Hi. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that the drug companies are a big reason that, IMHO, the makeup of the food pyramid reccommended by the government will not change anytime soon. The drug companies are one of the biggest political contribution groups and have alot of politicans doing their bidding. Do the drug companies want to see the american public lose weight and become healthier? I don't think so. Who would they sell all that high colesterol, high blood pressure medicene, and insulin to.
I also don't think the government itself is too interested in the American public becoming healthier, living longer, and drawing Social Security checks for a longer period of time. Think about it for a minute. What better way to solve the impending Social Security crisis than have the people that would be drawing checks not be around to collect?
I am not a conspiracy theroist but something doesn't look right here.

Moon

More like Do the drug companies want to admit they're wrong?

And I don't think its the food pyrmids fault so many people are overweight. Cause if you think about it..

How many people have ever followed the food pyrmaid exactly? I know I never did.. Anyone else ever count calories before they gained weight? (before discovering lowcarb) Highly doubt it.

I think WW people are the only ones that try and follow that..thing.



Why make money selling that crap though when they can make a hell of alot more money from our insurance companies doing kidney transpants on us since all the protein we eat is killing them. (sarcasm)

You are SO right, and a big factor is this: drug companies can NOT patent a natural substance. Consider this: magnesium deficiency is widespread. Magnesium works together in the body with calcium; in fact, magnesium is the body's natural calcium channel blocker. But drug companies can't patent magnesium, so they have to make *artificial* calcium channel blockers for everyone to take. Doesn't it make more sense just to treat the deficiency? Of course, but it doesn't turn much of a profit.

Ditto for progesterone. Natural progesterone will cause virtually zero side effects when women take it, but a natural substance can't be patented, so drug companies have to make *artificial* progestins, which are *brutal*. (Do I sound bitter? Artificial hormones are the reason I'm here. )

I think you are right, but I would think that the USDA, rather than drug companies, would have more to do with the food pyramid, after all it's agriculture that gets the whopping 6-11 servings per day. BUT, it's also hard to keep track of all these umbrella corporations. It wouldn't surprise me if, should I investigate, pharmaceuticals and junk food manufacturers were part of the same conglomerate.

Having said that, I think you are right in that everything comes down to bottom line. If you aren't making money, what's the point. Health care, particularly in the US, has become pretty corrupt. I know because my husband, who is a doctor, experienced it first hand when we moved to the US. We quickly returned to Canada when the year's commitment was up.

Pharmaceuticals spend a lot of time convincing doctors that natural supplements don't work. It's easy to do since they have such easy access to doctors. Furthermore, their motivations are questionable. I was on an experimental drug years ago (a prostrate cancer drug used to treat endometriosis) which I later found out had been approved through fraudulent experimentation. This drug didn't work, but the doctor was paid by the pharmaceutical company to alter his data. The doctor lost his license but nothing happened to the pharmaceutical company. To further add insult, this doctor was then hired by the pharmaceutical company. Even worse, OB/GYNs weren't even appropriately informed of the situation and still to this day prescribe this drug.

I don't think the government consciously decides to save money by withholding appropriate health advice. However, they are at the mercy of powerful corporations for contributions. Ultimately, they become slaves of big business demands.

WCollier--Probably most of the USDA bigwigs are political appointees, which would make the link back to the politicans. I get really frustrated when I think about the big picture of health care in this country. Health care premiums are going up 12% to 16% a year and I can't blame the employers for trying to pass the cost on to the employees. It's not their fault and it's not the workers fault. I wish Congress would pass a law that insurance premiums could only go up as the life expancty increased. Why are we paying higher prices if we aren't living any longer?
Sorry I got off the lo-carb topic but like I said I get really frustrated.

Moon

Hi Moon:

I guess we are a bit off topic, but really it all relates back to the politics of low carb eating. Junk food makes money which begets power which begets politicians and policy. No wonder Dr. Atkins has been vilified by his collegues.

I can't remember the source (I'll post if it comes to me - I think it was Atkins, though), but I read that the low-fat WOE didn't begin with medicine, but with a couple of senators, who understood (I assume from their constituents) that there was a lot of money to be made from selling high carb foods. It really didn't have anything to do with heart health. Maybe someone can fill me in on the details or source of this info in case I'm wrong.

As for the USDA, their conflicts of interest are so rampant that it's unbelievable that they have any credibility. Their acceptance of GMOs are a great example. Blindly accepting GMOs (which have never had to go through FDA testing) because their committee members have a vested interest in profits. They were the impetus behind trying to underhandedly force the UK into accepting GMO foods. How arrogant is that?

I won't even start on about health care. I'll be typing till midnight if I start. Us Canadians have no clue how difficult it is for people in the US who can't affort health care. It was heartbreaking to see what went on. Insurance companies (particularly HMOs) in the US are about as corrupt as it gets. I could tell horror stories.

The bottom line is that we shouldn't blindly accept what "expert" information is handed to us on a platter. We always have to ask "where's the bias?". When we know the bias, we can make more informed decisions.

OK, enough of me....

I just want to point out that the enlightenment I've gotten from the people on this board, telling their own experiences in the health care maze, has made me realize that I'm responsible for taking charge of my own health and doing my own research.

THANK GOD FOR THE INTERNET!!!

When my dear mother-in-law was released from the hospital after major back surgery and a subsequent infection her digestive system was a mess.... sick as a dog with stomach pain, bloating, constipation and diarrhea, etc. Her doctor just put her on more drugs and told her to wait it out. What I found out on my own was that she probably had an imbalance of intestinal flora from all the weeks of antibiotics!! I advised her to immediately start taking Acidophulus and eating yogurt with live cultures. Hey, guess what?? She was much better within 2 days!!! Uh, why in the hell didn't her doctor recommend such a simple solution???

Bottom line: Do your own research. Check integrative medicine and naturopathic websites (like HealthWorld ). Join bulletin boards like this one where people share their experiences. The effort is soooo worth it!!

BTW - The USDA is in the process of revising the food pyramid and its supposed to be out in 2004. I can't wait to see what they come up with now!!

It's not even necessarily the fault of the insurance companies. As someone who works in the industry, I can tell you that insurance companies are paying out more and more money for the same drugs and health care as the prices continue to skyrocket and newer more expensive drugs and procedures enter the market which, of course, the people expect their insurance companies to pay for. After all, everyone wants the best possible health care, don't they? Isn't that what they're paying those premiums for? They (the insurance companies) can't pay the claims unless they have enough money in reserves to cover them. They won't have enough money in reserves to cover the claims unless they raise the premiums. It's a vicious circle. As the population ages, and the average age of the population is going up as baby boomers continue to get older and live longer, health care and pharmaceutical usage goes up (remember all those doctors prescribing prescription medication for every little ailment when a natural product would do?).
Doctors order a lot more tests than they used to simply to cover their butts in this litigious society (it's referred to as CYA medicine). If something happens to the patient or heaven forbid they should die, some lawyer out there is usually quick to find some test that wasn't ordered or a drug that wasn't prescribed or a procedure that wasn't performed and convince the family to sue the doctor for medical negligence. Medical malpractice insurance comes into play then as claims are paid out and premiums go up. The doctors have to cover the costs of higher premiums, so to stay in practice, they pass that cost along to the patients.
See how this is all tied together and we as individuals played a part in this too? How many people do you know who feel that they haven't been "treated" by the doctor unless they leave the office with a precription in hand? How many people do you know that will pressure their doctor to let them try the latest and greatest drug out there after seeing a commercial for it on TV (Rogaine and Retin-A and a host of allergy and cholesterol-lowering medications come to mind here)? Consumers drive the market. I'll fault the pharmaceutical industry for their commercials and ads trying to convince everyone that they need whatever new drug they are coming out with, but people also need to stop and ask themselves if they really need that new drug or if they are simply falling prey to slick advertising.

So true, so true. It's hard to imagine life before the internet. Funny enough, the internet scares some people who rely on the control of information.

Antibiotics are notorious for killing all good and bad bacteria. I won't even get started about antibiotics because they were the source of many of my problems. Antibiotic resistance is such a concern today, never mind with overuse of antibiotics, but the overuse of antibacterial soaps and cleaners. They've become rampant. We're not only killing the bad bacteria, but also the good bacteria that we need. When I was a teenager, I must have been on antibiotics for years to control my acne (which never helped). What's really unfortunate is that we are eliminating our body's ability to fight bacteria, viruses and infections. That's precisely what builds our immune system!!!! I read a quote written by a doctor about the use of antibiotics. He said it would take 2 weeks to get over a bacterial infection without antibiotics and 2 weeks to get over a bacterial infection with antibiotics. He also believed that hospitals should be the only place where antibiotics are given (in emergencies).

Not only do we have to contend with the abuse of antibiotics, but also the overconsumption of sugar. Sugar feeds yeast, which destroys the balance between yeast and beneficial bacteria. We desperately need beneficial bacteria for digestive health and a strong immune system.

Now, to answer your comment about probiotics, doctors won't prescribe them because they are taught to deal with symptoms only. Prevention is not a consideration, and even then you have to consider that doctors and drug companies would have to admit that drugs do harm. You wouldn't believe how brainwashed doctors are coming out of school. My husband and I have had great discussions since I turned to natural medicine (when conventional medicine could not help me). He just repeats what drug company reps tell him. Drug companies have control over the medical ciriculum and then maintain control through continuing education. I admire someone like Dr. Atkins who has had the courage to question everything he had been taught.

Having said that, some doctors are now starting to advise that probiotics be taken AFTER a course of antibiotics (taken during will only kill them off). The numbers are increasing, but it comes down to not wanting to admit that they were wrong all along. Isn't that what most of the problems today arise from? We're so caught up "saving face" that we won't acknowledge that we don't have all the answers. God knows, there are enough doctors out there with God complexes. It's what makes many of them so good, but ....

Oh God, I've rambled again.... this is getting embarrassing.

Hi Lisa:

You are very correct. We treat medicine as if it were an exact science. It's not. Usually it's a matter of sorting out the percentages. An inexact science coupled with human error (no one is perfect) equals lots of money for lawyers. Luckily, we don't generally have that problem in Canada.

When my husband first started practicing, I remember he naively stated that he wouldn't blindly dispense drugs. If someone had to eat healthier, lose weight, quit smoking or start exercising, that would be his advise. In the real world, it didn't happen that way. Patients come to doctors for drugs, bottom line. I think they just simply wore him down. They don't want to hear about their problems or addictions, they want a quick fix. And let me tell you, they get downright cranky when they can't walk out with a prescription in their hands. We have become a hedonistic, "instant gratification" society.

When I grew up (and health care wasn't free), you didn't go to the doctor unless you were deathly ill. Parents knew how to care for their children. Now with free health care in Canada, we have patients who come in every week with minor complaints. It's such a huge drain. We've had hospitals in our area closed down to visitors and minor emergencies because people were coming to the emergency with the flu (along with their barf buckets), making the hospital staff sick.

People have to get back to taking their health into their own hands. Until then, we've got problems.

LisaN-- You're right. It's not the ins co fault. I knew that because when my fellow co-workers start ragging on the ins co I always tell them that the Ins co would be happy making the same profit on premiums that were 40% less.

Too bad we couldn't have a national health care protest day. I could just picture 150,000 people gathering on the streets in the center of every city ( on a Sunday ). I don't know if it would do any good but It sure would be front page news.

I hadn't thought about the patients demanding drugs angle but after thinking about it, it's true. I'm not that way but I can see where alot of people would be.

Moon

You're absolutely correct. When I worked for a GP in North Carolina for a few years, I was always a bit irked at the parents who would let their kids be sick all week, then take them to the ER on Friday night with an ear infection and I was amazed at how many people were using the ER as a walk-in clinic instead of going to their doctor. Of course, I wasn't a parent myself then and now as a mom of an 8 year old daughter who always seems to get sick after office hours or on weekends, I understand a bit more.
Unfortunately, those who abuse the system make things difficult for those of us who don't. I don't run my kids to the doctor every time they sneeze even though we have very good insurance; as a matter of fact, they're usually extremely sick by the time I bring them in because I try to do what I can for them at home before calling the doctor. But...I've actually had to have the doctor put a note on my oldest daughter's chart to the effect that when I call and say she needs to be seen that she really needs to be seen and not to blow me off with the usual "it's a virus and she'll be fine" line. I've had it happen twice that my daughter had pneumonia but because she wasn't running a fever yet when I called the nurse didn't want to give me an appointment, so the first time she went 5 days without being treated and by the time we got her in, the doctor was saying "Oh, my goodness! Why didn't you bring her in sooner?" (I went off on the doctor about her 'Nazi' nurse that time). The second time I had to give the nurse an ultimatum to get an appointment by saying "either you see her today or I'm bringing her to the ER" and she still didn't want to give me an appointment (no fever) until I pointed out that my daughter was audibly wheezing.

Now, this is rumor from where I can't remember, so don't take this AT ALL as truth (although it makes sense)...

The change is BASICALLY going to be:

fruits/veggies on the bottom and then grains next up. Effectively switching the two layers.

Something somehow may be added to distinguish between good grains and bad sugars - not sure. Also, something may be added to weigh veggies more than fruit.

So it's a start, but it still ain't even close!
:-)

What do you guys think of MY pyramid:

sugar
grains|fruits|starch
b e r r i e s
v e g g i e s
p r o t e i n
g o o d f a t s

Looks yummy to me!
:-)

-- Loretta