John Schoonbee

Wow. Having known @bigfatsurprise for a long time, this could be a game changer for better US nutrition. Nina looks at science and facts. She has through her book, already changed so many lives. I hope she gets this opportunity 💪

And yet they continue to make it worse...

Headline article in The Guardian: "UK’s unhealthy food habits cost £268bn a year, report finds"

The second sentence....(capitalization mine)

"The increased consumption of foods HIGH IN FAT, salt and sugar or which have been highly processed is having a “devastating” impact on human health and Britain’s finances."

And then they go on to talk about costs, impacts etc.

Yes poor nutrition is devastating to individuals and to society.

But by repeating the message that food "high in fat" is harmful, we double down on the consequential notion that people need to shift to more carbohydrate.

Carbs turns to glucose. Too much glucose leads to hyperinsulinemia. This drives insulin resistance. This increases chronic ill health across the full NCD spectrum. There is no cell in or tissue in the human body that does not have insulin receptors. High insulin leads to either resistance to, or an enhanced response from insulin. Both are harmful.

Not once are carbohydrates mentioned in the article.
And no mention is made of processed seed/vegetable oils (which are generally advised to be used rather than natural fats) - i.e. implying all fats are equal.

Surely The Guardian can do better.

This repeats the same error in the House of Lords report.
bapen.org.uk/other-news/hou….

If we can get health folks and health journalists Denis Campbell to read and understand something like this: theactuary.com/2024/05/23/und… who knows how we might reduce this £268bn annual disaster.
theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

#metabolicsyndrome #fixingmetabolichealth #nutrition #lowcarb @bigfatsurprise @lowcarbGP @DrGlandt @DoctorTro @garytaubes @drjamesdinic @virtahealth @level2_health @guardian

I wish everyone in the US would read this

(Absolute kudos to the bravery and accountability of Janet King and Cheryl Achterberg for putting their names on this opinion piece.)

Before reading it and the highlights below, consider who they are:

Janet C. King, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Sciences at UC Berkeley, and CHAIR of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory (DGA) Committee. Cheryl Achterberg is a former Dean at The Ohio State U and was a member of the 2010 DGA Committee.

A handful of quotes/points raised in the letter:
1. Referencing the chronic disease crises in the US : "As former members of the expert committee that oversees the science for the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, we can tell you that these chronic diseases are PRIMARILY driven by poor diet, and our guidelines are part of the problem.
2. They mention that the guidelines were controversial to start with, and that already in 1980 the National Academy of Sciences president warned of potential unintended consequences from implementing recommendations with such scant evidence.
3. That poor evidence told us "to fear fat and instead consume about half of all calories as carbohydrates". The current guidelines recommend up to 10 percent of calories as added sugar!
4. As they write, "This advice fundamentally misunderstands metabolism."
5. Finally they state that "national nutrition policy … no longer reflects the best or most current science."
6. And they reflect on conflicts of interest of the DGA members, the lack of transparency, the cherry picking of evidence, the refusal to comply in full with any of the 11 concrete recommendations of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine made in 2017 to improve rigour in the guideline process.

Mea culpa if ever there was one.
Good on them, and may the farm bill they highlight be passed. That a bill "mandating greater transparency and adherence to rigorous scientific standards" be at all controversial is mind-blowing.

Guiding principles: How US dietary guidelines contribute to obesity (thehill.com)

@DoctorTro @bigfatsurprise @garytaubes @lowcarbGP @CampbellMurdoch @virtahealth @level2_health @KetoMojo @GeorgiaEdeMD @Metabolic_Mind @GroHealth #lowcarb #metabolichealth #nutrition

Artificial sweeteners. Just had a thought…. Why do we even need them? Cause we “think” we should be able to have sweet tasting things. Why? ⁦@valisahedrick⁩ #foodforthought

Another example seriously questioning “health at any weight”. This time in children. #foodforthought2023