The great pyramid

What's barely 10 years old but already in need of a face-lift? According to nutritionists at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), it's the Food Guide Pyramid. Don't expect to see changes anytime soon, though. "We're just at the reassessment phase," reports John Webster, director of public information and government affairs for the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. A broad-spectrum panel reviewing the case includes government personnel from agricultural, economic and health service agencies. "Their first order of business," Webster says, "is to judge the pyramid's usefulness and efficiency by consulting with nutrition professionals, academics, stakeholders and everyday users." Stakeholders are representatives of the powerful beef and dairy industries. The panel also will look at scientific and nutritional advances made since the pyramid was instituted in 1992. It stands to be a laborious task, and a highly criticized one.

Although the Food Guide Pyramid is one of the most recognized icons in America, it is not without its detractors. Some nutritionists and consumer advocates have brought the pyramid's legitimacy into question because it doesn't reflect the latest nutritional research. Others wage more serious charges. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a Washington, D.C.-based group that promotes preventative nutrition, has been among the most vocal opponents of the pyramid and its guidelines. Last year, PCRM won a nine-month legal battle against the USDA for allowing a group with overwhelming ties to the dairy, meat and egg industries to develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2000. The lawsuit prompted the guideline committee to acknowledge the importance of a plant-based diet and the merits of soy as a good source of calcium.

Today, the most recent challenger to the great pyramid debate is Walter Willett, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and a professor at Harvard Medical School. In his new book, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating (Simon & Schuster, 2001), Willett claims that the pyramid offers "scientifically unfounded advice and misinformation that contributes to poor health and unnecessary early deaths." He strongly objects to the USDA's failure to differentiate between whole and refined grains, its focus on animal sources for protein, and its lack of emphasis on good fats (from sources such as nuts and avocadoes) and the role of exercise and weight management. His alternative, the Healthy Eating Pyramid, promotes a more balanced approach and advises Americans to be more discriminating about carbohydrate, protein and fat sources. It also recommends a daily multi-vitamin and calcium supplement. His work is based on a number of respected studies, including the Nurses' Health Study, the Physicians' Health Study and the Health Professionals' Follow-Up Study, all of which have tracked thousands of participants for more than 20 years.

Willett hopes that the USDA reassessment phase will lead to a positive and constructive outcome, but he has his doubts--and with good reason. One criticism is the inclusion of the stakeholders on the reassessment team, influences that, according to Willett, "shouldn't even be at the table because they want us to eat in ways that aren't optimal to our good health."

But not everyone agrees with Willett's pyramid. Some nutritionists say that its too complicated (you need to know the difference between good and bad fats) and unrealistic for the average American, whose palate is accustomed to white rice over brown. Willett says nutritionists in that camp "sell the public short on sound advice, and in doing so discredit the science and the nutritional community." Perhaps the country's growing obesity trend is evidence that the answer lies in providing Americans with more succinct nutritional information, regardless of how difficult it may be to implement, and not more of the same vague recommendations.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Vegetarian Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
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