Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 9/24/15


Nina Teicholz, author of “The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet” has published an article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) once again questioning the scientific rigor of the expert panel recommendations for the U.S. government’s 2015 dietary recommendations.

Congress has scheduled a hearing in October on the guidelines, which potentially impact the diet of tens of millions of American citizens, as well as food labeling, education and research priorities.

The guidelines are traditionally based on a report produced by an advisory committee of 14 experts appointed to review the best and most current science to make nutrition recommendations that both promote health and fight disease.

The previous committee in 2010 made an effort to bring greater scientific rigor to the process by using the Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL), set up by USDA to help conduct reviews. But Teicholz notes that the 2015 committee has not used NEL methods for the majority of its analyses, instead relying heavily on systematic reviews from professional bodies, such as the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, which she said are supported by food and drug companies.

On saturated fats, for example, the committee did not conduct a formal review of the literature from the past five years, even though several prominent papers published since 2010 failed to confirm any association between saturated fats and heart disease. Teicholz also notes that despite a great deal of conflicting evidence over the past five years, the committee’s report concludes that the evidence linking consumption of saturated fats to cardiovascular disease is “strong.”

On the effectiveness of low carbohydrate diets, again, the committee did not request a NEL systematic literature review from the past five years, writes Teicholz. Yet dozens of randomized controlled clinical trials published since 2000 show that low carbohydrate diets are at least equal to if not better than other nutritional approaches for controlling type 2 diabetes, achieving weight loss in the short term and improving most heart disease risk factors.

“Given the growing toll taken by these conditions and the failure of existing strategies to make meaningful progress in fighting obesity and diabetes to date, one might expect the guideline committee to welcome any new, promising dietary strategies,” writes Teicholz. Yet the committee largely sticks to the same advice it has given for decades – to eat less saturated fat (in meat and full-fat dairy products) and more plant foods for good health.

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