The U.S. government tired of the Food Pyramid, calling it confusing and hard to understand. So yesterday they released a new visual aide to help the ignorant populace get a grasp on healthy eating — My Plate. As a visual aid, I agree that the plate is more helpful. It works. It helps the average person see the message at a glance. Too bad it’s still the same old dietary guidelines which made us all fat and terminally ill.
Throw Out The USDA Food Pyramid?
YES! Not only did this month’s journal Nutrition question the validity of the new 2010 USDA dietary guidelines, but the story was picked up by the popular magazine SELF!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the tide really was turning?
Proposed 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines
We shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the USDA’s dietary guidelines have long been backwards. By telling us to replace nutrient-dense saturated fats (a basic requirement of all cell membranes in the human body) with carbohydrates, the USDA food pyramid has fostered the obesity epidemic, surging rates of diabetes, and the dramatic upswing in cardio vascular disease. That’s because if your body doesn’t get enough saturated fats in your diet, it uses carbohydrates to create them. The unfortunate byproduct of using carbohydrates this way is elevated triglyceride levels, an increase in small, dense LDL, and increased inflammation of the arteries and cellular membranes. In other words, the high carbohydrate diet of the USDA elevates all the key markers for heart disease.
Thankfully, the Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price foundation, is speaking out. Yesterday she released an in-depth series of comments on the new proposed USDA Dietary Guidelines for 2010.