Dietary Recommendations Food Guide Pyramid to Change

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will revise its well-known Food Pyramid. Introduced 12 years ago by the USDA, which spent about $1 million just to decide on using a pyramid shape, is considering scrapping the pyramid for another shape and making other changes. 1

The existing pyramid has a number of deficiencies. For example, the graphic recommends consuming 6 to 11 servings daily from the grains group of foods. That appears to suggest that a consumer should consume 6-11 such servings each day. That’s an erroneous conclusion that a consumer would discover only after carefully reading accompanying materials. In reality, the recommendation is for six servings for those with very low caloric needs and 11 servings are only appropriate for those needing a very high caloric diet.

The most serious problem with the dietary recommendations represented by the pyramid is that they are not based on science. Instead, they are based on political compromises between agricultural producers with conflicting economic interests. Is too much red meat recommended? Blame the beef producers. Are too many eggs recommended? Blame the egg producers. The USDA’s Food Pyramid is really the lobbyists’ Food Pyramid.

Amazingly, the Food Pyramid was not developed by any of the federal agencies whose purpose is to promote health or any of the agencies concerned with nutritional or medical issues, but by the agency designed to promote agriculture and food consumption.

Diet recommendations should be based on objective scientific medical research rather than the winners of competing economic self-interests. The USDA Food Pyramid serves its masters well, but the public suffers. "At best, the USDA Pyramid offers wishy-washy, scientifically unfounded advice on an absolutely vital topic - what to eat. At worst, the misinformation contributes to overweight, poor health, and unnecessary early death." 2

Because of these inadequacies, doctors at the Harvard University School of Public Health and the Harvard School of Medicine have created a food pyramid based on scientific research findings rather than economics or politics.

Because it’s based on scientific medical evidence rather than politics and pressure groups, the Harvard Good Eating Pyramid recommends regular exercise and weight control for everyone and vitamin supplements for most people. Similarly, it recommends the moderate and regular consumption of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, or distilled spirits) for all adults except for those who have good reason not to drink.

 

For more about the Harvard Good Eating Pyramid, visit Alcohol in the Diet.

Information about the health effects of alcohol is found at Alcohol and Health.

Concerned about weight ? Visit Alcohol, Calories & Weight.

References:

  1. USDA Redesigning food Guide Pyramid. Washington Post, July 13, 2004, A5; Burros, Marian. Food pyramid is in for an overhaul. New York Times, July 13, 2004, A14; Healthy eating guide may take new shape. USA Today, July 13, 2004, 8D.
  2. Willett, Walter C., with the assistance of others. Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.

Readings

  • Berger, K., et al. Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption and risk of stroke among US male physicians. New England Journal of Medicine, 1999, 341(21), 1557-1564.
  • Bofetta, P., and Garfinkel. L. Alcohol drinking among men enrolled in an American Cancer Society prospective study. Epidemiology, 1990, 1(5), 42-48.
  • Blackwelder, W. C., et al. Alcohol and mortality: The Honolulu Heart Study. American Journal of Medicine, 1980, 68(2), 164-169.
  • Camargo, C. A., et al. Prospective study of moderate alcohol consumption and mortality in US male physicians. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1997, 157, 79-85.
  • Coate, D. Moderate drinking and coronary heart disease mortality: Evidence from NHANES I and NHANES II follow-up. American Journal of Public Health, 1993, 83(6), 888-890.
  • Doll, R., and Peto, R. Mortality in relation to consumption of alcohol: 13 years' observations on male British doctors. British Medical Journal, 1994, 309, 911-918.
  • Ellison, R. C. Does Moderate Alcohol Consumption Prolong Life? New York: American Council on Science and Health, 1993.
  • Farchi, G., et al. Alcohol and survival in the Italian rural cohorts of the Seven Countries Study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 2000, 29, 667-671.
  • Ford, G. The Benefits of Moderate Drinking: Alcohol, Health and Society. San Francisco, California: Wine Appreciation Guild, 1988.
  • Fuchs, C. S., et al. Alcohol consumption and mortality among women. The New England Journal of Medicine, 1995, 332(19), 1245-1250.
  • Galanis, D. J., et al. A longitudinal study of drinking and congitive performance in elderly Japanese men: The Honolulu-Asia Aging Study. American Journal of Public Health, 2000, 90, 1254-1259.
  • Gaziano, J., et al. Potential mortality benefits for drinkers with previous heart attacks. The Lancet, 1998, 352, 1882-1885.
  • Hennekens, C. H. Alcohol and Risk of Coronary Events. In: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol and the Cardiovascular System. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.
  • Klatskyy, A., et al. Alcohol and mortality: Ten-year Kaiser Permanente experience. Annals of Internal Medicine, 1981, 95(2), 139-145.
  • Koppes, L., et al. Blood cholesterol levels of 32-year-old alcohol consumers are better than of nonconsumers. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 2000, 66(1), 163-167.
  • Longnecker, M., and MacMahon, B. Associations between alcoholic beverage consumption and hospitalization, 1983 National Health Interview Survey. American Journal of Public Health, 1988, 78(2), 153.
  • Maskarinec, G., et al. Alcohol intake, body weight, and mortality in a multiethnic prospective cohort. Epidemiology, 1998, 9(6), 654-661.
  • Mukamal, K. J., et al. Prior alcohol consumption and mortality following acute myocardial infarction. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, (15), 1965-1970.
  • Power, C., et al. U-shaped relation for alcohol consumption and health in early adulthood and implications for mortality. The Lancet, 1998, 352, 9131.
  • Rodgers, H., et al. A case-control study of drinking habits past and present. Stroke, 1993, 24(10), 1471477.
  • Rossing, M. A., et al. Risk of papillary thyroid cancer in women in relation to smoking and alcohol consumption. Epidemiology, 2000, 11, 49-54.
  • Sacco, R. L., et al. The protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption on ischemic stroke. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1999, 281, 53-60.
  • Simons, L. A., et al. Moderate alcohol intake is associated with survival in the elderly: the Dubbo Study. The Medical Journal of Australia, 2000, 172, 121-124.
  • Valmidrid, C. T., et al. Alcohol intake and the risk of coronary heart disease mortality in persons with older-onset diabetes mellitus. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1999, 282(3), 239-246.
  • Vasse, R. M., et al. Associations between work stress, alcohol and sickness absence. Addiction, 1998, 93(2), 231-241.
  • Wei, M., et al. Alcohol intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes in men. Diabetes Care, 23(1), 2000, 18-26.
  • Willett, Walter C., with the assistance of others. Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
  • Yuan, J-M., et al. Follow-up study of moderate alcohol intake and mortality among middle aged men in Shanghai, China. British Medical Journal, 1997, 314, 18-23.

Filed Under: Diet