"Death by food pyramid": a review

By Dr. Hoffman

The Food Pyramid, created by the USDA in the 1992, has now been conclusively demonstrated to have undermined Americans' health. While it has held sway, diabetes and obesity rates have soared in America.

Food manufacturers have capitalized on the Food Pyramid's recommendations to add token amounts of "whole grains" to foods like bagels and breakfast cereals to confer a false aura of health upon their caloric, processed, high-glycemic index products.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Denise Minger, author of "Death by Food Pyramid: How Shoddy Science, Sketchy Politics and Shady Special Interests Ruined Your Health". http://shar.es/FrXd7

The book provides background and historical context for how we took a huge wrong turn in our public policy toward nutrition.

As Minger relates, the public implicitly trusts "health authorities", particularly from the government, who wrongly assert:

Saturated fat clogs your arteries
Whole grains are heart-healthy
Low-fat dairy makes your bones strong
White meat is better than red
Vegetable oils are healthier than butter
High-cholesterol foods cause heart disease

"Death by Food Pyramid" chronicles how well-meaning but myopic scientists found their recommendations subverted by agribusiness interest groups. The key problem: the USDA has conflicted missions. On the one-hand, we look to the USDA to encourage healthy diet; on the other, its primary purpose is to encourage US agriculture, inextricably intertwined with the profit motive and consumption. The two agendas are often irreconcilable.

If you want the dish on how corruption permeates the food policy process in America, this book is for you. Minger capably joins the top-tier of sensible food critics like Gary Taubes who have challenged the Diet Orthodoxy.

After reading "Death by Food Pyramid" you'll be able to muster cogent arguments to push back against militant vegetarians who claim research conclusively supports their lifestyle choice-it's far from "settled science" as they might claim. All the crucial studies are mercilessly dissected by Minger, and they are far from conclusive in their indictment of animal protein and saturated fat.

Minger has also written excellent balanced critiques of the vegan diet and raw foods (rawfoodsos.com). As a young idealistic college student, Minger succumbed to the allure of extreme vegetarianism and suffered a bewildering array of health problems before she switched to a more omnivorous diet.

At rawfoodsos.com, she offers a detailed and academically scrupulous critique of the "China Study" by Colin Campbell, often invoked as the Bible of the plant-based nutrition movement. http://rawfoodsos.com/the-china-study/ Minger uncovers bias and statistical manipulation underlying Campbell's claim that animal protein is the cause of cancer and heart disease.

In lieu of the USDA Food Pyramid, Minger suggests an "Ancestral Food Pyramid". That means literally turning the old pyramid on its head: instead of a broad base of 9-12 servings of grain products per day, grains should be at the apex of the pyramid. Where once animal proteins and nuts were crowded into the top of the pyramid (to be eaten "sparingly"), they should retake their rightful place joining fruits and vegetables as the lions' share of our diets as they did for our Paleolithic ancestors.

In "Death by Food Pyramid", Minger asserts that the government has no business telling us what to eat. (Given its poor track record, no wonder people are skeptical of official pronouncements about diet and supplements). She sums it up as follows:

"What does this mean for you? Let's make it easy. Anyone who's certain they're right about everything in nutrition is almost definitely wrong. Our understanding of diet and health is still too young for anyone to have all the answers. Carefulness and caution is the mark of a good scientist . . . "

I couldn't have put it better myself!

Minger concludes with this call to action:

"We're locked in a global food fight that's as personal as it is political-one we as consumers stand no chance at winning unless we stand up and demand, through the votes of our dollars and ballots and words, the freedom of choice. The burden is on our own shoulders to stay educated, informed, shrewd, critical, proactive, and unyielding in the face of the Goliaths that loom before us."

So join me in the ongoing Intelligent Medicine exploration as we continue to bring great experts like Denise Minger to your attention.

Have a comment on this article? Send it.


 

Back to...

Health conditions and concerns

More in this group...

Vitamin c / atherosclerosis scare

Functional food science

Is your diet making you sick?

Drugs that steal

Iron: deficiency and toxicity

12 drugs you should never take (part 2 of 3)

12 supplements you should NEVER take

"Death by food pyramid": a review

"Don't take your vitamins"? So not!

"Fed Up": A movie review

Intelligent Medicine Bone Health Protocol available now!

Intelligent Medicine Health News Review

10 "Duh!" health and nutrition stories

10 simple hacks to improve your diet

10 ways the foods you eat can affect your sex life

11 reasons why you should be using extra virgin olive oil

11 things worth trying if you suffer from tinnitus

12 drugs you should never take (part 1 of 3)

12 drugs you should never take (part 3 of 3)

12 supplements you should NEVER take

13 tips for surviving the holidays (part one)

13 tips for surviving the holidays (part two)

16 reasons to go nuts for nuts

5 easy Paleo diet hacks

6 new products that I'm excited about in 2015

A nerd in the kitchen: My review of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji Lo

American Heart Association doubles down on outmoded saturated fat recommendations

Are "paleo snacks" an oxymoron?

Are fruit and veggie pills really as effective as they claim?

Are fruit and veggie pills really as effective as they claim?

Are vegetarians healthier than meat-eaters? So NOT, according to shocking new studies

Can a low-salt diet actually be BAD for you?

Can what you eat really damage your thyroid?

Clinical Focus: Nicotinamide Riboside

Confessions of an EX-vegan

Could a vegetarian diet undermine your mental health?

Could a vegetarian diet undermine your mental health?

Could Big Sugar become the next Big Tobacco?

Death by Food Pyramid? by Denise Minger: A Review

Defensive Eating: Taming your addiction to food

Detox in a box

Dispatches from the front lines of nutrition-what you need to know about the latest health headlines

Do you have SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)?

Do you really need to eat breakfast?

Frontline gets it wrong about supplements

GMO non-browning apples: A risky solution to a non-problem

Happy one millionth podcast! Let's review the best of 2015 so far

How a raw foods diet can make you sick

ICYMI: Dr. Hoffman's Store now available through Fullscript!

Iron: Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?

Is fructose really that bad for you?

Is the "pandemic" of vitamin D deficiency exaggerated?

Is the way to a (wo)man's heart through his(her) stomach?

Is the Whole30 diet right for you? (part one)

Is the Whole30 diet right for you? (part two)

Is your grill killing you? Your personal anti-AGEing program

More good news about olive leaf extract

Organic produce trumps conventional: Here's why!

Paleo pitfalls

Paleo Pitfalls

Pro-vegan website outs apostate meat-eaters

Repeat after me: "Hunger is my friend!"

Rethinking Super Size Me: Is it a Big Whopper?

Rethinking breakfast

Revisiting salt intake - are you eating too much or too little?

Sorry vegans, but humans were designed to eat (some) meat

Supplements that I take

The artificial sweetener controversy: who should you believe?

The Whole30: A review

The WORST health and nutrition stories of 2015

There's no "one-size-fits-all" diet, according to new research

To juice or not to juice?

Top 10 "duh!" health and nutrition stories of 2016

Vitamins can cause cancer-REALLY??

What do Bill Gates, eggs, and soylent green have in common?

What week is it, kiddies? Why, it's National Folic Acid Week!

Why I liberally indulge in high-test chocolate

Why you don't have to feel guilty about those Valentine's Day chocolates

Why you should keep taking your supplements

Will the "real" China study please stand up

Yet more reasons to go gluten-free