Over the last couple of years there has been an interesting battle that cuts across medicine, fitness, and nutrition. Here’s an intersting little chronology I noticed that has unfolded involving fat, sugar, and the FDA.
A Little Twisty And Turny Chronology
April 2015 – The FDA warns Kind, the makers of the Kind Bar, that they should not be claiming that their bars are healthy. One of the two main reasons is that they are too high in fat.
May 2016 – Kind agrees to change how they use the word “healthy.” But, Kind gets the FDA to agree to re-evaluate how they define healthy. Are Kind Bars Healthy? FDA Settles Battle Over Snack Label
September 2016 – The New York Times reports that the Sugar Industry paid three Harvard scientists in 1967 to minimize the link between sugar and heart health and play up the link between saturated fat and poor heart health. How The Sugar Industry Shifted Blame To Fat
February 2017 – The CEO of Kind starts a new public health advocacy group called “Feed The Truth” in order to “offset self-serving industry agendas.” New Public Advocacy Group Feed The Truth Will Blow The Whistle On Shady Nutrition Science
Keep Yourself Informed
If you have been paying attention to the debate about the role of fat in our diets, this is an interesting little chronology. First we have the FDA. We’ve had several years of serious discussion about fat and heart disease and, in my opinion, there is real momentum on the side that says fat is perfectly healthy. Nonetheless, the FDA is still using 20 year old guidelines.
I’m not suggesting that the FDA is bad. I’m merely noting that at least in this case, they seem to be pretty behind. In the meantime, nutrition guidelines and policies are still being set. That’s why when it comes to your personal health, it’s important to be well informed. No matter how reputable the source, you can’t always take everything just at face value.
Science Is The Way To Go – But You Gotta Check It!
Also notable in this chronology is 1967. It would seem that’s the critical year for the start of the low fat, high-carb eating pattern. It was bad science, and it is still affecting us 50 years later. I’m a believer in science and the scientific method (something I feel like you shouldn’t have to declare, but such are the times). However, science has to be checked for accuracy and contextualized for meaning. It also needs to be compared next to practical experience. Somewhere along the line we let ourselves believe that eating fat free bagel chips was healthier than eating eggs with the yolks in them. In hindsight, that does seem a little off, doesn’t it?
Conclusion
Hopefully this new advocacy group, Feed The Truth, will help do some of the fact checking necessary to keep good information at the fore. In the meantime, be alert and don’t let marketing make all of your health decisions.