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The Nutrition Coalition has been working hard to get science-based experts appointed the next Dietary Guidelines committee. This committee will be decided upon in the next few weeks by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (in consultation with US-HHS, if the government re-opens).
We’ve worked to get some people nominated—scientists like Sarah Hallberg who have a strong understanding of the latest science on low-carbohydrate diets and saturated fats. Also, we have actively supported the nomination of Stanford professor John Ioannidis (nominated by The Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) because he is accepted as a world leader in critically evaluating scientific evidence.
Action To Take
Please send an email and a Tweet to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue Sonny.perdue@usda.gov and let him know how strongly you feel about this issue. Sample letter here.
TWEET
@SecretarySonny at USDA: Be the American hero who reverses the nation’s obesity and diabetes epidemic! Choose evidence-based scientists for next Dietary Guidelines committee. https://bit.ly/2RDZQSA
TALKING POINTS
- The Dietary Guidelines are super powerful, and the driving choices for school lunches, feeding programs for the elderly, hospital food and military rations, as well as influencing the advice dispensed by doctors, nurses, dieticians and nutritionists.
- If guidelines are off or downright wrong, the potential impact on our epidemics of obesity, diabetes and neurological diseases is devastating.
- The last committee in 2015 did not include a balanced set of opinions; in fact, (11 out of 14, or nearly 80%) had consistently published work in favor of plant-based, low-animal-fat, vegetarian diets.
- Current guidelines are high-carb for all and not science-based, requiring 6-10 servings of grains per day (or 50-55% of calories as carbohydrates)…for all Americans. They fail to reach nutritional sufficiency goals on key nutrients, and they recommend only low-fat dairy and lean meat.
- Change will not happen without a committee that is genuinely balanced in viewpoints, with experts who won’t simply rubber-stamp the status quo.
- We know that high-quality, non-mainstream experts have been nominated, and we fear that vested interests will keep them off the committee.
Take Action Now!
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Dear Secretary Perdue,
Re: Advisory Committee for 2020 Dietary Guidelines
Please appoint at least one member who is expert in the quality of scientific data. This is critical to ensuring that the guidelines have credible scientific muscle.
Much is at stake, because this committee will virtually determine the next DGA. Strong, responsible science-based guidelines are essential to reverse our country’s obesity and diabetes epidemics.
I understand that Stanford professor John Loannidis has been nominated by The Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Loannidis is a world leader in critically evaluating the veracity and quality of scientific evidence that supports the utility of diet and nutrition in addressing issues in health and disease. I strongly support this nomination in order to develop robust Guidelines.
In addition, I ask that you appoint experts in topic areas that the USDA staff has designated for review. I believe the areas of greatest need of review to take advantage of up-to-date expertise are: saturated fats and the low-carbohydrate diet.
It is imperative that the 2020 DGA Committee include 1) a proven expert on low-carb diets who has recently published on the topic and is an authority on the current scientific literature, and 2) an expert on saturated fats who does not simply reiterate status-quo thinking on this topic.
Secretary Perdue, please do not issue yet another set of recommendations that wrongly vilify whole, natural foods such as regular, whole-fat dairy, meat, and eggs. For 40 years, we have lived with guidelines that have labeled these traditional foods as unhealthy, even though the science underpinning that notion has always been weak and uncertain. The “lack of scientific rigor” in the Guidelines was recently confirmed in a critical report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.[1]
The American public has been taken hostage by corporate interests that promote weak science that undermines the healthful natural foods that could help restore our nation’s health.
Please use your strong leadership to establish guidelines that overcome resistance to change and reflect the latest and most rigorous evidence. Clearly the guidelines of the last 40 years have failed the American people.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Affiliation]
[City, State]
I sent a letter to Secretary Perdue at the USDA
Secretary Perdue:
Regarding the establishment of new dietary guidelines. The current Dietary Guidelines require 6-10 servings of grains per day (or 50-55% of calories as carbohydrates)…for all Americans. They fail to reach nutritional sufficiency goals on key nutrients, and they recommend only low-fat dairy and lean meat while those items have been shown to carry major nutrition in the form of healthy fats. Fats used to maintain good cell membranes throughout the body and especially in the brain, heart, liver and other important areas of the body.
The committee should be genuinely balanced in viewpoints. We know that high-quality, non-mainstream experts have been nominated, and we fear that vested interests will keep them off the committee. That would be disastrous. We know that Americans tend to follow the recommended guidelines; hence, the sad shape of Americans today in both weight and health due to the current guidelines.
Sincerely,
Jean Johnson, informed consumer
I added 2 comments within the letter and highlighted them:
I also support the nomination of scientist Sarah Hallberg who has a strong understanding of the latest science on low-carbohydrate diets and saturated fats.
|My own experience with the current guidelines is they do not work. My husband was diagnosed with diabetes and offered a treatment whose diet was based on that of the USDA. These tests and recommendations were all done by Kaiser. I helped him to adopt a lower carb, higher fat diet and a subsequent set of tests showed that he had reversed the condition and medication was no longer recommended.
January 22, 2019 at 12:43 pm
Dear Secretary Perdue,
Re: Advisory Committee for 2020 Dietary Guidelines
Please appoint at least one member who is expert in the quality of scientific data. This is critical to ensuring that the guidelines have credible scientific muscle.
Much is at stake, because this committee will virtually determine the next DGA. Strong, responsible science-based guidelines are essential to reverse our country’s obesity and diabetes epidemics.
I understand that Stanford professor John Loannidis has been nominated by The Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Loannidis is a world leader in critically evaluating the veracity and quality of scientific evidence that supports the utility of diet and nutrition in addressing issues in health and disease. I strongly support this nomination in order to develop robust Guidelines.
In addition, I ask that you appoint experts in topic areas that the USDA staff has designated for review. I believe the areas of greatest need of review to take advantage of up-to-date expertise are: saturated fats and the low-carbohydrate diet.
It is imperative that the 2020 DGA Committee include 1) a proven expert on low-carb diets who has recently published on the topic and is an authority on the current scientific literature, and 2) an expert on saturated fats who does not simply reiterate status-quo thinking on this topic.
Secretary Perdue, please do not issue yet another set of recommendations that wrongly vilify whole, natural foods such as regular, whole-fat dairy, meat, and eggs. For 40 years, we have lived with guidelines that have labeled these traditional foods as unhealthy, even though the science underpinning that notion has always been weak and uncertain. The “lack of scientific rigor” in the Guidelines was recently confirmed in a critical report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.[1]
The American public has been taken hostage by corporate interests that promote weak science that undermines the healthful natural foods that could help restore our nation’s health.
Please use your strong leadership to establish guidelines that overcome resistance to change and reflect the latest and most rigorous evidence. Clearly the guidelines of the last 40 years have failed the American people.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Laurie Szumla
Western NY Chapter of Weston Price Foundation
Buffalo, NY
Hello Secretary Perdue,
I’m sure you agree that children deserve good food so they can grow up healthy, since health care now costs Americans a fifth of our economy, along with bringing a lot of misery and death.
Our tradition of free public education was augmented in recent decades by free nutritious food at school (breakfast and lunch) so that children weren’t focused on empty stomachs when they should be learning.
Unlike other developed nations which limit the amount of advertising is allowed for empty calories, in the USA children can be entranced into begging their parents for low-nutrient, high-profit foods that often come with a dose of pesticide residue.
We teachers see what they eat at lunch. Maybe the school meals are better but I’ve seen the veggies land in the trash because they didn’t have the butter necessary to make them taste good. Worse, when there is no satisfying, wholesome fat in a meal, kids try to feel full with sugary foods, which won’t last so they need frequent snacks. Meanwhile, we have obesity, diabetes, and weak immunity slowing our youth down.
Sugar is the gateway drug for addiction. It’s only in the last 200 years that it was affordable and now it’s added to everything to make people crave that brand.
Wouldn’t it be great if under your watch our nation finally did better in feeding our future citizens? The bacon-eggs-butter that composed a traditional breakfast were the right balance of fat, protein, and carbohydrates for the Founding Fathers, and anthropologists have determined that was true going back to Biblical times. Making school meals vegetarian deprives children and young adults of the fat-based vitamins A, D, E, and K2.
Science doesn’t support the minority view that we should all eat vegetarian meals.
It would be a historical victory to see Sarah Hallberg and John Ioannidis nominated to the Dietary Guidelines Committee.
Best wishes,
Lauren Ayers
Chico, CA 95928