Two days ago the 2010 Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans was released previewing the changes set to come for the official American dietary guidelines.
Given it's only 3 years post the release of Canada's Food Guide, one might imagine that the recommendations ought to be pretty similar as not too much has changed in the evidence-based nutrition landscape.
Of course that assumes that the 2007 Food Guide is evidence-based (a bad assumption).
A quick peek at the Executive Summary of the Report reveals their calls to action. Let's take a peek at them and see if they're reflected in Canada's 2007 Food Guide:
1. Reduce the incidence and prevalence of overweight and obesity of the US population by reducing overall calorie intake.
Canada's Food Guide? Provides zero guidance in helping Canadians reduce caloric intake.
2. Shift food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet that emphasizes vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
Canada's Food Guide? Puts zero emphasis on legumes, nuts or seeds and happily recommends that half of our grain be refined.
3. Increase the intake of seafood and fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products and consume only moderate amounts of lean meats, poultry, and eggs.
Canada's Food Guide? Does recommend we increase the amount of seafood we consume but puts no limits or cautions on meat consumption. Includes whole milk, pudding and chocolate milk in their online guidance meant to steer Canadians to appropriate dietary choices.
4. Significantly reduce intake of foods containing added sugars and solid fats because these dietary components contribute excess calories and few, if any, nutrients. In addition, reduce sodium intake and lower intake of refined grains, especially refined grains that are coupled with added sugar, solid fat, and sodium.
Canada's Food Guide? Has a blanket recommendation to reduce sugary foods and fats but provides very little guidance on salt and as mentioned, recommends half the grains we consume be refined.
The report also emphatically states,
"The obesity epidemic is the "single greatest threat to public health in this century"And yet Canada's Food Guide is in and of itself obesogenic (my prior posts on this matter here, here and here).
Now of course these are just the recommendations of the advisory committee and it remains to be seen how these calls to action are actually incorporated into the final guidelines but one thing's for certain, Canada's Food Guide does not reflect our current understanding of the impact of nutrition on chronic disease and for those in the nutritional know, it is a national embarrassment.
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I have a fairly basic question, not directly related to this post. I understand your position on the "red meat debate" and would like to know is pork is considered red meat.
ReplyDeleteIn nutritional studies pork is indeed considered a red meat.
ReplyDeleteThe Australian's are being truly progressive when it come to food guides. The Public Health Association of Australia has released a call to action for the consideration of environmental impacts of food policy including dietary guidelines.
ReplyDeleteOne discussion point at their recent conference is should we be recommending fish when the (near) future of world fish stocks is so grim?
http://www.phaa.net.au/futureforfood.php
One small quible - it does say "make at least half your grain products whole grain each day" and then it gives examples of whole grains. Not quite the same as your point! Nice post overall.
ReplyDeleteThea, definitely a consideration, though one of environmentalism rather than of chronic disease prevention.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I'll quibble with your quibble. I'm well aware of the wording, though the wording certainly would suggest that half your grains can be refined with no ill effects.
Another quibble -
ReplyDeleteALthough Canada's Food Guide could certainly do more, the first Guiding Statement in the Meats and Alternatives group is to "Have meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and tofu often." If that's not promoting legumes, I don't know what is. Beans, lentils, and fish are also featured ahead of red meat on the front cover and inside pages of the food guide.
Not sure that last quibble registers for me (but admittedly I have a confirmation bias here).
ReplyDeleteTo shift consumption from meat to legumes etc., there needs to be a statement of consumption of same in place of. Often is a nebulous statement and certainly doesn't suggest that meat not be included along with the legumes.
Very interesting post. I'm currently taking nutrition and am planning on becoming a registered dietitian. I've read through most of your comments on the 2007 Canada's Food Guide and I am more than a bit disturbed. It's true that nutrition students are taught that the Guide is "gospel truth," and even more so for me personally since my mother is a dietitian. I have never even considered the possibility that the Guide is obesogenic, but once you consider what people actually consume in a day... As an example, I had a huge home-made salad for lunch, easily 2 portions, with 2 portions (30 mL) of Italian dressing. I also had a cheese and cucumber sandwich with Miracle Whip, and the whole wheat bread slices were pretty thick.
ReplyDeleteI myself have noted some problems with our Guide, namely choosing beans, lentils and tofu "often". What does "often" mean? It's a relative term. "Often" could mean "once per month" for some people.
I'm also troubled by the recommendation of getting only half of our starches from whole grains, and the omission of "extra" foods like condiments, sweets and snacks. It's completely unrealistic to imagine people aren't eating those daily.
Finally, I agree with Thea. Is it ethical to recommend fish and fish oil supplements with fishing stocks so depleted? That said, there are some good websites that list the most environmentally sustainable species as well as which ones to avoid. A good one is http://www.seachoice.org/. (It also lists species with high concentrations of omega-3s.)
If we could get people to consume pulses and soy instead of meat on a regular basis, that could save a lot of calories right there.