"Unfortunately, several dangerous errors are built into the edifice of the USDA Food Pyramid. First, the new guidelines imply that everyone can eat the same foods in the same proportions and be healthy. According the recommendations, grains should be the basis of our diet; but many people do very poorly on grains. Others have a low tolerance for dairy products. These intolerances are due to a number of factors, including ethnic background and genetic inheritance. Secondly the guidelines perpetuate the myth that fats, carbohydrates and proteins have equal nutritional properties no matter how much or how little they are processed. The experts make no distinction between whole grains & refined, between foods grown organically and those grown with pesticides and commercial fertilizers, between unprocessed dairy products from pasture-fed cows and pasteurized dairy products from confined animals raised on processed feed, between fresh and rancid fats, between traditional fresh fruits and vegetables and those that have been irradiated or genetically altered, between range-fed meats and those from animals raised in crowded pens; between natural and battery-produced eggs; in short, between the traditional foods that nourished our ancestors and newfangled products now dominating the modern marketplace."
~Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions
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That is why I believe common sense plays such an important role in how we eat. 🙂
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we don't have much common sense these days with all the processed stuff in our stores. But if we could just return to how our ancestors ate traditionally, we would be doing much better!
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