From the Indiana Statesman (online edition)
http://www.indianastatesman.com/vne...6/401592dd5d7a8


Food Pyramid ancient, needs scientific replacement

To the Point
By Erin Willman
January 26, 2004


In the face of an ever-increasing obesity epidemic, the ideal action for the American government would be to base its set of nutritional guidelines on sound scientific research and to update those guidelines when new developments in nutrition arise. In reality, quite the contrary is true.

The government's nutritional information, otherwise known as the Food Pyramid, was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1992. Based on misinformation, it has remained relatively unchanged since its creation, despite many long-term studies that have contradicted the nutritional advice it offers.

One such study is the Harvard Nurses' Health Study, led by Dr. Walter Willett. Begun in 1980, the goal of this ongoing study is to assess the long-term affects of diet on health by examining 121,000 women in addition to a comparable group of men added later. Based on the initial conclusions of this long-term look at health and diet correlations, Willett and his colleagues at Harvard Med have found several reasons the USDA Food Pyramid needs revision.

First, the base of the USDA Pyramid is made of complex carbohydrates, implying that all complex carbs are good. In fact, inside your body, refined complex carbs such as white bread, white rice, pasta and potatoes cause the same dramatic increases in blood sugar and insulin in the same amount of time as pure sugar. These blood sugar increases are quickly followed by hunger-signaling drops despite the fact that your body just processed food. This blood sugar rollercoaster can result in insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease, the effects of which are more striking in overweight people. Yet many carbohydrates do not have this impact on blood sugar, including whole grains, fruits and vegetables (except potatoes). These foods take longer to digest and have a slow and steady effect on blood sugar. However, no distinction is made between good complex carbohydrates and bad complex carbohydrates on the USDA Food Pyramid.

Furthermore, the Food Pyramid fails to identify healthy sources of protein. The USDA guide includes red meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts and beans in the protein category, and it is true that all of these foods are great sources of protein. However, the lack of saturated fat in fish and poultry make them better choices than red meat and the extra vitamins and healthy unsaturated fats found in nuts and beans make them excellent choices as well. All of the foods in the protein category of the USDA Pyramid contain protein, but the USDA Pyramid fails to recognize that some protein-rich foods are healthier than others.

In addition, the USDA Food Pyramid lumps all fats together and labels them unhealthy. In reality, there is a vast difference between saturated, trans and unsaturated fats, as well as the impact they have on your health. Both saturated fats and trans fats raise cholesterol levels and increase risk for heart disease. However, unsaturated fats lower bad cholesterol levels while raising good cholesterol levels, actually improving heart health. This has been shown in many studies, including Ancel Keys' Seven Countries Study in the 1950s, which examined the diets and disease of each country in the study. Keys' results confirmed that countries with higher amounts of saturated fat in the diet had higher rates of heart disease while countries with little saturated fat had lower rates of heart disease, but heart disease had no link to total fat or unsaturated fat consumption. Even though this study and others like it have demonstrated that not all fats are bad, the USDA Food Pyramid ignores the scientific support for the idea that saturated fat should be replaced by unsaturated fat in the diet.

Despite all this evidence, the USDA Food Pyramid has not been revised. Unfortunately, this fact has played an integral role in the increase of obesity in America. Overweight Americans cut out all fats and replace them with refined carbohydrates as the Food Pyramid suggests - an action which all too often increases weight problems.

By ignoring the vast body of scientific research regarding proper nutrition, the Food Pyramid is only bringing more health problems upon the American public. Instead of offering sound advice on how to make healthier choices, the Food Pyramid offers cute graphics and scientifically unfounded counsel. It's not difficult to see why the USDA hasn't made major reforms in the types and amounts of food included in the Food Pyramid; by controlling nutrition information, the Department of Agriculture can persuade the public to consume large quantities of their products.

In a time when consistent nutrition information is scarce, the USDA Food Pyramid is only adding to the confusion. The American government should provide citizens with sound and reliable advice concerning nutrition by basing recommendations on the most consistent and scientifically supported information instead of maintaining outdated and incorrect claims.