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US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

washingtonpost.com

161–170 of 269 posts

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#161
post #19

"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

The oft-cited and never-defined Tautology Diet.

There is a whole book defining the quote above. It's a very enjoyable read, and reasonably well-cited.

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#162
post #86
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The science behind nutrition health is extremely complicated and expecting it to remain constant represent a total misunderstanding of how nutrition research is done and how results are determined. > The history of medical reversals -- and in this case, nutrition reversal -- shows that the government isn't magic. What it shows is that nutrition science is hardly 'solved' and you'd be hard pressed to find a researcher…

If nutrition science "isn't solved", the government shouldn't be making laws and regulations based on it.

Basically, yeah. As a general rule, the bigger the change you want to make to existing practice, the better your model for that domain needs to be. (I call that the "if it ain't broke" heuristic.)

Changing the composition of an entire nation's schoolchildren's food supply ... should require something like skyscraper-failure-prediction accuracy.

It's no defense that "science learns and revises". If the learning and revising is still that big, you don't have a basis for telling others to do it your way.

(IMHO, this is, at root, the same mentality as "fake it till you make it" / "all self doubt must be Impostor Syndrome and never an accurate assessment".)

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did say it was flawed. > currently allow prescription of extraordinarily strong methamphetamine to children As someone adult diagnosed ADHD and taking "extrordinarily strong amphetamine" from my 40s I'd like to point out they do not affect ADHD sufferers in the same way as neuro typicals. They're used at tiny dosages compared to using recreationally. I would not wish children with the condition to have my hugely da…

This assumes correct diagnoses. In your case, the cost was lost years of correctable, sub-optimal brain chemistry. To a kid unnecessarily prescribed amphetamines, the cost is a life with a malformed brain. The issue at hand is how to balance the outcomes. Based on increased prescription rates (600k diagnosed in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2012 [0]), it seems probable to me that we've passed the breakeven point. I bet that…

It's a big subject and I don't want to to drag too far off topic. So I'll just say prescription rates in 1990 were when the condition was barely recognised and hugely under-diagnosed. Most doctors still believed you grew out of it.

Research seeems to indicate a global prevalence of around 5-10%, settling around 7.8%. So those areas, and there are some, diagnosing >10% are overdoing it. Until we have blood or genetic tests it's too reliant on self-reporting. Even so, many still struggle to get diagnosed or are suspected of just seeking recreational amphetamines.

If it does turn out to be 7%, that's over 22.5m in the US, 4.5m in the UK. It's doubtful all would need or want prescription as not everyone is affected similarly.

I wouldn't have hesitated to push for diganosis if I'd recognised it in my own children (It's strongly determined by heredity).

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#164
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but you have no idea what you're talking about. Typical carb intake in avg diet that doesn't remove grains and starches is literally worse for you than pure eating pure fat. Read about keto diet, read / watch presentations by Gary Taubes (his book "Why We Get Fat" is great). Your understanding of nutrition is about 20 years out of date.

The Keto diet doesn't seem the most environmentally friendly choice http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919211...

The results are inaccessible from that link. So I can't tell how hard it is to compensate by reducing greenhouse emissions elsewhere. Also, it's a study about plants vs. animals, mostly focusing on protein. That's not the same thing as an analysis of the cost of a mixed protein/fat diet, sourced from either plant or animal.

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#165
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Just do it right" isn't very good advice. And what exactly counts as "processed" food?

A simple answer is anything with the fibre removed, such as white flour & rice, and with artificial flavours and colours. No risk in eliminating these from your diet...

I can understand the reasons not to remove fiber.

But I'm pretty sure my body doesn't care what color something is.

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#166
post #90
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but you have no idea what you're talking about. Typical carb intake in avg diet that doesn't remove grains and starches is literally worse for you than pure eating pure fat. Read about keto diet, read / watch presentations by Gary Taubes (his book "Why We Get Fat" is great). Your understanding of nutrition is about 20 years out of date.

I think their understanding of nutrition is up-to-date, but focuses on kidney health, not just weight, or the realities of the current American diet. Whole grains are great and very healthy, and a high-carb diet rich in whole grains and with an appropriate level of calories will be great. On the other hand, while a ketogenic diet is great for weight control and cardiovascular health, they're probably much worse for y…

> If you're really committed to a super-healthy diet, you should probably eat lots of carbs, but the right carbs--complex and mixed with fiber

Then you should stop referring to them as carbs and just refer specifically to fiber. Way less confusion.

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#167
post #19

"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

The oft-cited and never-defined Tautology Diet.

Saying to eat a "balanced" diet is a tautology. Saying "do whatever, but mostly plants" is not.

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

Right. And what do you do if you are hungry after you eat "not too much" ?

Eat some fiber and drink some water. Being a little hungry isn't the worst thing in the world as long you maintain an objectively healthy weight.

Re: US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget that marketing budgets for pharmaceuticals are also huge. The average person has no chance. The constant bombardment already means people go to their doctor asking for Rx by name even without understanding the medical need or if they're right for it. Now remove regulation... the warnings basically just blur into the background. Already we get so many warnings on prescriptions that they just turn into not…

Hmm. Could you then disallow any advertising of drug while you're still without FDA endorsement? Like how you're not allowed to advertise cigarettes. I suspect this line of thinking just leads to too many problems, however.

Yes, it’s possible to do this. You may be surprised to hear that the USA is one of only two countries on the entire planet which it’s even legal to advertise drugs. All others outlaw it completely.
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