Newsletter Update | August 2023

Nutrition Coalition Raises Alarm on Studies to be Excluded from Dietary Guidelines Review On August 9, Nutrition Coalition founder Nina Teichoz and Chair of our Scientific Council, Mark Cucuzzella, MD, submitted a public comment to the current Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee detailing concerns about the methodologies that are being planned for some of the upcoming scientific reviews for the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The bottom line is that the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the methodologies for the “Dietary Patterns” (the guidelines’ main advice on diet) will exclude many important clinical trials on diet and health. These methodologies, if left unchanged, will: Exclude trials that do not include a full description of all foods and beverages consumed by participants (This means nearly all low-carb diets will very likely be excluded, since they tend to focus on limiting carbohydrates rather than listing all the foods and beverages allowed.) Exclude clinical trials on patients with any chronic disease (hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, etc.) except those who are overweight/obese (This would eliminate many clinical trials on people with these other features of metabolic disease.) High-quality research continues to demonstrate that low-carbohydrate diets can be a powerful weapon against obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases. The body of scientific literature on these diets includes more than 100 randomized controlled trials, considered the gold standard for scientific evidence. How you can help: We’re asking you to submit a public comment on these methodological problems. Feel free to use our letter for more information. Your comment will go directly to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. There is power in numbers, so please add your voice to this effort. Thank you! UK’s Daily Mail features Reversing Type 2 Diabetes Is reversing type 2 (T2) diabetes by eating a low-carb diet big news? Unlike the virtual black-out on this topic by US media, newspapers and magazines in the UK have been reporting on T2 diabetes reversal for more than a year now. This month, the Daily Mail published “Can a low carb revolution led by GPs help YOU lose weight and beat type 2 diabetes?” The article discusses the “Lifestyle Club,” organized by a charity called the Public Health Collaboration, where physicians can refer patients with T2 diabetes to the Club’s lifestyle program. It includes eight weekly online sessions led by health coaches and provides access to an online support group once the course ends. By contrast, the US media tends to focus not on lifestyle changes in addressing diabetes and obesity, but instead on drugs, shots and other pharmaceutical options. To our knowledge, there’s never been a story about reversing T2 diabetes through diet in any major US news outlet. We think it’s about time, given the strong scientific evidence base and the growing number of medical clinics across the country using this approach. Bitter Aftertaste: Aspartame Safety Debate Reveals WHO's Industry Ties A recent investigation by the public health advocacy group US Right to Know (USRTK) found that reports by the the World Health Organization (WHO) casting doubt on the safety of aspartame appear to have been driven by corporate interests. The Guardian reported on this story, claiming that the interests were "linked to an alleged Coca-Cola front group." Altogether three WHO reports provided conflicting statements about aspartame found in Diet Coke, other sugar-free beverages, and some “diet” foods. USRTK revealed that several members of the WHO aspartame safety panel were current or former consultants for the beverage industry. At least six of the 13 members of the WHO’s Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) had ties to the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a group that represents the interests of the food industry. JECFA prepared its report with another group of 13 experts, 2 of whom also had ties to ILSI. The controversy began in May of this year, when the WHO released its initial report, suggesting that artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, were ineffective for weight loss and could potentially raise the risk of diabetes and heart disease when used over the long term. Just two months later, the WHO published a second report stating that aspartame might be linked to an increased risk of cancer. A third report followed, with the reassuring – if contradictory – message that people could, in fact, continue to consume aspartame at levels previously determined to be safe (The Acceptable Daily Intake for aspartame is 40 mg/kg of body weight). The revelations that the WHO relied on industry-influenced experts and the conflicting nature of its advice raise questions about the reliability of that global giant. This is especially alarming given the next news item… YouTube's New Health Policy: Content Must Adhere to Health Authorities On August 15, YouTube announced that it would start removing video content on "specific health conditions, treatments, and substances where content contradicts local health authorities or the World Health Organization (WHO).”  This is a dangerous turn of events, especially since it turns out that the WHO is not just unreliable on artificial sweeteners. Its advice on dietary fat is also out of the dark ages. Just last month, the WHO issued a formal guideline recommending that total fat be limited to 30% of calories – essentially, a low-fat diet. This is the same diet Americans lived through for decades until it was finally ditched by our US Dietary Guidelines and the American Heart Association some 15 years ago, when large clinical trials demonstrated that the diet didn’t work to prevent any kind of chronic disease. Yet somehow, the WHO is reverting to this disproven idea. Surprisingly, the Harvard Chan School of Public Health whose own nutrition advice often lags behind the science, wrote a letter strongly criticizing the WHO's low-fat recommendation, stating that it relies on outdated evidence and “could increase carbohydrate intake, especially refined carbohydrates and sugars, which have been shown to increase blood pressure and triglycerides." Meaning: heart disease risk goes up on a low-fat, high-carb diet, which indeed has been found to be the case in clinical trials. The WHO, like many other authorities, also issue guidelines stating that saturated fat causes heart disease, and the WHO says red and processed meats cause colorectal cancer. None of these things is true, or at best, you could say these issues are debated, which is a normal part of the scientific process. Youtube’s new content policy is squarely anti-science. Should it be enforced on fat, saturated fat, and red meat, videos on the benefits of these foods could very well be deplatformed. Science and medical advances simply can’t happen with this kind of top-down censorship. We plan to follow up on this issue: please let us know if your videos are disappearing under this new policy. Pediatrician’s Op-ed: Revise Dietary Guidelines to Save Children's Health Last week, RealClearPolicy.com published a must-read op-ed by Dr. James Bailes, a pediatrician who for 30 years has worked in West Virginia and Ohio. He explains that during his first five years in medical practice, he advised his overweight and obese young patients to eat a high-carb, low-fat diet based on the Dietary Guidelines. However, he found that this approach did not help them lose weight or improve health. Once Bailes learned about the insulin-lowering benefits of low-carb diets, he began recommending them to his patients who were overweight or had type 2 diabetes – and the results were overwhelmingly positive. Over the past 23 years, he has treated hundreds of patients with a low-carb diet, helping some teenagers lose more than 100 pounds and enabling many children with type 2 diabetes to reverse their condition. Bailes believes that the Dietary Guidelines must include a nutritional option for children who cannot tolerate high amounts of carbohydrate. “We urgently require a new standard of care for children with metabolic disease,” he wrote. “Congress and the USDA have the power to improve life for future generations of children. By not revising nutrition policy to reflect the most current scientific research, they are condemning millions of American kids to poor health – and even early graves.” Here's a few sample tweets if you'd like to share: Pediatrician's experience speaks volumes: low-carb diets work for kids' health! Let's prioritize nutritional education and affordable options to keep our children fit, focused, and full of life. https://www.realclearpolicy.co... From grains to gains: it's time for a change! The outdated dietary guidelines are contributing to childhood obesity. Let's update our approach and give our kids a fighting chance against chronic diseases. https://www.realclearpolicy.co... Teicholz Explains Why US Dietary Guidelines Aren’t Evidence Based Nina delivered a masterful critique of the US Dietary Guidelines in a presentation at Low Carb Denver 2023. Watch the video (34 min) for a quick crash course on why these guidelines aren’t based on current science, how following them has worsened our health, and how the science is being actively suppressed. Two Groups Advocating for Animal-Sourced Proteins Global Food Justice Alliance The Global Food Justice Alliance, led by Diana Rodgers, is a group of health and nutrition professionals dedicated to ensuring that all people have access to nutrient-dense, sustainably-raised foods – including red meat – for the health of humans and the planet. Rodgers is a registered dietitian with a passion for “real food” and regenerative agriculture. She has given talks around the world to raise awareness about the importance of animal-sourced protein, including one at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2022. Support her by signing up here or donating to her cause. Yes2Meat Movement The #yes2meat movement is a new community-powered organization focused on the benefits of eating meat. This group aims to fight against large processed-food corporations, lab-grown meat companies, and anti-meat messaging. As far as we know, the #yes2meat hashtag spontaneously emerged in response to the 2019 publication of the EAT Lancet report. This paper, created in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, recommended an amount of red meat about the size of a quarter, per person daily, for the entire global population. Currently, the #yes2meat movement can be joined by subscribing to its Friday newsletter. Donate to the Nutrition Coalition The Nutrition Coalition is a 501(c)(3), and its EIN is 81-4498321. The Nutrition Coalition is a nonprofit, and we get the bulk of our funding from individuals like you. Hence, these requests for donations. The Nutrition Coalition The Nutrition Coalition 459 Columbus Ave. #710 New York, NY 10024 You received this email because you signed up on our website or made a contribution to us. Unsubscribe