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.