For decades, fat has been vilified in the world of nutrition. We were told to avoid it at all costs, "if you eat fat, you get fat" was the mantra. "Experts" told us it would lead to weight gain, heart disease, and a host of other health problems. However, you might be surprised to learn what's behind this movement.
It's time to set the record straight and shed some light on the truth.
The Low-Fat Movement
Even as early as the 1950's nutrition experts started preaching a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet. They deemed foods like meat, nuts, cheese, and anything that had natural fats as unhealthy. People were told to eat foods rich in carbohydrates like bread, rice and pasta. Vegetables? Meh, in the middle. These are the food guidelines STILL being taught today.
In response, whole fat, high protein, nutrient dense real food was replaced with ultra-processed low-fat products full of refined sugars, preservatives, fortified nutrients, and artificial additives.
Who Determines Our Food Guidelines?
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) is a collection of 20 experts appointed by the USDA. They determine the nutritional data for things like the National School Lunch Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and what advice our doctors give us.
This is where it gets shady... through research grants and consulting fees, these experts have financial ties to the Sugar Association, Big Pharma corporations, Big Dairy, and Big Food.
Some might call this approach misguided, but I know you know better than to trust the experts blindly after the past few years. When governmental committees are making recommendations, the lobbyist of big corporations are somewhere pulling the strings.
Let's just look at who benefits from these recommendations...
👎Grocery store aisles are FILLED with ultra processed food products.
👎The majority of products come from just a couple Big Food corporations with lobbyist in D.C.
👎Processed Soy and Corn products, produced by Big Ag, are in EVERYTHING.
👎Even inside the vegetable and meat sections you will find these products labeled as "healthy" or "natural" (which mean nothing, by the way).
👎Almost 70% of Americans are on a prescription drug. Over half are on two!
Why do we talk about this? Because I used to feed my family on recommended guidelines and it was making us sick. We need sources for our information that aren't influenced by the Bigs of the world.
Next week we will get into the important impact of fats on our health.
Because we give a damn,
Jenni Bajema
Rebel Pastures