Some interesting news on diets.

[Lou]

Two articles caught my eye today.

Best and worst diets rankings for 2018: Keto last, DASH first​

And this one

New 'planetary health diet' can save lives and the planet, major review suggests
​

Nothing really new or surprising in either one. Neither article discusses or names the WFPB diet which maybe was a little surprising and disappointing. It is my impression that the WFPB diet is even better than the Med Diet which was one of the best. It made me happy to see Keto and Paleo on the worst list.

 

[mavrick45]

It made me happy to see Keto and Paleo on the worst list.

SAME!

 

[Forest Nymph]

Yes, I often use that best and worst rankings phenomenon to argue with people who promote keto, or even low carb. I also make sure that I mention vegetarian and vegan are both in the top twenty while they're dead last. However, I don't really know how heavy the bias is on this report, as it seems to throw definite weight (ha ha) towards maintaining an omnivore diet in the top 10. Smells a lot like American medicine.

As for the planetary health diet, I'm not sure yet how excited I am about it. It seems kind of like the Mediterranean diet with a very small amount of meat - and the way it's listed out is almost absurd, like the scientists did it overly mathematically and they actually list out what is basically a bite of a burger per day, something really unrealistic. I think it would be more effective to just say "okay you can only have this one day a week" but I bet they're concerned with how restrictive that looks, and I'm disappointed that the diet contains meat at all, because according to my research even a very low meat flexitarian diet is not in the neighborhood as even being vegetarian.

I'll try to look at this optimistically and say it's a start, but another part of me thinks this is just an excuse for Westerners to going along eating animals, business and usual and a lot of people will "cheat" on the planetary diet.

 

[Sax]

The planetary health diet is great for raising awareness of the link between diet and environment with the amount of headlines it seems to be generating.

But did anyone else notice it calls for dairy to be the second most consumed category by weight?

And for added fats to provide almost six times the calories of vegetables?

Still an improvement on the status quo, but I wish the people who came up with this stuff would rely on a research based understanding of healthy diets rather than guessing at what people will comply with.

 

[betiPT]

Dealing with people promoting Keto to me has been evident lately. Instead of preaching my methods of eating I try to get them to defend theirs. I make some unbiased scientific statements and then I ask them to explain how Keto holds up. I hope at least I have started a doubt process in their mind. They see the first day or two quick results and then think it's a miracle diet.

 

[Lou]

That's the problem with Keto. It actually provides results. And you know the old adage, there is no arguing with results.

However, this year it has gotten a lot of bad press. and carbs are getting more good press. The tide might be turning.

Then i see an article or two how you can combine paleo with Keto for great results. ARRG!

 

[veganDreama]

thanks for sharing. Its a shame it didn't mention vegan diets or the need to stop factory farming because cheap factory farmed meat is much more polluting and it encourages people to eat way too much meat. If factory farming was banned many people simply wouldn't be able to afford meat on a daily bases or even at all which I think is definitely a good thing.

 

[Lou]

I just read this article and something smells fishy. I could not find any obvious lies or misleading facts but as I read it my BS meter started to inch up. But no alarms went off. Maybe it's just that I don't like the author's conclusions. it's not like we were in love with the Planetary Health Diet. I thought most of us at least considered it an improvement.

So, brush off your critical thinking caps and check out this article and let me know what you think. I've never heard of GreenBiz before but they seem to be legit.

One of the things that struck me as a little fishy. The author of the article links the Dietary Guidelines as causing the obesity epidemic. The guidelines came out in 1980, and that is also the beginning of the obesity epidemic. I've never heard anyone make that connection before. Most people think that the obesity epidemic has more to do with people NOT following the dietary guidelines then following them.

Pollan in the Omnivore's Dilemma points out that it was in the year 1980 that companies started using HFCS as a sweetener instead of sugar. Since HFCS is cheaper than sugar, companies started to "supersize". Eight-ounce coke bottles became 20 oz coke bottles. In fact, the term supersize comes from McDonald's - and it was in the 80s that McDonald's put supersize on the menu. Also, it was in 1983 that Tyson invented the Chicken Nugget. (The Omnivores Dilemma, pages 103 to 119)

The inconvenient truths behind the 'Planetary Health' diet