Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

ucsf.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 537 posts

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#31

Post by DetectDefect »

mullingitover wrote: post #20
alphazard wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a lot of speculation that we will soon see a new food pyramid that is inverted. Pretty much everyone I know understands that the food pyramid is the product of various lobbies coming together and does not represent a legitimate theory of diet or nutrition. That is independent of their politics or opinions about RFK. I don't think a change to the food pyramid would change anyone's actions, people haven't ta…

The food pyramid went away over twenty years ago. It was discontinued in 2005, and the current guidelines are at https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/myplate which launched in 2011.

Which are crafted by individuals with strong financial ties to the meat, dairy, or egg industries, thus should be disregarded by any reasonable person.

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#32

Post by eth0up »

As a teen I was fooled for a short time, confused about fats, types, etc. But I was a feral child and as ignorant as any animal. It didn't take long to figure things out after I learned to read.

I expect more of government though, and while I see the vague rationale behind hamfisted soda regulations, I remain deeply irked by the Fat Tax that Denmark once imposed. I offer no benefit of doubt and view that thankfully now bygone usurpation of the family table as unforgivable and implemented in full awareness of its flaws.

If one chooses to blame this on corporate influence and ignorance, then either way it exemplifies how easily fundamental aspects of our personal lives can be controlled based on deception.

Ain't sure about anyone else, but I certainly wonder how many other similar delusions we're subject to under such influence and "research'. I know of more than a few.

For me it begs the question of how and why we've allowed such centralized frameworks to persevere. Independent groups do exist, but then there's SEO, mainstream-media and all the other factors that make them practically invisible. And with abandonment of the Internet in favor of corporate friendly LLMs, I expect it to get worse.

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#33

Post by giantg2 »

alphazard wrote: post #8
delichon wrote: post #2

This meme is very healthy among MAHA, and Secretary Kennedy is overseeing an overhaul of the Dietary Guidelines, recasting saturated fat as a health food. There is a lot of speculation that we will soon see a new food pyramid that is an inverted version of the last one. https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/10/08/nx... I wonder if it will keep flipping as administrations change. Edit: The new guidelines…

> There is a lot of speculation that we will soon see a new food pyramid that is inverted. Pretty much everyone I know understands that the food pyramid is the product of various lobbies coming together and does not represent a legitimate theory of diet or nutrition. That is independent of their politics or opinions about RFK. I don't think a change to the food pyramid would change anyone's actions, people haven't ta…

"Pretty much everyone I know understands that the food pyramid is the product of various lobbies"

Maybe adults, but probably not the people who were taught the food pyramid - children.

Edit: changed the tense to acknowledge this was in the past. Thought that was obvious since the food pyramid was a thing of the past.

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#34

Post by uniqueuid »

rendaw wrote: post #12

When this news first came out it was mind blowing, but at the same time I don't entirely get it. So the money quote seems to be: > The literature review heavily criticized studies linking sucrose to heart disease, while ignoring limitations of studies investigating dietary fats. They paid a total of 2 people $50,000 (edit: in 2016 dollars). That doesn't seem like enough to entirely shape worldwide discourse around nu…

It's really good to ask these questions.

I'm not a medial researcher, but my impression is that many fields find it difficult to produce the robust high-level risk comparisons that you ask about. I.e. if you're looking at blood fats, even there you'll find many complicated contextual factors (age, sex, ethnicity, type of lipids i.e. LDL or lp(a) or ...?). The same might be the case for sugar. So it's not really easy/cheap to combine detailed state-of-the-art measurements of different causes into one randomized controlled trial.

As for the effects of sugar, I think there's some evidence that's not too hard to find, e.g. some meta analyses showing something around 10% increase in dose-dependent risk (RR ~ 1.10) [1,2]. A lot of the literature seems to be focused on beverages, e.g. this comparative cross-national study [3].

[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar...

[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S08999...

[3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03345-4

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#36

Post by admash »

qsera wrote: post #28
Balinares wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In strong democracies, regulations provide the incentive.

..and you think those work?

Of course they do, if enforced. The number of eight year-olds working in factories is substantially lower than it used to be due to regulations. *in modern democracies

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#37

Post by rhyperior »

vintermann wrote: post #6
bell-cot wrote: post #3

Maybe I read too much history - but hasn't Big Sugar been known for "nothing that a slave trader wouldn't do" ethics for the past 300+ years?

Sure, but do you trust Big Butcher?

Not when so much meat has sugar added to it.

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#38

Post by giantg2 »

DetectDefect wrote: post #31
mullingitover wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The food pyramid went away over twenty years ago. It was discontinued in 2005, and the current guidelines are at https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/myplate which launched in 2011.

Which are crafted by individuals with strong financial ties to the meat, dairy, or egg industries, thus should be disregarded by any reasonable person.

Then I would think the meat, dairy, and egg industry didn't get their money's worth. The My Plate guidelines have protein as less than 25% of the plate, and nothing says it has to be animal based.

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#39

Post by NiloCK »

giantg2 wrote: post #33
alphazard wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a lot of speculation that we will soon see a new food pyramid that is inverted. Pretty much everyone I know understands that the food pyramid is the product of various lobbies coming together and does not represent a legitimate theory of diet or nutrition. That is independent of their politics or opinions about RFK. I don't think a change to the food pyramid would change anyone's actions, people haven't ta…

"Pretty much everyone I know understands that the food pyramid is the product of various lobbies" Maybe adults, but probably not the people who were taught the food pyramid - children. Edit: changed the tense to acknowledge this was in the past. Thought that was obvious since the food pyramid was a thing of the past.

Nit: Children haven't been taught the food pyramid in something like a couple of decades I think. Current model is something like the DailyPlate visual - a plate filled proportionally with various things.

Re: Sugar industry influenced researchers and blamed fat for CVD (2016)

#40

Post by napkinartist »

giantg2 wrote: post #33
alphazard wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a lot of speculation that we will soon see a new food pyramid that is inverted. Pretty much everyone I know understands that the food pyramid is the product of various lobbies coming together and does not represent a legitimate theory of diet or nutrition. That is independent of their politics or opinions about RFK. I don't think a change to the food pyramid would change anyone's actions, people haven't ta…

"Pretty much everyone I know understands that the food pyramid is the product of various lobbies" Maybe adults, but probably not the people who were taught the food pyramid - children. Edit: changed the tense to acknowledge this was in the past. Thought that was obvious since the food pyramid was a thing of the past.

Who is being taught the food pyramid? Its been 20 years since it was discontinued. I don't know any children being taught it.
Post reply on HN