2w ago

The corrupt history of the food pyramid - MD Mason

The membership of the current Australian Dietary Guidelines expert committee (of which Dr James Muecke was blocked despite a public promise from the then Health Minister, Greg Hunt) can be found here https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/nutrition/australian-dietary-guidelines-review/committees/dietary-guidelines-expert-committee

The chair has previously conducted systematic reviews for the World Health Organisation and they continue to meet behind closed doors. We encourage you to express your concerns about potential bias in the process to committee members.

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If you prefer something with better production values:
Food Theory: The Food Pyramid Conspiracy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDJ-wVNba
But at 1508 they talk about based on what we scientifically know about food now, meaning they haven't done their homework either
They even end the video saying check the biases and ulterior motives of where you get your information. Which is super ironic given there's still promoting seed oils grains by the end of this video.
However, it's still a good video about the history of the food pyramid
Slightly angry opinion: if anyone deserves to have their title revoked post-mortem, I'd nominate Ancel Keys. The propagation of his ideology, backed with no evidence nor science, has had, edit: and continues to produce staggering negative consequences for public health around the globe.
This portion of history should be required reading in the first year of every university.
- has had
  Still has!!! We are still promoting "healthy" fats right now!
I have to say, I dont really have a horse in this race. But I'd say that this is verging on conspiracy theory territory.
So if you want to be more convincing to bring people to your cause... oh my god, lose the emoji bullet points. So trashy.
- It's not verging on. There is no science behind the food pyramid, so calling it a conspiracy is absolutely spot-on. I'd use less emotionally loaded words, personally, such as "unscientific," "politically charged," or perhaps "bought and paid for."
  Here is a book on the topic by Nina Teicholz, an investigative journalist: The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet
  based on a nine-year-long investigation, Teicholz shows how the misinformation about saturated fats took hold in the scientific community and the public imagination, and how recent findings have overturned these beliefs. She explains why the Mediterranean Diet is not the healthiest, and how we might be replacing trans fats with something even worse. This startling history demonstrates how nutrition science has gotten it so wrong: how overzealous researchers, through a combination of ego, bias, and premature institutional consensus, have allowed dangerous misrepresentations to become dietary dogma.
  This is the talk she gave at Tedx on the topic: https://youtu.be/1CHGiid6N9Q
  Here is a more recent, more detailed discussion between her and Dr Anthony Chaffee: https://youtu.be/OeajV1O2320
  I hesitate to link the second one, because you are incredulous (and imo quite rightly so, skepticism is a cornerstone of science) and Dr Chaffee is a proponent of a carnivorous diet.
  So if you want to be more convincing to bring people to your cause
  I'm personally not interested in causes nor dogma. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. Too much ideology for me. It's your health, your body, and your decisions. I feel obliged to share the information that I learn on the topic, because misinformation is harmful and it irks me that it's allowed to spread. That's about the end of it. I don't want to proselytize or evangelize.
  On an aside, the emoji makes it obvious that the summary was automatically generated by LLM, which I rather appreciate.
- Yeah the emoji bullets are silly, but it's only for the people who don't watch the video
  The conspiracy is easy to test: what was the historical science used to establish the initial pyramid? No data, it's politics

6 comments