5 ms·

"The top 10 companies control over 70% of what we eat and drink and have annual sales larger than the gross domestic product of many countries ... systemic chan

"The top 10 companies control over 70% of what we eat and drink and have annual sales larger than the gross domestic product of many countries ... systemic change is needed first and this is likely to require governmental action.” But when the government acts, it acts according to the influence of the companies that its regulatory agencies have been captured by, particular those same top 10 companies that control most of what we eat and drink. This is not a new development. When U.S. nutritional recommendations emerged in the early 1970s they were already being written by these same companies and their predecessors. From my perspective they were already dead wrong, and those recommendations have wrought enormous damage in chronic disease and lives cut short. There is no realistic prospect that this is about to change. I've been watching as one of my favorite nutrition authors, Nina Teicholz, has been tilting at these windmills via the Nutrition Coalition. They have struggled mightily to present the dissenting science to the people who control these recommendations, and have met with roughly the same success as Don Quixote. Watching them lose their innocence is like watching a slow motion train crash and not being able to do a thing about it. My preference is to get the government out of the nutrition science business, but that's about as unlikely. Barring that the best approach is to either ignore them or count them as just one more opinion, and to do the research and N=1 experimentation for yourself.

nsl73 6y ago
> My preference is to get the government out of the nutrition science business, but that's about as unlikely. It’s critically important that the government is in the nutrition science business and it does nutrition science correctly. Think about all of the ways the government is implicitly taking a stance on nutrition. The farm bill, school lunches, checkoff programs, government cheese, prison meals, snap, and many more. The problem is one of incentive alignment. For example, the FDA is responsible for both the agricultural industry and the health of the population, which currently are at odds as the agricultural industry producing a lot of junk food. Democratic systems can work by increasing the transparency of the government and by increasing the education of the voting population.
- rdudekul 6y ago
  "Democratic systems can work by increasing the transparency of the government and by increasing the education of the voting population." Most of the big problems facing the humanity can be addressed using transparency of government combined with better education for all. To that list I would add, decreasing the role corporate money plays into influencing government and universities. For this to happen we need to rethink Economics (https://www.ted.com/talks/kate_raworth_a_healthy_economy_should_be_designed_to_thrive_not_grow https://www.ted.com/talks/kate_raworth_a_healthy_economy_sho...).
flashyfaffe2 6y ago
Could not agree more.Just need to find an easy way that makes people realise they are the ones ultimately deciding what they put on their plates. Although I do not minimise the difficulty for some people to put their food habits on the top of their list.
- tacocataco 6y ago
  I'd say for a lot of people, their food budget decides what is on their plate.
  - hirundo 6y ago
    Look at this list of the cheapest food: https://www.upstart.com/blog/lowest-cost-per-calorie-foods https://www.upstart.com/blog/lowest-cost-per-calorie-foods Even sticking to that list there's an enormous difference between eggs and beans versus brownies and pancakes. And rural poor can grow the eggs in the backyard for chicken feed, and often do. Only the most desperate can't make consequential decisions about what's on the plate.

nsl73 6y ago

> My preference is to get the government out of the nutrition science business, but that's about as unlikely. It’s critically important that the government is in the nutrition science business and it does nutrition science correctly. Think about all of the ways the government is implicitly taking a stance on nutrition. The farm bill, school lunches, checkoff programs, government cheese, prison meals, snap, and many more. The problem is one of incentive alignment. For example, the FDA is responsible for both the agricultural industry and the health of the population, which currently are at odds as the agricultural industry producing a lot of junk food. Democratic systems can work by increasing the transparency of the government and by increasing the education of the voting population.

rdudekul 6y ago
"Democratic systems can work by increasing the transparency of the government and by increasing the education of the voting population." Most of the big problems facing the humanity can be addressed using transparency of government combined with better education for all. To that list I would add, decreasing the role corporate money plays into influencing government and universities. For this to happen we need to rethink Economics (https://www.ted.com/talks/kate_raworth_a_healthy_economy_should_be_designed_to_thrive_not_grow https://www.ted.com/talks/kate_raworth_a_healthy_economy_sho...).

flashyfaffe2 6y ago

Could not agree more.Just need to find an easy way that makes people realise they are the ones ultimately deciding what they put on their plates. Although I do not minimise the difficulty for some people to put their food habits on the top of their list.

tacocataco 6y ago
I'd say for a lot of people, their food budget decides what is on their plate.
- hirundo 6y ago
  Look at this list of the cheapest food: https://www.upstart.com/blog/lowest-cost-per-calorie-foods https://www.upstart.com/blog/lowest-cost-per-calorie-foods Even sticking to that list there's an enormous difference between eggs and beans versus brownies and pancakes. And rural poor can grow the eggs in the backyard for chicken feed, and often do. Only the most desperate can't make consequential decisions about what's on the plate.