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by bjoli 592 days ago
Adherence to guidelines is laughably low in the developed world.

The recommendations regarding fat hasn't changed in 30 years in most countries. FDA recommended limiting saturated fat already in 1980 (didn't bother looking further) and has recommended not exceeding an energy intake from fat over 30% since at least 1990. 30%e from fat is not a low fat diet.

The guidelines from 1980 explicitly mentions reducing saturated fat and sugar.

I think the problem is that we haven't been listening.

2 comments

The guidelines from 1980 have indeed mentioned reducing satiating saturated fat and since then people have been getting more and more obese.

The problem is that we have, unfortunately, been listening.

Jeez. Have you had a look at dietary trends since 1950? The adherence to the modern guidelines were arguably better in 1950 than today.

I am so tired of this crap. Energy intake increased by something like 400kcal/day since 1960. Mostly from processed foods.

At the same time physical activity plummeted.

What do you think is the most probable explanation of obesity: the above or that we halved our SFA intake?

Why do you think people are eating more? It’s because that synthetic crap that is called food doesn’t fill you up!
Which has

1. Nothing to do with saturated fat.

2. Nothing to do with the dietary guidelines.

You think 6 portions of carbs a day is a good dietary guideline?
That could be 3 servings of whole grains and 3 servings of fruit and veg. Sounds good, though I’d go further and suggest more fruit & veg if possible.
I think outcome is the measure we should look at. With regards to disease and longevity there is nothing saying about 50-65% of energy from carbs has to be bad. What matters is what kind of carbs. Bulgur. Quinoa. Whole Rye. Oats. Beans.

In fact, this kind of diet that is the basis of the modern dietary recommendations because we know it is associated with good outcomes.

Exactly. And we can’t blame nutrition science for that.