Move over, USDA Food Guide Pyramid. There’s a new pyramid in
town.
That’s right. While a select panel of nutritionists busy themselves
with the finishing touches on the USDA’s revised dietary
guidelines (due to be revealed next January), someone has already
beaten them to the punch with a food guide pyramid that actually
makes good nutritional sense. And more importantly, it was
created without the input of powerful food lobbies. Imagine that.
But before we take a look at this alternate pyramid, I’ll tell you
about a recent study that offers some basic and useful nutritional
advice for type 2 diabetics and anyone who would like to avoid
type 2 diabetes. And coincidentally, the new pyramid serves as a
handy companion to the nutritional guidance this study offers.
Potatoes panned
For many HSI members, the “news” that a low-carbohydrate diet
may help type 2 diabetics manage blood sugar levels won’t be
news at all. Nevertheless, there are many who are still not aware of
this important information. Any diabetic who consults the dietary
advice on the web site for the American Diabetes Association
(ADA) will find good general advice mixed in with some very
questionable carbohydrate advice.
For instance, the ADA advises diabetics to eat more starches (such
as potatoes), without making the extremely important distinction
between refined and unrefined starches. And nearly all our starches
today are refined! According to HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D.,
it’s very difficult (if not impossible) to find 100% unrefined pastas,
breads or cereals.
In the e-Alert “Complex Made Simple” (6/23/04), Dr. Spreen
explained that nutrients and fiber are often stripped from starches
during food processing. Without those two important elements, the
sugars become as concentrated as simple, refined carbs, which
diabetics should strictly avoid. And potatoes? Here’s Dr. Spreen’s
take on spuds: “The baked potato is as close to a pure, refined
starch as you can get without actually refining it.”
In the BAG
The new diabetic dietary research comes from the Metabolic
Research Laboratory at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Researchers designed a high-protein/low-carb diet they call
LoBAG (low-biologically-available glucose) that breaks down like
this: 20 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, 50 percent fat.
As reported in the journal Diabetes, eight subjects with untreated
type 2 diabetes began the test by first eating a high-carb diet (55
percent carbs, 15 percent protein, and 30 percent fat) for five
weeks. After this first phase, subjects returned to their normal diets
for five weeks, and then began five weeks on the LoBAG diet. The
average 24-hour glucose levels were tracked throughout, as were
the hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) percentages, which measure the
severity of hyperglycemia.
The result: With the LoBAG diet, circulating glucose
concentration was reduced “dramatically.” And the authors of the
report add, “Potentially, this could be a patient-empowering way to
ameliorate hyperglycemia without pharmacological intervention.”
Bottom to top
Now to the pyramid.
The American Diabetes Association actually has a copy of the
USDA pyramid posted on its web site. At the base: plenty of bread,
cereal, rice and pasta, eat all you want. At the apex: fats and oils, to
be used sparingly. In other words, the ADA is recommending a
diet that is nearly the opposite of the LoBAG diet.
When the new USDA dietary guidelines are announced next
January, we may find that the pyramid has been scrapped in favor
of some other graphic metaphor. Which would be just fine,
because we now have a much more sensible pyramid to guide food
choices, courtesy of the faculty of the Harvard School of Public
Health.
The Harvard faculty members call their structure the Healthy
Eating Pyramid, and here are some of the key ways it contradicts
the USDA structure:
* At the base: Daily exercise and weight control. (Not a dietary
suggestion, but good advice, especially for diabetics)
* At the cap: Foods to use sparingly include potatoes, pasta, white
rice and white bread
* Plant oils: Near the bottom instead of the top
Perhaps the most surprising item on this pyramid is the suggestion
to take a multi-vitamin, as well as a calcium supplement. I would
have added a few more supplements to that list (vitamins C and E,
along with some fish oil, just to get started), but the fact that
supplements made the list at all is impressive.
I don’t agree with everything on the Harvard pyramid. For
instance, I’d lose the recommendation to use soy and canola oils,
and I don’t think red meat and butter belong in the “use sparingly”
category. But this pyramid has one very important advantage over
the USDA pyramid. Using the current USDA guide, you could
actually harm your health, especially if you’re diabetic.
But no more. Bring in the LoBAG renovating crew. Save the
genuine whole grains, and then trade the space where fats used to
be for rice and pasta and potatoes.
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and another thing
It was the summer of 2002, and the world was a simpler, more
trusting place.
Way back then, in the e-Alert “Greasing the Skids” (9/9/02), I told
you about an announcement from representatives of McDonald’s.
It was about a new oil to be used for deep frying that would reduce
saturated fat by 16 percent, while nearly cutting the content of
trans-fatty acids in half.
As you may recall, trans-fats are created by the hydrogenation of
vegetable oil – a process that gives the oil a longer shelf life and
makes it less greasy. But studies have shown trans-fatty acids to be
associated with artery damage and a high risk of heart disease.
When the McDonald’s reps made the announcement about the new
oil, the plan was to phase it in over a few months. By February
2003 the phase-in would be complete, and diners would be
enjoying fried foods with a somewhat lower risk of heart disease.
But then February 2003 came and went, and then February 2004
came and went, and still the new oil had not been phased in.
Now – more than 20 months after the target date – the new oil is a
no-show and partially hydrogenated oil (PHO) is still used by all
U.S. McDonald’s.
And this has some folks very upset. A California organization
called BanTransFat.com, Inc. has launched a lawsuit against
McDonald’s for not following through on the oil change. And the
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI; a nutrition and
food-safety watchdog group) recently ran a full-page ad in the New
York Times calling for McDonald’s to stop using PHO.
The motives of CSPI and BanTransFat are basically good: they
want to educate and protect consumers. But how much less
damage will actually be done to consumer health with the new oil
that would only cut trans-fats in half?
In the e-Alert “The New Big Oil” (8/20/02) I told you about a
National Academy of Sciences report that attempted to set a safe
intake level for trans-fatty acids. The report concluded with this
recommendation: “The only safe intake of trans-fat is zero.”
Not much ambiguity there.
If you smoke two packs of cigarettes a day, you could make a case
that smoking one pack is healthier. But you would still be a long
long way from healthy. In the case of eating McDonald’s food
cooked in oil with half the trans-fats, you’re still ingesting trans-
fats, but on top of it you’re eating food whose nutritional value is
questionable at the very BEST.
The efforts of CSPI and BanTransFat to bring the public’s
attention to this matter is useful in letting people know that there
are grave dangers in diets that include lots of fast foods. But to
think that McDonald’s new oil might actually make the food any
more than just marginally healthier is a super sized misconception.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
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Sources:
“Effect of a High-Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Blood
Glucose Control in People with Type 2 Diabetes” Diabetes, Vol.
53, No. 9, September 2004, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
“Low-Carb Diet Improves Sugar Control in Diabetics” Reuters
Health, 9/23/04, reutershealth.com
“Food Pyramids – What Should You Really Eat?” Harvard School
of Public Health, hsph.Harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramids
“McDonald’s Panned for ‘Broken McPromose’ on Trans Fat”
Center for Science in the Public Interest, 9/24/04, cspinet.org
“Frequently Asked Questions About McDonald’s Food &
Nutrition” McDonalds.com
