Nutritional Lies Busted

Any rational person would find it a risky business to base public nutrition advice according to lobby. But if you think about it, that is what happened, especially in the US.

Remember this food pyramid that got thrust at us for years?

Classic food pyramid

I suppose it was the wheat lobby that pushed it initially. Lots of lovely bread and pasta to give us energy to last until the next meal (or snack). Preferably wholemeal but whoever took much notice of that? Kids don't often like wholemeal bread, and wholemeal pasta tastes like cardboard, so people packed in the highly processed white flour products and the wheat producers were happy.

Then came the corn lobby which pressed to put GMO corn syrup in everything but the kitchen sink, and the soya lobby which told the government that its products were really healthy and look at the vast populations of Asia to see how right they were. So soy (GMO) products were pushed and it was put in everything but the plug in the kitchen sink. Convenience food was advertised as labour-saving so we could get on with more important things (cue images of smiling mother playing with her rosy offspring, or rugged man striding off doing something sporty), and the microwave revolutionised producing food for those with no time.

Strangely, obesity rose to reach epic proportions, heart disease increased, and people had never been so unhealthy. Yet they were all following health advice given to them by government agencies and their doctors.

It was only fairly recently, in March 2012, that one man, a heart surgeon spoke out. Dr Dwight Lundell, a heart surgeon with over 5000 heart surgeries under his belt, revealed that heart disease is not caused by cholesterol but by inflammation in the artery wall. This is caused by following a recommended diet which is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates. Remember those (rich) lobbies? Thanks guys!

Inflammation is caused by eating highly processed carbohydrates like sugar, flour and everything made from them, and excessive consumption of high omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower which are found in many processed foods. For a graphic description of what happens to your arteries when you consume these products, and why, do read his article here. It's not pretty.

To combat inflammation, we should be following a food pyramid that looks more like this:

Chronic-disease prevention pyramid

It's another reason to go back to basics. I really want to avoid chronic disease, and reading that article opened my eyes to the vital importance of eating properly.

This includes avoiding all non-fermented soya products. How did soya become the number one low fat milk substitute? Back in 2002 the soy industry lobbied to promote calcium-fortified soy milk as a healthy alternative to milk. For vegetarians they advised soy as a meat protein substitute. It was all down to the soy industry lobbyists who decided that they should modify nutritional advice for the masses.

There are numerous problems with unfermented soy. It is high in allergens so the more you eat the more likely you are to develop allergies, while the phytates obstruct absorption of protein and minerals such as magnesium, iron, zinc and calcium. Most soy products found in soy milk and processed foods are unfermented. Unfermented soy is linked to a number of illnesses you don't want to have such as digestive distress, immune system breakdown and reproductive problems to name but three. It's particularly bad for men.

We were told that Asians have been eating soy since time began, but what we weren't told is that they only eat fermented soy products (miso, tempah, tofu, etc) and only a small quantity per day (about 25g).

No wonder public health in the US and elsewhere has declined dramatically. People are slowly poisoning themselves, take medication to deal with the symptoms, but do not deal with the underlying source of the problem which is poor nutrition. And they have poor nutrition because they follow advice given to them by those in charge of protecting public health. Except they don't, do they? They protect industry. Follow the money and you'll find a circle of death - poor nutrition, heart disease, toxic medication, early demise.

Take your life in your hands in the kitchen!