Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Meeting,

Houston, TX, January 24, 2020

Synopsis of Comments Made

Ray DeVirgiliis

The Infant Nutrition Council of America

Breast milk is the preferred feeding, only substitute is formula that is approved by the FDA.

Becky Garrison

American Pulse Association

Change the guideline for legumes to pulses, as it is more accurate, and pulses are more rigorously studied.

Bill Young

Beer Institute 

Promote vast variability of alcohol beverages, add advise to not consume alcohol on an empty stomach.

Karima Kendall

Calorie Control Council

Availability of low-calorie options and proposal to change the verbiage used when discussing low-cal options. Importance of consuming more fiber.

Berit Dockter

Healthcare Nutrition Council

Differentiate between life stages, set specific guidelines for malnourished older adults, recommend oral nutrition supplements.

Dr. Donald Layman

Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois

Flexibility in dietary guidelines, specifically protein. Protein should not be a percentage of calories; it should be in grams. As people age, they lose the ability to absorb protein and thus need to eat more than Guidelines recommend.

Susan Backus

Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education

Meat and poultry play an important role in diet and help achieve nutrition goals. There are meat and poultry products for every person and their needs.

Maia Jack

American Beverage Association

Sugar-sweetened drinks can play a role in every healthy lifestyle; consider caffeine holistically. Increased low-sugar options.

Ellie Graham*

National Potato Council

Reconsider listing potatoes as a starchy vegetable; consider consumption of quality carbohydrates. Recommend potatoes across life stages.

Sarah Reinhart

Union of Concerned Scientists

Evaluating the scientific basis in relation to sustainability needs to be incorporated into the scientific report. 

Joy Dubost

Unilever

Gap in current guidelines about beverages in a healthy dietary pattern. Recommend a "MyCup" to accompany MyPlate.

Jessi Silverman

Center for Science and the Public Interest

Pregnant women and young children should avoid sweetened beverages; need clear advice about low-mercury seafood for a balanced diet for pregnant women; tailor diet for pregnant Hispanic Americans, clear advice about rice cereals for children (inorganic arsenic).

Sarah Ohlhorst

American Society for Nutrition

Make birth through 24 months (B-24) recommendations that are practical for mothers and young children, recommendations for the aging population and the malnourishment they face.

Chris Jones

National Pork Board

The importance of lean meat, specifically pork in a healthy nutritional diet at all life stages. Saturated fats are not associated with cardiovascular disease.

Jonathan Clinthorne

Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. 

Accurately define low-carb diets as containing less than 25% of energy from carbs or 130 grams of carbs per day. DGAC not for general population.

Dr. Christopher Palmer

Individual, Harvard University prof.

Base guidelines on rigorous scientific evidence, include a low carb diet as at least one option in the guidelines. 

Pepin Tuma

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 

Create plans for diverse dietary needs and ensure proper guidelines for school lunches.

Dr. Linda Carney

Physician of Lifestyle Medicine

Advocating for plant-based diet; meat should be replaced by beans, whole grains, fruits, etc. in the next guidelines and non-dairy milk should replace cow milk.

Lana Frantzen

Dairy Max

Dairy provides unique nutrition benefits that plant-based options cannot; 3 servings of dairy a day is key.

Michael Dodds

Mars Wrigley

Chewing sugar free gum for 20 minutes after each meal and snack is important to improving oral health.

Dr. Nancy Eriksen

Individual

Recommend a high-fiber, plant-based diet.

Dr. Brooke Goldner

Individual

Utilized a plant-based diet to reverse her lupus; guidelines should recommend a plant-based diet based on scientific literature.

Dr. Martica Heaner

Hunter College CUNY

Dairy should not be a status food as one of the 5 major food groups in the guidelines.

Tony Martinez

Attorney

He is in remission from type 2 diabetes has recovered from a heart attack with the use of a ketogenic diet. Low carb means less than 25% of calories and the guidelines need options for every American.

Dr. Taylor Wallace

Principal at ThinkHealthy Group
Adjunct Prof. at George Mason

Provide guidance to Americans about the benefits of bioactive compounds, like flavonoids. (Stated that his travel for the meeting provided by Unilever)

Dr. Bandana Chawla

Physician in Internal Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine

Guidelines should show the hazards of processed meats.

Dr. Munish Chawla

Physician in Radiology and Lifestyle Medicine

Dairy should be eliminated as a part of MyPlate and replaced with water, reduce saturated fats.

Amy Eiges

Individual

Advocate for a ketogenic diet after discovering that the guidelines did not work for her. Lost 170 lbs on v. low-carb diet. Low carb is <25% of calories and should be included as a USDA diet.

Dr. Darren Schmidt

Nutritional Healing Center of Ann Arbor

Low-carb diet has helped several of his patients get off medication and lose weight, needs to be an option. Need more rigorous scientific backing for the guidelines.

Tyler Hazard

Compassion in World Farming USA

Need evidence-based impacts on the environment included in the report. Reduction in animal products and a move towards plant-based diet.

Dr. Tom Brenna

Himself and his Co-Authors, Cornell U.

Value of his paper and research on seafood for pregnant women and young children and the impact on neurocognitive development for the seafood subcommittee.

Erin Janus

Individual

The ethics of the dairy industry and why dairy should be eliminated from the guidelines because dairy is not necessary to have a healthy diet. Identified online as vegan activist

Margaret Jardine

Dietician and Diabetes Counselor

Presenting evidence-based information about disease prevention at the forefront. Vegan guideline should be more prominent. Should be wary of low carb diet because of the lack of long-term evidence studies.

Diane Welland

Juice Products Association

100% fruit juice contributes nutrients to a diet and has a place in a healthy diet. DGA should acknowledge that 100% fruit juice has important bio-actives.

Dr. Marcia D'Oliveira Otto

American Heart Association

AHA recommends a healthy dietary pattern, not one nutrient. Replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats, lower the recommendations for added sugars, include recommendations to reduce sodium.

Cary Frye

International Dairy Foods Association

Dairy is a crucial part for a healthy diet, there is no replacement. No negative effect on heart health from dairy whether they are full fat or low fat.

Minh Nguyen

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (animal-rights organization)

Low-carb diets are used for fast weight loss but are disease promoting. Plant-centered diets are proven to have more scientific backing as being healthier.

Guy Johnson

McCormick Science Institute

Flavor is the number one barrier for people trying to eat healthier. Spices and herbs compensate for the loss of flavor that have been reduced with saturated fats and added sugar. Spices and herbs should be used to replace salt and to remove barriers to healthy eating.

Jennifer McGuire 

National Fisheries Institute

Pregnant women eating the recommended amount of seafood can boost a baby's IQ by 1.5 to 2 points. Low consumption of seafood in the United States leads to higher medical costs.

Larry Diamond

Individual

Low-carb, real foods diet (50 grams to 130 grams) helped to save his life, lose ~200 lbs. and should be included in the guidelines for all Americans.

Dr. Ted Eytan

The Nutrition Coalition

Goal is that the guidelines be based on rigorous scientific evidence. True range of dietary patterns need to be included. Guidelines must be based on rigorous clinical trials.

Debra Miller

National Confectioners Association

Portion balance and portion control is key and there should be emphasis on it.

Dr. Anthony Gustin

Sports Medicine Clinician

Low-carb education program to help fix obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Current 45% guideline will not be enough to help people. Saturated fats are important for good health.. 

Michelle Muller

Little Spoon

Recommendations: Spoon-Feeding is better than pouch feeding for babies, serving babies foods from all colors of the rainbow and no processed foods, utilize probiotics for babies.

Dr. Nadir Ali

Clear Lake Regional Medical Center, Webster, TX

For 25y. recommended Guidelines to his patients but they only got fatter, sicker. Now recommends a low-carb diet and has seen remarkable results, weight loss, improved heart-disease risk factors, diabetes reversal, and more. 

Doug Reynolds

Low Carb USA

Established Low Carb USA scientific conferences to educate others on the clinical trial evidence of the benefits of a low carb diet. Less than 25% of calories being carbs is key, the Guidelines Committee should look at the scientific evidence behind that. Should be a low carb diet and ketogenic diet.

Dr. Tiffany Nguyen 

Texas Children's Pediatrics

Increasing fiber intake is a solution to obesity and constipation. Fiber deficiency is the key concern.

Farida Mohamedshah

Institute of Food Technologists

Recommendations need to be evidence-based and food processing is crucial for all socio-economic backgrounds and can address nutrients of concern.

Dr. Jacob Smigel

Individual

Clear public health messaging about the optimal diet for human health and the benefits of a plant-based diet.

Albert Lear

International Bottled Water Association

The importance of water in a healthy diet, water should be included in the MyPlate graphic along with dairy.

Molly McAdams

National Cattleman's Beef Association

Lean beef plays a role in a healthy diet for every person and is a nutrient rich food. Contributes favorably to heart health. Most American benefit from a low-carb, higher protein diet with meat.

 

Notes:

All academic degrees omitted. Please see the transcripts or videos to verify comments in the context of their entire presentation.

*Name unable to be verified.