2010 Dietary Guidelines Release; Expect More Obesity and Diabetes

After more than two years of meetings and deliberations, the revised 2010 Dietary Guidelineswere released this morning on Monday, January 31, 2011.The 13-member committee of PhD’s from universities across the country supported the “low fat” status quo.  

Despite broad recognition that we have widespread obesity in the U.S. and an ever-worsening diabetes crises, the update left the heavy emphasis on carbohydrates largely intact. As any high school science teacher knows, only carbohydrates raise blood sugar.

As they have since 1980, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines will say “Healthy diets are high in carbohydrates.” But only carbohydrates raise blood sugar – especially the quickly-digested grain products that already makeup a high percentage of our daily calories.

In the 112 pages of dietary guidelines, the words “blood sugar” will not appear. In the midst of a diabetes epidemic, we must ask, why do the dietary guidelines fail to discuss the unique ability of carbohydrates to elevate blood sugar?

Because the dietary guidelines are the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy, you would expect new warnings about blood-sugar-raising foods and information about how to prevent and reverse diabetes. You won’t find it. 

As they have for 30 years, the guidelines will say “Limit saturated fat to no more than 10 percent of calories.” But diabetes is not associated with consumption of saturated fat – excess carbohydrates are.

The carbohydrate committee was chaired by Professor Joanne Slavin from the University of Minnesota who testified that there is no reason to single out high fructose corn syrup as a “bad” carbohydrate; it’s perfectly okay to consume up to 25 percent of our calories as sugar; and it would be “too controversial” to grade carbohydrates by how fast they raise blood sugar.

No other committee member challenged Slavin’s testimony. As a result of Slavin’s unopposed testimony in support of high carbohydrate consumption, school children will be consuming margarine, low fat mayonnaise, sugary breakfast cereals and flavored nonfat milk with as much sugar as a Mountain Dew.

It doesn’t matter whether the grains are refined or whole. Highly processed, heat-damaged breakfast cereals raise blood sugar. When you pour high sugar flavored milk on blood sugar raising cereal – you guessed it – you get high blood sugar, elevated insulin, a blood sugar crash, and subsequent hunger and cravings… for more carbohydrate.

With obesity and diabetes taking over our country, isn’t it time we served our children high quality eggs scrambled in butter – or winter porridges soaked overnight and then topped with butter and cream? Isn’t it time we follow the example of the French and Swiss and feed our children full fat milk and full fat cheese?