Cracks in the Food Group Pyramid

This is a summary of a lecture given on May 8th at the Western Regional Obesity Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada by Dr. Juetersonke. I thought it was a very good lecture overall.

by Dr. Padla

FACTS

• 61 percent of adults are overweight.
• Diabetes has tripled since 1955.
• A man gaining 22 extra pounds gives him a 75 percent greater risk of having a heart attack than a normal weight man.
  

Too Much Food Pyramid Food

The USDA estimates up to a 500-calorie per person daily increase between 1984 and 2000.

• 39 percent increase from grains
• 24 percent increase from sugar
  

The Food Pyramid meets many of the criteria of what the American Heart Association defined as a fad diet.

The Food Pyramid involves unreasonable and exaggerated beliefs that large quantities of certain foods, especially grains, convey special health benefits.

The Food Pyramid is based on simplistic conclusions and does more to help farmers sell products than reap health benefits. It is not based on good peer review studies.

Human beings have evolved to eat what is called the Paleolithic diet. It consists of 35 percent of calories from Protein and 65 percent from vegetables with minimal fruit and no grain.

Therefore the high carbohydrate/ low-fat diets prescribed for many people are not “natural”.

Many articles show that low-fat/ high carbohydrate diets increase the risk factors for ischemic heart disease in postmenopausal women, affect plasma glucose and hormone responses, adversely effect blood lipids, lipoproteins and uric acid in men, and are deleterious to patients with diabetes mellitus. There is published evidence that high carbohydrate/low-fat diets recommended by the ADA lead to undesirable health outcomes and may, in fact, increase the risk of coronary artery disease, especially in patients with diabetes. There is also scientific evidence that GERD is related to grain intake and that dairy free/grain free diets are very good for irritable bowel syndrome.

To the best of one author’s knowledge, there was no published evidence that high carbohydrate/low fat diets decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease in Diabetics. Up until recently the American Heart Association endorsed Frosted Flakes, Pop Tarts and other high sugar foods as healthy.

Overall Guidlines:

1. No single diet fits all people.
2. People with diabetes, hypertension, stroke, lipid disorders (cholesterol) and heart disease tend to do better with lower carbohydrate/ higher fat diets.
3. Get 8 hours of sleep per day.
4. Exercise for one hour per day, 6 days per week.