Do saturated fats cause heart disease? This question has once again come under consideration by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory committee (DGAC), an expert group appointed every five years to update the science for the nation’s most important nutrition policy, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).

In March, at the last and final meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), members suggested that they’d like to lower the caps on saturated fats even further: from the current 10% of calories down to 7%—or even zero. These ideas are entirely contrary to a steadily growing consensus among top researchers over the past decade that the caps on saturated fats were never based on strong science and ought to be reconsidered.

The last two meetings of the expert committee reviewing the science for the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) have revealed many alarming problems. At a minimum, the process lacks transparency, does not use any verified methodology for reviewing the science, and excludes large numbers of rigorous studies while instead relying primarily on weak data for its conclusions.

With the obesity epidemic continuing to rise dramatically in rural communities across the country, today the Nutrition Coalition, a group that aims to bring rigorous science to nutrition policy, is urging Congress to ask U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) intends to address the epidemic in the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) when he appears in front of the House Committee on Agriculture this week. Secretary Perdue will testify in front of the House Committee on Agriculture on Wednesday at 10:00am.

Following a two-day, DC-based workshop entitled “Saturated Fats: A Food or Nutrient Approach?” a group of leading nutrition scientists, mainly from the U.S., released a consensus statement detailing their findings on the latest research regarding the intake of saturated-fats and heart disease.

Sixty-one commenters from various industry groups, associations, and non-profits as well as a number of individuals speaking on their own behalf made oral public comments to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) at its meeting last week.

Today, the Nutrition Coalition, a group that aims to bring rigorous science to nutrition policy, responded to U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 story on best diets by releasing a statement from Executive Director Nina Teicholz

As we close out 2019 and plan for the year ahead, I’m asking you to join us and make a year-end donation to The Nutrition Coalition. Funding from our supporters makes up a critical portion of our revenue, and I’d love to be able to count on your support as we head into next year.

A new group called the Portion Balance Coalition (PBC) has been formed to promote the idea that the amount rather than the type of food a person eats is most crucial for good health. Swiss food industry giant Nestle launched the group earlier this year, with the intention of emphasizing the importance of portion control. Among its members is the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is highly questionable given the department’s responsibility not to take sides in scientific debates.

The expert committee reviewing the science for America’s nutrition policy, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), held its third, two-day meeting last week, in Washington, D.C. While the committee is working hard to review the science, some “38,000 studies” so far, according to government officials, the process suffers from significant flaws, including—crucially—a lack of up-to-date methods for reviewing the science. Additionally, there are fundamental problems in the reviews on low-carb diets and saturated fats which, unless changed, will inevitably result in flawed outcomes.

More than 70 commenters delivered altogether about four hours of public comments to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) meeting last month. Representatives from industry, non-profit groups, supporters of plant-based foods, low carbohydrate diet advocates, and private citizens all took their turns at the microphone to express what they most wanted to see in the next Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).

In oral testimony recently to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) in Washington, D.C., Nina Teicholz, Executive Director of The Nutrition Coalition, emphasized that the Guidelines have historically excluded or ignored the vast majority of clinical-trial research on nutrition and also—citing expert opinion—that the scientific methodology of the Guidelines fails to meet basic scientific standards.

USDA-HHS are Issuing the First-Ever Guidelines for the Birth-24 months Population: Is This a Good Idea?

The advisory committee appointed to oversee the science for the next set of Dietary Guidelines, in 2020 held its inaugural meeting last month—with some startling surprises. Most extraordinary was the government’s assertion that at a time when 60% of the population is afflicted with some kind of nutrition-related disease, the Guidelines will continue to be a policy for healthy Americans only.

How much salt is optimal for good health? According to a report last month by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), lower is indeed better. This conclusion contradicts the organization’s own 2013 investigation, however, and also ignores a large and growing body of research showing a moderate amount of salt to be ideal for heart health.

Who is on the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Committee and What Are Their Conflicts of Interest

The EAT-Lancet Report published last week, with headlines globally, stated that to save both planetary and human health, the world’s population needed to cut back dramatically on red meat and other animal products. The prescription was very close to a vegan diet.

By Dr. Dawn Lemanne, Dr. Mark Cucuzzella, and Dr. Jake Kushner

We have written an urgent letter to Sonny Perdue, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and we hope that you will consider joining us.

Every year in January, U.S. News & World Report publishes a cover story on what its experts consider the ‘best’ diets. The magazine consistently ranks two high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets, “DASH”[1] and Mediterranean, at the top of its list despite the razor-thin base of rigorous evidence supporting health benefits for either of these.

As the leading government funder of nutrition research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking public comment on a draft strategy to “coordinate and accelerate” clinical research over the next 10 years. This is a perfect occasion to contribute your thoughts and help guide NIH research towards important, unresolved issues in nutrition science.