Eeeeeeyup, I posted it on the list.  I'm the author.  FYI, responses are
trickling in.  More later....

Dori Zook
Denver, CO

>The US government has spent a quarter century and
>countless millions of dollars promoting a low-fat, high-grain diet as
>the optimal model for health and nutrition.  But a growing number of
>health experts assert that the USDA Food Guide Pyramid is unhealthy, and
>based more on industry influence than actual science.
>
>"Americans' diets have gone from bad to worse over the past 25 years,
>and the USDA Food Pyramid is largely to blame," says Michael R. Eades,
>MD, a leading nutrition expert.  "Given the lack of study behind this
>formula and the food industry's role in how it came to be, perhaps a
>better term would be the USDA Pyramid Scheme."
>
>In 1977, the US Senate's McGovern Select Committee recommended Americans
>cut
>their fat consumption and eat even more grain.  This decision was based on
>testimony from scientists, many of whom had strong ties to major US food
>producers, who stood to gain if Americans followed this advice.  Despite
>sound scientific evidence to the contrary and documentation of the food
>industry's role in biased research, the committee issued its mandate; eat
>less fat and more grains.  This formula has been in effect ever since,
>reflected in the well-known, well-promoted visual aid known as the USDA
>Food
>Guide Pyramid.
>
>"The results have been devastating," says Mary Dan Eades, MD, who, with
>Michael Eades co-authored the New York Times bestseller Protein Power and
>the Eades' newest book, Protein Power Lifeplan.  "American fat consumption
>is now at its all-time low.  But over the last decade, obesity has
>increased
>by 30%, pediatric obesity has doubled and type II diabetes is up nearly
>twelve-fold.  By cutting their fat intake and eating more grain, Americans
>have only gotten fatter."
>
>Three out of four people suffer hyperinsulinemia to one degree or
>another.  In laymen's terms, this means the body produces excess insulin in
>response to high blood sugar.
>
>Bread, rice, pasta and cereal, the foundation of the USDA Food Pyramid,
>turn
>to sugar in the bloodstream.  Consistent excess insulin leads to obesity,
>type II diabetes, heart disease and other weight-related illnesses.
>
>The Centers for Disease Control released the latest figures on diabetes
>just
>last week, referring to it as an "epidemic" with the potential for
>overwhelming health care costs.
>
>Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades are among a growing number of health
>professionals putting into practice a new field of scientific research
>called "paleolithic nutrition" - the diet of early humans.  For 2.7
>million years, humans ate a meat-based diet including little, if any,
>grain.  Evidence shows that obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other
>weight-related illnesses did not occur until after the Agricultural
>Revolution, at which time humans switched to a grain-based diet.  These
>diseases are virtually non-existent among the world's remaining
>hunter-gatherer societies.
>
>"The reason is simple," according to Michael Eades.  "Meat, fruits and
>vegetables are what humans were designed to eat.  Reams of published
>research are out there, both on the benefits of meat and the problems
>with grain."  Eades adds, "If Uncle Sam were to recommend we switch to a
>meat-based diet, he'd be biting the hand that feeds him.  The food
>industry's number one customer is the federal government."
>
>A significant recent example of industry influence can be found in the
>2000 US Dietary Guidelines.  Citing ties between sugar and obesity, USDA
>scientists recommended the Guidelines encourage Americans to "limit" their
>intake of sugars, calling the 1995 recommendation -"Choose a diet moderate
>in sugar" - too vague.  Initially, the new recommendation was approved.
>But
>after major pressure from sugar interests and 30 US Senators, most of whom
>represented sugar producing states, the USDA acquiesced and, two months
>later, the word "limit" was changed back to "moderate".
>
>Last year's sugar controversy is not the first time the US government
>has rejected advice from its own experts.  In 1999, two FDA research
>scientists tried to prevent that agency from issuing a health claim
>regarding soy.  The researchers cited 28 studies documenting the ill
>effects of soy, including an increased risk of breast cancer in women,
>decreased brain function in men and developmental abnormalities in
>infants.   Despite this somber warning, the FDA went on to issue a
>health claim stating that soy "may reduce the risk of heart disease".
>This health claim on soy came after a decade-long marketing campaign by
>major soy producers.  Food products "low in saturated fat and
>cholesterol" and containing just 6.25 grams of soy protein - just over
>one teaspoon - may cite this health claim on the label.
>
>In addition, the USDA has lifted the limit on soy in federally
>subsidized school lunches in yet another effort to cut fat consumption.
>
>"If you replace meat with soy, you may cut kids' fat intake," says Mary Dan
>Eades.  "The problem is, you'll also reduce their protein, iron and zinc
>intake.  Protein is an absolute necessity for growing bodies, fat is
>essential for brain development, and zinc is referred to as "the
>intelligence mineral".  Without it, brain function is reduced," she added.
>
>Experts are also concerned about the USDA's upcoming test on popular
>weight loss diets.
>
>"The January 11 public hearing on this test says it all," Michael Eades
>says.  "Despite the fact that researchers will be looking at the
>benefits of both low-fat and low-carb diets, not one low-carb diet
>expert was invited to speak at the hearing.  Uncle Sam's bias is already
>showing and the study has yet to begin."
>
>The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has already begun work on a
>similar study.  On January 8, 2001, the US Surgeon General announced a
>yearlong effort to develop a national action plan to help Americans
>reduce excess weight, obesity and diabetes.  Various other government
>agencies are promoting weight loss campaigns, as well.  All federal
>agencies use the Food Pyramid as their guide and are required by US law to
>do so.
>
>Both government officials and mainstream health experts continue to
>assert that a diet low in saturated fat and high in complex
>carbohydrates can help some people lower their cholesterol and risk of
>heart disease.  Again, the Eades challenge conventional wisdom.
>
>Mike Eades notes that studies "too numerous to mention" show that while a
>low-fat, starch-based diet may lower a person's overall cholesterol level,
>they usually also lower the good HDL cholesterol level and raise
>triglycerides, actually increasing cardiovascular risk.
>
>"In addition," says Mary Dan Eades, "a growing body of scientific
>evidence shows that elevated blood sugar, even within the 'normal'
>range, presents a greater risk for coronary heart disease and early
>death than cholesterol levels."
>
>The Eades are taking their case to Washington, DC, having just sent a
>formal letter of concern to the USDA.
>
>"The food industry is using the federal government to push an unhealthy
>diet
>on the country and Americans are paying the price," says Michael Eades.
>"It's a war between profits and health, and 280 million Americans seem to
>be
>outnumbered."

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