The food pyramid big lie: How flawed science fed America a toxic diet
We all remember the famous Food Guide Pyramid developed in the 1990s that supposedly captures what a healthy diet looks like. The base of the model is made up of grains, followed by vegetables, fruits, dairy, proteins, and topped by a small section for fats and sweets.
It was a helpful tool that guided Americans in cultivating a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their families.
Except it wasn’t, because the model is fundamentally flawed.
On a recent episode of “Blaze News: The Mandate,” Blaze Media editor in chief Matthew Peterson sat down with Claremont Institute Salvatori Research Fellow Glenn Ellmers to dive into the lies behind the government’s “health” advice.
“Around the middle of the 20th century, we started to see what were called diseases of civilization. ... We started seeing obesity and diabetes and coronary heart disease and all the things that go with the modern lifestyle,” Ellmers says. “The problem was, our scientific experts identified the wrong culprit. They thought that the problem was the foods that people had been eating for thousands of years.”
This led to foods like eggs, butter, and meat being vilified, hence their small category on the food pyramid. Instead, “experts” pushed for making carbohydrates — especially highly processed ones like breads, pastas, and cereals — the largest staple in people’s diets.
The idea that foods refined by man are superior to foods from the earth is rooted in the prideful assumption that science supersedes, and even controls, nature, Ellmers explains.
Even though the USDA has abandoned the food pyramid for a new graphic called MyPlate, which emphasizes balanced meals with roughly equal portions of vegetables, fruits, grains, and proteins, plus a small dairy portion, “it still hasn’t fixed the problem,” Ellmers says.
Sadly, this obsession with science over nature impacts more than just what food is elevated. It also heavily influences other lifestyle factors.
Instead of sunshine, exercise, and whole foods, “experts” push medications to “fix” people’s problems.
“I have friends on the right who try to eat healthy, get out, exercise, work out, get sunshine, run around on the grass barefoot. Then, I know a lot of friends who are deeply unhappy, on all kinds of prescribed medication, not physically fit, and they think that science can solve their problems,” Ellmers says.
“Has modern society really made people happy? ... We have loneliness. We have drug addiction. We have people taking all kinds of medications to solve their problems. People are still too sedentary. People are in their homes ordering fast food, addicted to video games and internet porn,” he adds.
“In my experience, the people who can unplug, detach themselves from the screen, go out and run on the beach, eat a steak and an orange are actually a lot happier. So I’m not at all persuaded that the promise of science, that the conquest of nature, will lead to our happiness and our liberation.”
To hear more, watch the full interview above.
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