Plates and Pyramids, oh my

The pyramids are gone. No, not the ones in Egypt. I mean the food pyramid. For decades now, the USDA has offered a food pyramid like the one above as a guide to how to eat. It has been taught to nutritionists, and in public schools across the country (with the funding of dairy and food corporations, although they don't tell the students that).

After much political maneuvering, the USDA has changed the food pyramid to a plate. Instead of groups and groups of food with various numbers of servings, they have greatly simplified things. Now you have a plate divided into four quadrants. Half of the plate is fruits and vegetables. Half is grains and protein, with what is apparently a cup of dairy. Along with this comes some recommendations such as "enjoy your food, but eat less of it." or "make half of your grains whole grains." All in all, it was a brilliant marketing plan to make the USDA seem relevant. Unfortunately it will probably do nothing to solve our obesity crisis.

As I have discussed in earlier posts, we are hard wired to like salty, sugary, and fatty foods. The food industry has figured out over decades of practice how to best capitalize on this. Foods in stores today are formulated to maximize the flavor at the expense of nutrients. As such, their salt and processed sugar content is high. As if that isn't enough, the companies spend billions of dollars on lobbyists who try to influence groups such as congress and the USDA to allow them to purvey their crap. Thanks to these lobbyists, your new "Myplate" has a dairy group just like the old pyramid did, even though dairy is not even close to essential for a healthy diet, and may instead be harmful in some cases.

Cosmetic changes aside, the USDA really hasn't altered their recommendations at all. This is not too surprising, since they are using a flawed paradigm of nutrition that is not compatible with our bodies. Only in the modern era have we been able to eat large quantities of meat and grains. Only in the modern era have humans consumed dairy past infancy. Yet as a society, we base our meals on these two foods.

Until we get away from eating like modern people, and return our diet to that of our caveman ancestors, we will continue to suffer from the diseases of modern society, such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer. No fancy graphic will save you from that.

My dietary recommendations are unchanged. I still suggest that you follow these guidelines:

1. Eat foods like they grow in nature
2. Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and very little if any meat, dairy, or eggs
3. Choose foods for nutrition first, flavor second

Until the government gets it, and expels the lobbyists and food corporations from the recommendation process, you are better off not following their advice. None of them are looking out for your best interest, and they have demonstrated their willingness to alter the recommendations to maximize profits and re-election chances at the expense of the public. That is rather shameful.

I personally and publicly challenge our so called "representatives" to be brave and speak for us, rather than for big food corporations. After all, they are supposed to be OUR lobbyists.