New AHA Dietary Guidlines

[f1jim]

For the first time in 15 years the American Heart Association has updated its dietary guidelines. Nothing earth shattering but simpler, and moving in the right direction. Still a lot of compromises given their mission.

https://www.prevention.com/food-nutriti ... uidelines/

f1jim

[windmill]

After reading I thought I saw this somewhere before... and then I knew :

https://www.dge.de/fileadmin/public/doc ... et-dge.pdf

(Quite similar to our nutrition guidelines in Germany. But for us it's interesting that the GHA (Deutsche Herzstiftung) just has a few points in common and still recommends the mediterranean diet )

[lucidguppy]

There's a lot of good things here which is nice. Problem is that some of the recommendations directly sabotage the priorities. No wonder people get frustrated.

[QubitBob]

Still a lot of compromises given their mission.

What is there to say? It was just a few years ago that the president of the AHA suffered a heart attack during their annual scientific conference (link to story here: https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/16/health/a ... index.html ). Dr. John Warner, a 52-year-old cardiologist, had noted during his presentation that there were no older men in his family--all had died of cardiovascular disease before reaching late middle age.

The AHA may be moving in the right direction, but it is my bet that you will never see any of these large health advocacy organizations adopt truly strict dietary guidelines like Dr. McDougall's plan.

[JeffN]

Still a lot of compromises given their mission.

What is there to say? It was just a few years ago that the president of the AHA suffered a heart attack during their annual scientific conference (link to story here: https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/16/health/a ... index.html ). Dr. John Warner, a 52-year-old cardiologist, had noted during his presentation that there were no older men in his family--all had died of cardiovascular disease before reaching late middle age.

The AHA may be moving in the right direction, but it is my bet that you will never see any of these large health advocacy organizations adopt truly strict dietary guidelines like Dr. McDougall's plan.

Sadly, not even the ACLM

In Health
Jeff

PS I like the word therapeutic (which we are) and not strict (which I don't think we are).

[QubitBob]

PS I like the word therapeutic (which we are) and not strict (which I don't think we are).

Good point, Jeff. Given that the online version of Merriam-Webster states, "The essential meaning of therapeutic is: Producing good effects on your body or mind", that is probably the most accurate adjective to use. I was aiming for a description suggesting that Dr. McDougall's plan is not a compromise plan like the ones so many of these health advocacy groups adopt.

[JeffN]

PS I like the word therapeutic (which we are) and not strict (which I don't think we are).

Good point, Jeff. Given that the online version of Merriam-Webster states, "The essential meaning of therapeutic is: Producing good effects on your body or mind", that is probably the most accurate adjective to use. I was aiming for a description suggesting that Dr. McDougall's plan is not a compromise plan like the ones so many of these health advocacy groups adopt.

[curcubit]

I think the fact they mentioned the carbon footprint of animal products is a big problem, plus the acknowledgement of structural racism, food deserts, etc is a huge step forward. It was brave of them, as such a mainstream organization, to discuss the other elephants in the room. You can read more in the actual paper, but here are two excerpts.

"There are increasing concerns about the environmental impact of current dietary patterns and food systems that favor animal-based food production and consumption, which contribute substantially to human-generated, greenhouse gas emissions, and water and land usage.42 Commonly consumed animal products, particularly red meat, have the largest environmental impact. Reducing meat intake from current high levels will improve diet quality and result in more sustainable dietary patterns and lower carbon footprint.....


Challenges that impede adherence to heart-healthy dietary patterns include targeted marketing of unhealthy foods, neighborhood segregation, food and nutrition insecurity, and structural racism. Creating an environment that facilitates, rather than impedes, adherence to heart-healthy dietary patterns among all individuals is a public health imperative."