy in the face of an ongoing obesity epidemic will lead to unhealthy changes.
In hundreds of pages of lobbying briefs, various sectors of the food industry argued for changes that would benefit them economically.
The makers of Hershey chocolates, Budweiser and Spam urged the federal government “to put its considerable influence behind efforts to urge Americans to increase daily levels of exercise” but also asked it to recommend higher food consumption.
The Independent Bakers Association, representing bread makers, warned against a tilt toward protein consumption, influenced by regimens such as the Atkins diet.
The vitamin and supplement industry argued for placing a flag labeled “supplements” atop the food pyramid. But supplements vary widely in their effectiveness.
“The pyramid has been very susceptible to industry pressure,” Harvard nutrition specialist Meir Stampfer said. “Even now, it’s not really, in my view, scientifically based advice.”
Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the low-carb craze has focused intense interest on this round of changes. “I’m always worried when they reopen these guidelines,” she said. “The food industry is so influential and there’s so many of them. There’s a trade group for every food.”
In one sign of the changes afoot, U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman John Webster said, “I’m not going to use the word ‘pyramid’ because we’re not sure it’s going to be a pyramid. Here, we call it a ‘food guidance system.’ ”
Next week, the USDA will hold a two-day open meeting on the issue in Washington. In June, a panel of academic specialists, none with direct ties to the industry, will issue recommended revisions. Changes must be approved by the Bush administration and finalized by the end of the year, a closed-door decision during which, critics say, the industry wields considerable influence.
Food-industry representatives said they are advocating for realistic targets, achievable for average Americans. For instance, in recent months, they have opposed proposals from scientists to cut daily recommended sodium intake by more than a third. Higher sodium intake can increase the risk of high blood pressure. The proposal seems unlikely to be adopted.
