A LETTER IN THE IRISH EXAMINER – Tues May 15, 2012.
The draft code proposal by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, to ban the advertising of cheese on children’s television programmes, is a recipe for disaster, and represents the predictable consequences of anti-fat lobbying by senior HSE dieticians.
The “Health Statement”, a special report in the Irish Times (Oct 11, 2011) featured the collective opinions of several spokespersons in the Health industry, who, repeatedly and consistently, warned that “high fat” foods are the cause of our national health crisis.
Maeve Cormody is on record as condemning the use of butter and cheese because they are “high in cholesterol and increase the risk of heart attack “
Another dietician stated that the marketing of unhealthy food to Irish children “undermines the national health eating guidelines and the Food Pyramid”.
Undermining the traditional Food Pyramid is the very best thing that we can do in the health interests of our children, as it’s preferential recommendation of carbohydrates will encourage the very foods that promote insulin surges, diabetes and obesity.
The traditional Food Pyramid should accordingly be removed from all schools and institutions where it has long served as a dietary guide to young people.
Despite all the aggressive anti-cholesterol propaganda on TV and radio, neither cholesterol nor saturated fats are the proven culprits in heart disease or obesity !
Current dietary guidelines in respect of saturated fat restriction reflects the very dubious American Heart Association (AHA) dietary recommendations which have unfortunately influenced the food, nutrition and biomedical communities worldwide.
My evidence based rebuttal of these anti-fat and anti-cholesterol statements was not published following their submission.
The Danish policy of taxing dairy products, and dietary saturated fats, is not rooted in in good science, and is thus misguided, retrogressive and contrary to the best health interests of its population.
If Ireland is to pursue a similar policy, falling prey to the politically-correct rhetoric of the anti-fat lobby, it will have failed it’s entire populace by endorsing the unhealthy alternatives to heart healthy dietary fats.
The avoidance of nutrient dense saturated fats (milk, butter, cheese, eggs, animal meat) seriously compromises the dietary absorption of fat soluble vitamins A,D,E & K, with dire consequences for health.
An open debate on these critical issues is long overdue.
Dr. Neville Wilson.
Medical Director,
TheLeinsterClinic,
Maynooth.
There are better alternatives: the new Healthy Eating Plate and the Healthy Eating Pyramid, both built by faculty members in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, in conjunction with colleagues at Harvard Health Publications. The Healthy Eating Plate fixes the flaws in USDA’s MyPlate, just as the Healthy Eating Pyramid rectifies the mistakes of the USDA’s food pyramids. Both the Healthy Eating Plate and the Healthy Eating Pyramid are based on the latest science about how our food, drink, and activity choices affect our health—and are unaffected by businesses and organizations with a stake in their messages.-..`”
With best regards
http://www.healthfitnessbook.com
I shudder to think of the harm that observance of the USDA’s Food Pyramid has caused over the long span of time that young and old have been encouraged to consume large amounts of grains, as promoted by the Pyramid ! The Food Pyramid was intended for horses and not people, and it still adorns the walls of many public schools in 2014 ! Why did it take so long for the Harvard Nutritionists to revise this harmful eating plan, and still grudgingly fail to acknowledge the health benefits of saturated fats, and encourage it only to be consumed “sparingly”.
And why have so many of us, who have repeatedly challenged the dietary principles underlying the Pyramid, struggled to have our views represented in the popular media, or to have our voices heard ? And why have the MANY dieticians who support the dietary policies of the USDA been given unbridled media coverage in the medical press and popular media ?