Here's Why Our Nutrition Guidelines Are Trash

What would you say if I told you that everything you've been taught about a healthy diet has been a lie? Well, maybe it's not that bad. But between nutritional research, lobbyist groups, and outdated science, some really poor eating choices have been recommended. Let's look at how they've confused us and examine what we really should be eating. The United States first implemented dietary guidance in 1894. And it changed constantly because of things like the Depression, World War rationing, and the discovery of vitamins and minerals. Things didn't get firmly established till 1956, when the USDA announced a dietary guidance known as the four basic food groups. This became the main education tool for American school children for the next 36 years. So what were they pushing people to eat? If there are four basic food groups, as they said in 1956, what do you think those four basic food groups are? Proteins. Poultry. Vegetables. Dessert. Protein, vegetables, fruit. Protein. And fruits. Oh, that's not right. Steak. Chicken. Eggs. How about those fruits and vegetables, man? The four basic food groups were as follows. Milk, meats, fruits and vegetables, and grains. These foods were introduced as part of a balanced meal. And the recommendation was that you eat all of these foods every single day. However, these recommendations had major flaws. For example, there was no distinction made between refined grains like white bread and whole grains like whole wheat bread. And it's an important one to make because whole wheat bread takes more energy for your body to break it down. Therefore, it doesn't spike your blood sugar. It doesn't spike your insulin. These are really important factors that affect the metabolic state within your body. The worst part of this guidance is that it provided no guidance for the proportions of how much you should be eating. In fact, in a single day, you could have a well-balanced meal with a gallon of milk, a ribeye steak, peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, and a single piece of broccoli. I don't think that's so healthy. And kind of weird. Well, things then got better. Sort of. Over the years, the USDA had realized there should be a bit more nuance in how people eat. So they introduced the idea of proportionality. A great move. Unfortunately, the USDA often relied on industry experts to help craft and approve official dietary guidance. This influence from groups like the dairy, corn and meat industry led to dramatic messaging surrounding the importance of things like low fat or fat-free foods, with zero recognition of the benefits of things like healthy fats and clean oils. But while they suggested eating different proportions of foods, they didn't necessarily recommend the right proportions. Bread, pasta, cereal, oatmeal, carbs on carbs on carbs. The bottom of this food pyramid is literally all grains. And its recommendations were six to 11 servings a day. There's only 10 servings of oatmeal in here and look how much it is. I mean, look, I'm not here to demonize a single food ingredient because whole grains could totally be part of a healthy diet. The problem here is, if you look at their recommendations and proportions, you could literally be eating twice as much white bread as you do vegetables a day. And it was permissible and recommended by this food pyramid. That's poor guidance. Also, America was going through its fat-free low fat kick, which meant that we were demonizing fats. Not all fats are bad, A. And B, we also poorly understand fats. Like, do you know the difference between whole milk and 1%? This is 2% milk. What does the 2% number represent? 2% of how much dairy is in it. 2% lactate. 2% reduced. Fat. The percent of fat in there. Exactly. So it's the percent of fat by weight. This is whole milk. What percent is in whole milk? Just all the fat. All of it. 100%. Probably zero. You think this has less fat than the 2%? Yes. 10%. 80%. 100%. 1%. 50%. 40, 400. Percent. 40. 40%. Three or 4%. You're right. That's really accurate. How did you know? I'm just guessing. And forgetting milk for a second, once you remove fat, food begins to taste pretty badly. So what do we do? Threw a ton of sugar in there. What did that do? Spike our insulin. Spike our blood sugar. Make our waistlines get bigger. And here we are, right in the middle of an obesity epidemic. What do you take away from it? Oh, there's like different categories of foods. I don't know what I'm supposed to be saying right now though. Does it tell you how much of each food you should eat? No. It's confusing. It seems like the further he gets up, the less he eats. I don't really get it. Get to the top. Try to eat all of them. This is the steps he needs to take in his diet to reach the top. Nope. Now the good part is My Pyramid does aim to provide some insight into proportionality as represented by these colorful stripes on the pyramid. It stops there, leaving you to estimate how much more orange there is than yellow. It's really, really confusing. The chaos of the My Pyramid wasn't a total waste though, because there was a wide variety of foods here, unlike the four basic food groups. There was upwards of 40 different foods on the graphic. In 2011, the government tossed all the confusing guidance from the pyramid into the trash and introduced us the new redesigned MyPlate. It was gonna change how we talked and communicated about nutrition. Unfortunately, it may have over-corrected. While the misguided proportions of the pyramids were now gone, they also pulled a complete 180 in regards to fitness. Where'd the stairs go? We've also introduced a new word into our graphic, protein. And while recognizing that protein comes in forms that extend beyond animal products is no doubt an important evolution in messaging, there is but one fatal flaw. Protein is a macro nutrient, not a food group. This means that you can get your protein portion with hamburgers and hot dogs. Yeah, tasty, but not an ideal healthy source of protein. There is something I love about MyPlate, fish. For the first time, we actually see guidance recommending the consumption of seafood. And it's such a healthy food. It contains omega-3 fatty acids. We've actually seen evidence of reductions in heart disease and stroke risk. My biggest issue with MyPlate is that it says, 100% fruit juice is the equivalent of a fruit serving. Yeah, maybe the vitamins and minerals are in there, but do you know how much sugar is in here? A can of cola, a popular energy drink, some sugar cubes, fruit juice. Which one of these four has the most sugar? I would say the energy drink, maybe. Probably the can of soda. Energy drink. Why do you say that? Because I drink energy drink every day to do my job. And it gives you that sugar kick? Yeah. Energy drink, the soda. What if I was to tell you those two have the lowest amount of sugar? Probably the pure sugar cubes, no? No. The fruit juice? You're right. And I actually sometimes drink it thinking that it's more nutrition. Yes, fruits contain sugar, but they also contain fiber, which slows the absorption of the sugar, thereby not spiking your blood sugar, not spiking your insulin. Drinking 100% fruit juice might get you the vitamins and minerals, but it's also gonna spike your sugar just like any other unhealthy sugary beverage. Folks, just eat the fruit. In strong contrast to the pasta extravaganza from 1992, we finally see vegetables dominating the plate. While this is excellent to see, the further guidance doesn't differentiate between leafy, dark green vegetables and potatoes. As much as it breaks my heart to say so, potatoes and French fries do not count as your daily vegetable. And that brings us to what modern nutritional guidance is today. What should you be eating? What should I be eating? For that, we turn to our friends at Harvard. Back to the kitchen. Here's a plate of food recommended by Harvard's modern nutritional guidance. We're entirely removing dairy and swapping it out for a healthy fat like olive oil. But it's nice that we're finally making the statement that not all fats equal bad because there are healthy fats and they play important roles within your body, creating hormones, protecting your organs, giving you energy, and even boosting your HDL, which is your good cholesterol. For the record, there's nothing wrong with having dairy. Remember, we're not villainizing ingredients. It's about not having excess dairy and not having low quality dairy. Another great addition to their recommendations is good old-fashioned water. It's important to stay hydrated, not only for you to feel healthy, but also to encourage your metabolic rate. Those who are dehydrated actually have trouble losing weight and have lower levels of energy. Also, as you notice, the majority of the plate is plant-based, fruits and vegetables, but it's really important to get a wide variety of vegetables in different shapes, colors, and even sizes. Their focus on healthier proteins like fish, chicken, beans, and nuts is also really sharp because these are all yummy options that carry a lot of vitamins and minerals. And finally, we get some guidance that encourages you to eat whole grains rather than refined ones. I've actually gone vegan and keto for 30 days, and it wasn't easy, so click on those to check it out. And again, huge thank you to Walmart Plus for sponsoring this video. Click the link in the description to start your free trial today. Stay happy and healthy.