http://reason.com/archives/2012/07/14/fight-for-your-right-to-go-paleo Was it all planned....a dependence on the .gov when 60%+ of the population is obese? You have an obesity epidemic, which then gives way to the erosion of liberty in the form of govt. control over just another facet of your life: eating. And if you're a proponent of eating healthy, they will shut that source of dissension down.
Intent or incompetence ? I found this while doing a search on the govt. food pyramid: Nathan Pritikin developed a low-fat, low-protein and high-complex carbohydrate diet in the 1970s due to his obesity and clogged arteries. His program required a very low-calorie diet and was strictly against the use of any vitamin, minerals or other supplements. He reversed both of these conditions but died of suicide at the age of 60 years after battling leukemia, cancer of the bone marrow. Studies have now shown that his low-fat, low-protein diet causes cancer. He was warned by others that his diet had less vitamin E than minimum standards. It was also deficient in essential amino acids and essential fatty acids. His book was titled Permanent Weight-Loss Manual, and indeed he had a permanent weight loss, 100%. Patients at his Centre for Longevity who followed the diet and didn't cheat also suffered a multitude of other medical problems. This failed diet plan is described in the book Beyond Pritikin by Ann Louise Gittleman, former Pritikin Institute nutritionist. She now proposes an opposite diet which is high-protein, high-fat and low-carbohydrates in her book, Eat Fat, Lose Weight. Nathan Pritikin's diet program did result in low-cholesterol, but new studies have shown that a person with low-cholesterol has an increased risk of committing suicide. Perhaps his low-cholesterol as well as his leukemia contributed to his death by suicide. What were Nathan Pritikin's credentials? He was a mechanical engineer. He had no nutritional education. He had no studies. He tested his theories on himself and those who attended his clinic in California. Senator George McGovern attended the Pritikin clinic and was sold on the diet as the foundation for human nutrition. Upon returning to Washington, D.C., Senator McGovern used the Senate committee he headed to investigate and recommend changes in nutrition. He was very biased, and scientists, physicians and nutritionist who were opposed to the high-carbohydrate, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet were blocked from testifying before the committee. The plan was passed to other US government agencies and became known as our present day "Food Guide Pyramid" with absolutely no hard scientific evidence to support it. The last 30 years have proven the plan to be a hazard to one's health and should never be followed by anyone. The United States government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants trying unsuccessfully to prove that saturated fat causes heart disease only to find that those who ate the most saturated fat are the most active and healthy. Some fraudulent studies exist condemning saturated fat, but the real villain in the diet was ignored, carbohydrates. The Low-Fat Diet has been a Deadly and Costly Experiment. The human pain, misery, disease, early death and financial cost to societies around the world caused by Senator George McGovern's campaign against animal protein and animal fats are beyond measure, and the climax to this dilemma is still years into the future. Millions of people in English speaking countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia have died an early death from the complication of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and the complication of inflammatory bowel diseases as a result. Yet, Senator McGovern's campaign did not even warrant a line item description in the national budget. It became the official government diet recommendation with the hardy support of all the food manufacturers that turn carbohydrates and trans fats into stuff they call food. The health care industries are about to enter a "melt down" as health costs skyrocket from the onslaught of sickness brought on by the constant plea to "reduce the consumption of red meat and saturated fat." The 20 to 30 year delays in the onset of disease has begun to attack the "baby boomers." More and more people are unable to afford health care insurance. Companies are dumping more and more of the health care benefits back onto the employee. Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) are increasing rates at a pace three to five times the rate of inflation, but they still struggle to make a profit. Government health plans are heading for financial bankruptcy. Governments are frozen in their current policies unable to reverse direction or fight the power of the food manufacturing lobby. The health care crisis is still gathering momentum. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing companies are turning out new drugs and new machines which mainly serve to cover up the symptoms for a short duration. These new products serve only to dump increased cost into the failing system. Diabetes, Obesity on Rise in U.S., Statistics Show "Diabetes rates are shooting up in the United States, with a 27 percent increase between 1997 and 2002, according to official government statistics." Kent Bachelor of Science Mechanical Engineering Correcting the mistakes of an earlier engineer.
The Greeks had already figured out the secret to happiness and health in life better than twenty-five hundred years ago, when they inscribed Apollo's Temple with the two dictums "Know Thyself" and "Nothing In Excess" (All things in moderation). Most of our personal and societal ills would disappear if those two dictums could be followed. (Sadly, even the Greeks couldn't follow their own advice.) Totally cutting out, or over indulging in, any of the food groups will lead to problems. I steer away from any diet plan that severely restricts any one dietary element.
