Food Pyramid Facelift

The Aging Food Pyramid Needs a Facelift

by Bonnie Minsky, M.A., M.P.H., L.D.N., C.N.S.

As far back as 2001, The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and The National Institutes of Health (NIH) admitted that the current Food Guide Pyramid is a total failure. Americans have become sicker and heavier than at any other time in recorded history since it was issued in 1992.

No mention of genetic variation as it relates to dietary needs was ever considered in the pyramid or in the dietary guidelines that accompany it. Especially problematic was the heavy emphasis on grains (6-11 servings daily). “I think the Food Guide Pyramid is a recipe for obesity,” stated Meir Stampfer, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and former panel member for the 2000 dietary guidelines. Artemis Simopoulos, M.D., worldwide genetics and nutrition expert, agrees. She believes that our genes and dietary needs have changed very little (about 0.005 percent) since the beginning of the agricultural revolution over 10,000 years ago. At that time, a human’s system, taste buds, and food supply, were in harmony. Our ancestor’s diet consisted mostly of game meats, fish, shellfish, small mammals, tubers and sprouted vegetables, fruits, and nuts. They consumed very little grain except wild emmer wheat and barley when they couldn’t get enough other foods. They consumed no dairy products. They consumed no concentrated or refined sugars.

Since the 1992 Food Pyramid was introduced, many nutrition experts have sought to improve it. Walter Willet, of the Harvard School of Public Health, promotes a pyramid recommending healthy fats, multivitamins, and alcohol in moderation. The Atkins Food Pyramid puts protein at the base of the pyramid (eat more of) and grains at the tip (eat very little of). Also popular are the California Cuisine, Mediterranean Diet, Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight, and even the Soul food pyramids.

In September 2003, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Panel (13 members selected by the USDA) began meeting to rewrite the 2005 food pyramid and dietary guidelines. Millions of Americans, including all children attending U.S. public schools, will be directly affected by this committee’s recommendations. Intense lobbying from the food industry has already questioned the validity of the new food pyramid and dietary guidelines. Seven of the thirteen panel members have received food industry funding to support their research or have been paid by food companies as consultants. According to Michael Jacobson, executive director of Center for Science in the Public Interest, “some of these people [panel members] have such close ties to [the food] industry, that it makes it difficult for them to say anything that is critical of the industry. It could affect their financial future.”

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report was just presented to the USDA in August of 2005. Any surplus commodity, such as wheat, is heavily promoted in the new guidelines. Wheat is also being promoted because Janet King, the advisory committee chair, was nominated to the committee by The Wheat Council. The problems associated with the intake of refined sugars, are downplayed due to the intense pressure from the sugar industry. Cow’s milk is emphasized as an important dietary staple, even though it is genetically contraindicated for millions of people and is the number one food allergen in the United States. But Connie Weaver, another advisory panel member, conducted paid research for The National Dairy Council so, of course, dairy products will receive top billing.

It’s way overdue for the USDA to remove their influence over the food pyramid and dietary guidelines and to transfer the power for nutritional advice to an independent government agency. Worldwide scientific and nutrition research should also be compiled and should be coordinated with the World Health Organization and other international health agencies, especially from countries that boast the greatest longevity and optimum health.

When the USDA asked for new food pyramid comments from health professionals and the public in 2003, I sent them my Circle of Health© with scientific research support data. I’m not surprised that none of my recommendations were even considered. Why would they be? I’m not a special interest group in the food industry, and I don’t have financial or political clout.

Read my comments about the USDA's 2005 MyPyramid unveiled, which is more abysmal and confusing the the last Food Pyramid!

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