Rebuilding The Food Pyramid

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Rebuilding the Food Pyramid

This show was about Walter Willett, M.D. new book Eat, Drink and Be Healthy. Dr. Willett states that the USDA Food Pyramid is “outdates and dangerously wrong.” It is not enough to recommend that fats be used sparingly and to classify all complex carbohydrates as good. Dr. Willett offers an alternative based research done by the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health.
He stated we can eat to live and live longer. He goes on to say that the USDA pyramid is wrong. It was built on shaky scientific ground back in 1992 and had been steadily eroding by new research from all over the globe. He states that the misinformation contributes to overweight, poor health, and unnecessary early deaths. Here are the faults of the pyramid according to Dr. Willett:
· All fats are bad. He states the USDA Pyramid recommends using fats “sparingly” but ignores the fact that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are good for your heart. Examples of those are olive oil, nuts, whole grains, other plant products and fish.
· All “complex” carbohydrates are good. Carbohydrates from the base of the USDA Pyramid. It suggests six to eleven serving of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta a day. But as with fats, this advice is too simplistic and overlooks essential research showing that the types of carbohydrates you eat matters a lot.
The central message in the USDA Pyramid is that you should feel good about eating carbohydrates especially if you are eating them in place of fats. But if you eat too much of the wrong kinds of carbohydrates and too little of the good kinds of fats, you can set yourself up for the same problems you are trying to solve.
· Dairy products are essential. Dr. Willett states that there is no calcium emergency and that there is little evidence that getting high amount of calcium prevents broken bones in the aging. Further complicating the issue is that drinking or ...