HealthHighlights: Paradigm Shift in Prescription for Eating

November 08, 2005

Paradigm Shift in Prescription for Eating

Food Pyramid 2005

What is a food Pyramid?

In 1992 USDA (US Dept of Agriculture) formed the dietary guidelines for Americans in the form of a Pyramid. It was a “one size fits all” pyramid. The Pyramid was taught in schools, appeared in countless media articles and brochures, and was put on cereal boxes and food labels. Even though USDA claimed that 70% of Americans were aware of the pyramid, America ended up with 66% of adults and 16% children overweight.

Additionally, according to John Naisbitt, America’s foremost trend spotter, weight loss is one of the three top personal agendas of most Americans.

Why Pyramid?

Americans are already familiar with the icon of Pyramid when it comes to a prescription for eating. To keep the same learning model, USDA kept the pyramid shape, but the pyramid is turned over to stand on its side. Instead of the food groups stacked on vertically, they are piled side by side in 6 vertical bands.

What is different in 2005 Pyramid?

Instead of “one size fits all” pyramid of the past, the new Pyramid can be customized into 12 different types based on your age, gender, and physical activity.

You can log on to the mypyramid. gov website and not only calculate and figure out your own personalized pyramid, but also monitor the progress and track your pyramid based on your food intake and physical activity variation.

Six bands of color sweep from the apex of MyPyramid to the base: orange for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, a teeny band of yellow for oils, blue for milk, and purple for meat and beans. Each stripe starts out as the same size, but they don't end that way at the base. The widths suggest how much food a person should choose from each group. A band of stairs running up the side of the Pyramid, with a little stick figure climbing it, serves as a reminder of the importance of physical activity

What are the key take home points of Pyramid 2005?

10 Point Message:

1. Increase fruits.

2. Diversify your vegetables.

3. Get calcium rich foods.

4. Make 50% of your grains whole with bran.

5. Get lean with protein.

6. Limit fat, salt, and sugar.

7. Limit alcohol to 1-2 drinks a day.

8. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. (60-90 minutes for weight loss)

9. Food hygiene.

10. Missing: Fish oil, vitamin, Ca. supplements.

What is the controversy?

USDA has tried to simplify the 80 page, 23 recommendations and 18 suggestions in their website with rainbow colors, interactive algorithms. But most people still feel that it is an information overload.
According to Harvard University, it continues to recommend foods that aren't essential to good health, and may even be detrimental in the quantities included in MyPyramid. Thus, Harvard School of Public Health and Mayo Clinic built their own food pyramids. In addition, there are other food pyramids: Asian pyramid, Middle Eastern pyramid, Indian pyramid, vegetarian pyramid, South American pyramid and so forth. Thus adding to the Childrens conundrum “who built the pyramid”, one more adage, which one is the real pyramid?
What went wrong? According to federal regulations, the panel that writes the dietary guidelines must include nutrition experts who are leaders in pediatrics, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and public health. Selecting the panelists is no easy task, and is subject to intense lobbying from organizations such as the National Dairy Council, United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, Soft Drink Association, American Meat Institute, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and Wheat Foods Council.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 continues to reflect the tense interplay of science and the powerful food industry.

Positive Points:

Emphasis on weight loss and exercise. Minimum 30, optimum 60, for weight loss 90 minute a day rule.
Good fat vs. bad fat: Poly and Mono fat good, saturated and trans fat bad. You are allowed 20-35% of your food as fat, as long as it is good fat.
Emphasis on whole grains.

Negative Points:

Only 50% of whole grain, the other 50% can be refined grains, which act as sugar, not good for diabetes and heart disease,
Make choices that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free. They have lumped red meat, fish, while meat, and vegetable proteins to one category. Not giving enough emphasis to fish and vegetable products like soy and beans.
Over-emphasis on milk and dairy products. E.g. 3 glasses of low fat milk per day. What about lactose intolerant people? Also, dairy products alone are not enough to combat osteoporosis.

“The new USDA dietary pyramid is a lost opportunity to help Americans make informed choices about diet and long-term health," says Walter Willett, the Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition from Harvard.

Bottom line comments from Doctorsmessage.com

1. Which pyramid to choose? Take the wisdom from three pyramids, namely USDA, Harvard, and Mayo Clinic and make your own based on your ethnicity, taste, and food intolerance.

2. Your are not only what you eat, but also when you eat, how you eat, and how much you eat. These questions are covered in our ebooks and website.

3. What are the missed opportunities in the food pyramid 2005 as a result of tug of war between science and business?

Further details of good eating habits are covered in our books:

How to Reverse and Prevent Heart Disease and How to Reverse Stress and Burnout. As well as our website: doctorsmessage. Com

Heart Disease - India

People from India have the highest incidence of coronary artery disease in the world. It is estimated that five million Indian people die of heart disease every year. Why? What can you do about it? Read on.

1. What is Indian diaspora?
People from India, or Indian diasphora includes more than one billion, or 1/5th of world population. About 900 million people live in Indian continent - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. About 12 million Indians live outside India, including a million each in United States and United Kingdom, and the rest scattered in Canada, Guyana, Trinidad, Surinam, Fiji, Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, East Africa, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Australia, Gambia, Zaire, Cuba, Venezuela, Norway, Switzerland, and Russia.

Two things are common in Indians: the taste for currey, and high incidence of heart disease. In fact, in people below age 40, heart disease is 10 times more common in Indians. This includes all castes and creeds of Indians - Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, or Christians. The Indian race at large seems to be at risk.

2. Which Indians are at high risk?
Urban and Westernized Indians have the highest risk. People in fast lane of life such as doctors, lawyers, and high achieving business men are at high risk. People with abdominal obesity are at high risk. One research showed Punjabi brothers in India have less heart disease compared to the other brothers settled in UK. In general, the East Indians becoming westernized seems to be the problem.

3.Why Indians have more heart disease? Nature or Nurture?
The graphics on the right summarizes why Indians have more heart disease. Indians have genetically high level of the deadly lipoprotein, Lp-little a (more than 15-30 mg). The second genetic factor is high incidence of insulin resistance and abdominal obesity with low HDL, called Reaven Syndrome, described Stanford Scientist.

The genetic finger prints are magnified by the high stressed, sedentary, fat eating Western life style.

The result is metabolic reactivity with lipid changes, damage to arterial lining, and easily clotting blood, all lead to atherosclerosis and heart attack.

For further details read the world experts on heart disease in Indians.

1.	Naras Bhat, MD (1995). How to reverse and prevent heart disease and cancer. Cybernetix Medical Institute, Concord, California. 94520. 925-685-4224.
2.	V. S. Ramhihar, MD (1995). South Asian heart, Preventing heart disease. Vashna Publications, Ontario, Canada. 416-438-2106.
3.	Enas, EA, Mehta, J.(1995). Malignant coronary artery disease in young Asian Indians: Thoughts on pathogenesis, prevention, and therapy. Clinical cardiology 15:131-35. 660-960-1844

Westernized Japanese have more heart disease, why?

1.Acculturation factor
Leonard Syme from U.C. Berkley studies the incidence of coronary artery disease among Japanese people. Japanese people who migrated to Hawaii had more heart disease compared to those in Japan. The incidence further increased in Japanese who migrated to San Francisco. This was not a geographical climate change effect, as proven by a small group of Japanese people in San Francisco, who retained original Japanese culture and support system. This group had same incidence of heart disease as Japan.

2. Westernization factor
Individuality, mobility, and heterogeneity are hallmarks of western civilization. Collectivity, stability, and homogeneity are Eastern traits.

Westernization affects the eating habits by increasing processed refined, high fat food, "motion sickness" of moving far away from your family and friends in pursuit of novelty or better jobs, and "emotional sickness" focusing on achievement neglecting the affiliation. The net result is acceleration syndrome of doing more and more in less and less time feeling the high stress arousal and time urgency.

3. Karoshi - Sudden death
The Japanese people use the work Karoshi for sudden death at work. This is called moretsu-sha-in, or workaholic fanaticism. The cause is stress and strain of "pressure cooker" jobs often with high vigilance of "responsibility without authority".

The Solution
Learn to shift your life from two dimensional, matter and motion emphasis to three dimensional, matter-motion-emotion emphasis. This is explained in Dr. Bhat's book.

Posted by Dr. Bhat in Health | Permalink

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November 08, 2005

Paradigm Shift in Prescription for Eating

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