Discover Your Own Expertise

Legal and professional rules, created to protect the public, can do the opposite when they become out-of-date. We seem to be in that position today with dietary advice.

The recommended diet in New Zealand is a version of the Standard American Diet. The Standard American Diet has hardly changed since it was established in 1980. There is strong evidence that the diet is not working to promote good health as was intended.

The Guidelines Committee commented on the failure of the diet to avoid obesity and type two diabetes. They chose to blame the public for eating too much fatty food and for not exercising enough. This is hard to understand because exercise is more popular today than 40 years ago, and saturated fat in the diet is down 18%.

There were many people who said that the Dietary Guidelines for America, were never based on dietary science. There was never any substance to the claim that this was a healthy diet. The McGovern Senate Committee, was from the beginning compromised by the interests of American farmers, food producers and institutional representatives. The Standard American Diet was a political document, rather than a public health measure.

By What Authority do I Speak

Some of what I have to say will shake your knowledge tree.

Be skeptical, but please listen.

I'll try to stick to history and science.

Since about 1980, in most countries around the world The Standard American Diet, was adopted as the recommended healthy diet, certainly in English speaking countries.

Science cannot prove any diet is "good."

Science has told us what is a "bad diet."

I have no authority to give you dietary advice, but then again I can tell you what I really believe, because I'm not constrained by "professional standards."

Your doctor and your dietician are constrained by the law. To maintain professional standards they have to recommend that you adopt the diet recommended by the local health authority, the Ministry of Health in New Zealand.

You will see at the end of this lecture that there are serious consequences for people who stand against the guidelines. Even so, increasingly many professionals are doing that, because the guidelines are so clearly disconnected for the best modern dietary science, and our current food sources.