Wellness Grifters and the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Dietitian Opinion)

I love it! I hate it! I can’t with it.

https://cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf

HHS just dropped new dietary guidelines for Americans and everyone on the Internet is talking about it. Let’s break it down.

First, I must explain where I stand in the Instagram intersection of information/trends/misinformation. Currently our country is in a huge state of divide between the public health sector of nutrition, the radicalized, viral side of nutrition, and the evidence based integrated side of nutrition.

The loudest voices are those standing in a grocery store, telling you everything is poison. This is annoying and confusing, and, wouldn’t you know it, the solution to all of that ‘poison’ is some protein powder or supplement that they just happen to have created or be selling. I could lump the beef tallow/seed oil/fruit is bad for you people up here as well. (I would not buy flav city if it was the last thing on earth).

On the fringe of this movement, in my opinion, are people like Will Cole (popular functional medicine chiropractor) who have some great ideas but have gained popularity by being controversial and extreme, which ignites emotion → more comments=more views. (Don’t worry, he doesn’t name these magical foods, he just collects your email).

Then, there are people like me. I am allopathically trained in a undergrad and graduate programs that are credentialed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. I went this route, instead of the 10 month Nutrition School by Mark Hyman (I’m neutral on him at the moment BTW) because I wanted to understand metabolism of nutrients, the physiology of the body, chronic diseases, and how nutrition relates to that, and I wanted to be able to work in a hospital, save lives via tube feeding, do research, or work in other medical setting if I chose to do so.

You can call yourself a nutritionist right now, no regulations around the term. A certified nutritionist passes a comprehensive exam and gets some more in-depth training. A dietitian, as we like to affectionately call ourselves, is a special kind of idiot who got a masters degree and did 1200 hours of supervised training before taking a mindfk of a board exam just to be called a lunch lady or blamed for being ‘paid by big pharma’ WHEN WE COULD HAVE JUST BEEN NUTRITIONISTS. Truthfully, we would all die for nutrition.

Layer on top of this my functional training (I am an IFNCP and in an integrative/functional DCN program at Notre Dame of Maryland University until 2028 currently). Why? Because allopathic nutrition does not solve gastrointestinal issues, functional nutrition does. When I met my mentor, I had IBS from Crohn’s disease and multiple nutrient deficiencies. No one had ever told me I had IBS. No one had ever tested my vitamin D! In 20 years.

Within six months, I felt better than I had ever felt in my life. Now, I do that for you :)

I fully stand the beauty and function of the “woowoo” side, and I am also writing this today because of a biologic medication that literally saved my life. I have tube fed head and neck cancer patients through their veins, stomachs, intestines and watched them come back from skin and bones to happy, healthy humans. OK?

There are so many of us in the middle, but ten minutes on social media is going to have you believe you either hand wash your toilet paper or you are eating Mcdonald's every day.

Here’s whats changed:

1. The picture

For the past 15 years we used a plate, which is easy for any education level to understand, as you can see. Emphasis on real food (so that HAS NOT changed), colorful produce.

2. Added sugar

• The new puppy is telling us 30g/day of added sugars. The old rec was 10% of less of total calories, which in a 200 calorie diet is 50g/day.
• They also mention limiting non-nutrative sweeteners, which is weird, because the research on yay or nay for the general population here is poor. If anything, stevia and fam help you consume less sugar.

3. Protein recommendation (AKA the war on protein) for healthy individuals

• Old recommendation 0.6–0.8 grams per Kg (2.2lbs) body weight per day.
• New is 1.2–1.6 grams per Kg (2.2lbs) body weight per day.
• Eggs are also mentioned as a protein source and not the devil, hallelujah

4. Highly processed foods are mentioned

• ‘Refined grains’ are knocked, but sourdough bread is praised, and this is just white bread with a little extra digestive support (to your body). PS it is generally made with bleached white flour, a “refined grain”.

5. Alcohol is cool now, no recommended limit on consumption (used to be 1, 1.5oz liquor drink for women 2 for men).

• Officially “consume less alcohol for better health”.
• Per Dr OZ (hate him) “Well, alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together in the best case scenario. I don’t think you should drink alcohol (?), but it does allow people an excuse to bond and socialize, and there’s probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends in a safe way”.

6. They mention frozen and bagged vegetables, it used to say “fresh”.

• Frozen and bagged are fresh. It’s implied.

7. They mention fermented foods and the gut microbiome! :)

• No notes.

Here’s what hasn’t changed:

1. Eat real food

• We have been saying this “half of your plate colorful produce” with the plate method for 15 years.

2. Reduce grain consumption

• Dietitians have been saying ¼ plate STARCH, not grains.
• That means one baked potato, an ear of corn, a cup of beans, a fist size of rice.
• Realistically, that recommendation has stayed the same and they are just trying to base the meal on protein instead of bread with the new visual.
• No dietitian was saying ‘base your meal on bread’.

3. Food dye is recommended to be reduced, despite crappy evidence for the general population, and these are supposed to be a blanket recommendation.

4. <10% of calories from saturated fat

• But they mention butter, whole fat dairy, and beef tallow as part of your fat sources. Here’s why this is weird:

Rough example, not personalized at all

• 160lb woman weighs 73kg
• If she eats 1.4g protein, thats 102g, 407kcal from protein (20% of a 2000 calorie diet)
• 55% carbohydrates is 1100kcal and 275g carbs
• 25% fat is 500kcal and 56g
• 10% of calories is sat fat, 22g saturated fat per day
• Beef tallow 6.4g sat fat per tablespoon
• Butter 7g saturated fat per tablespoon
• Olive oil 0g saturated fat per tablespoon
• Coconut oil 12g saturated fat per tablespoon
• 6oz full-fat yogurt is 4g saturated fat per tablespoon
• Ribeye steak as shown in the new guide front and center 6–8g saturated fat per three oz serving

So if we cook that 8oz steak in butter like Chiropractor WIll Cole tells us to, we are looking at (for ONE dish of ONE meal) nineteen grams of saturated fat.

After 12 hours of retrospection, yes I am upset. Not because we increased the protein recommendations (I will get into this next week), 43g of protein is not enough for a 160lb woman. Not because they reduced the sugar recommendation. Not because we are eating more healthy fats (increasing fat of dairy you already consume, eating more nuts, seeds, avocados, fish, eggs).

• Because many people do not realize that a BMI over 30 is not considered “healthy individuals” which means their nutrient needs change. A 350lb young man might have some underlying blood sugar & kidney problems he doesn’t even know about. If he goes out and eats the recommended 286g of protein per day, his kidneys are toast 10 years earlier than they would have been. This is one of MANY examples but this email is already too long.
• Because the recommendation is based on trends and per the example above, difficult to follow in a rational world.
• Because the administration ran on a platform of breaking down the junk food lobbying, yet they are bolstering the factory farm and big dairy.

They can say ‘choose small farmers and grass fed meat’, but 13% of households can’t afford food, and 54% of households have said organic food is out of their budget, so those 100g of protein are coming from factory farms for ~60% of American households. PS, beef tallow is a byproduct of beef production. It’s giving…

1992

I don’t think there was a war on protein, I think there was a realization that for most people, 0.8g of protein per kg is safe and affordable.

If you want to biohack or optimize, great! I know I do. But to send the message that this is a recommended guideline is overwhelming and irresponsible.

I think this confuses the American public, is not understandable at a fifth grade reading level (all govt nutrition education needs to be), and continues to force the whole ‘pick a side or you are ignorant’ narrative.

Today, remember you control what you eat. You control how you take in information, what % of your time is spent living other people lives and opinions on social media. You control how you treat other people, how much movement you get, getting regular lab work, and if you go outside or not.

Love, auntie Molly your Dietitian

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