Life-threatening dietary advice?

In 1977 in the United States, and in the 80s in Europe and Norway, the first national dietary guidelines were introduced. These recommendations, which focused strongly on reduce your intake of fat and cholesterol, and not least increase your intake of carbohydrates and vegetable oils, was portrayed as a major advance for public health.

This is the first time we were told what is good to eat and what is not good.

But what if this advice was, on the contrary, the start of an epidemic of obesity and chronic diseases? What do we think when we look around? Has the advice helped? What do the numbers say?

Dr. Zoe Harcombe fills in the knowledge base

These are among the questions the ever-so-fabulous Dr. Zoë Harcombe addressed in his doctoral dissertation, “An examination of the randomized controlled trial and epidemiological evidence for the introduction of dietary fat recommendations in 1977 and 1983: A systematic review and meta-analysis".

She found that the advice given was not based on any solid science whatsoever.

The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) available at the time, firstly, only included men who had already had a heart attack.

The studies thus included no healthy people, and not only that, they also included no women.

Based on this, i.e. weak studies of old men with heart disease, the dietary advice for all of us, women and children, young and old, was formed. That is, we were to stop eating traditional foods that come from nature, and replace them with factory foods, vitamins and statins.

Dietary advice has changed very little over time, despite the fact that public health has clearly been in free fall. It is striking that the dietary advice itself has not been studied, and has been allowed to stand practically unchallenged, despite the obvious decline of the human animal.

Nina Teicholz: A frightening reality

Investigative journalist and award-winning author Nina Teicholz began her journey into the world of nutritional research with an open mind, but she was quickly shocked by what she discovered.

In his book The Big Fat Surprise She describes how she felt like she was interviewing the mafia itself when she investigated how dietary advice was created. She uncovered widespread corruption, conflicts of interest, and a disturbing lack of scientific basis behind the recommendations.

Teicholz found that it there are no solid studies which supports the advice to reduce saturated fat and replace it with vegetable oils.

On the contrary, several studies showed that people who followed this advice experienced a increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease.

She also documents how the use of vegetable oils, which are rich in omega-6 fatty acids, can contribute to inflammation in the body, which in turn can lead to a number of chronic diseases.

Her work highlights how commercial interests and a blind faith in outdated science have dominated nutrition policy for decades, not only preventing healthy public debate but also costing countless lives.

An epidemic in numbers, and public health in decline

Before 1977, the incidence of obesity and chronic diseases was already increasing gradually, from the time around industrialization, and the introduction of vegetable oils into the diet, but after the introduction of the new dietary advice, only exploded the numbers.

In the United States, the obesity rate was around 15% in the early 1970s, but by 2000 it had nearly doubled, and now half the population is considered obese. At the same time, the incidence of type 2 diabetes increased dramatically, as sugar and ultra-processed foods became increasingly dominant in the diet.

When it comes to metabolic health, a study published in found Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2016 that only 12,2% of American adults met the criteria for metabolic health.

That means that a full 87,8% have some form of metabolic/food-related imbalance or health problem!

A visualization of this development shows how trends for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia and mental illness all skyrocketed after 1977. The steep rise coincides strikingly with the introduction of dietary advice that encouraged less fat and more carbohydrates.

The graph shows how not only obesity, but also all other ailments and diseases took off like a rocket the moment the dietary advice was introduced.

What was wrong with the dietary advice?

Dr. Harcombe found that the studies that underpinned the advice were not only incomplete but also lacking statistically significant Results. None of the studies showed that reduced fat intake reduced total mortality or the risk of coronary heart disease.

In fact, some of the studies showed no association between fat intake and disease at all.

Additionally, saturated fat was demonized without good reasonThis assumption was based on epidemiological studies, which are observational studies and cannot prove causal relationships.

Such observational studies are only intended to get good ideas about what to do. study in real life.

De real the studies were actually carried out, including Minnesota Coronary Experimentand Sydney Diet Heart Study, but the results showed increased mortality, and were hidden away for 40 years. It sounds completely rabid, but it's absolutely true!

At the same time, vegetable oils and refined carbohydrates promoted as healthy alternatives – a choice that in retrospect has truly had disastrous consequences.

The advice was followed.

An important factor that is often overlooked is that the dietary advice was actually followedIt is said that because we are lazy, the advice doesn't work.

We have been subjected to a form of collective gas lighting, where we are told that we are just lazy and lack self-discipline, and that this is why the 'excellent' dietary advice doesn't work. But what if the truth is that the advice has never been good, never scientifically based, and that it is this advice that is the real cause of the obesity and disease epidemic?

There is a lot to suggest that.

Studies show that people reduced their total fat intake as a proportion of energy intake, while increasing their carbohydrate intake. This shift in macronutrients is consistent with recommendations to base the diet on grains, fruits, and vegetables, while fat, especially saturated fat, was greatly reduced.

At the same time, the population began to consume increasing amounts of seed oils, such as margarine and refined vegetable oils, which are highly processed and rich in omega-6 fatty acids. Despite this, we saw no reduction in chronic diseases; rather, we experienced a dramatic increase in obesity and related health problems.

This emphasizes that the advice itself, and not the lack of compliance, is fundamentally flawed.

Professor Tim Noakes: From high-carb to low-carb

Another strong critic of the dietary advice is Professor Emeritus Tim Noakes, at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Noakes was actually previously an advocate of a high-carbohydrate diet, especially for athletes.

He wrote the famous book Lore of Running, which is often referred to as "the carbohydrate bible», in which he claimed that carbohydrates were the best source of energy for performance.

After his own health challenges, including a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, he made a dramatic turnaround:

Today he thinks that Humans are evolutionarily adapted to a diet based on fat and meat., and that carbohydrates are one of the biggest causes of the modern obesity and disease epidemic.

Noakes has stated that much of what he wrote in Lore of Running was wrong, and he has become a leading advocate for low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diets.

In 2017, he went so far as to call the dietary advice a "genocide."

He claimed that by promoting high carbohydrate intake and reducing fat intake, health authorities have worsened public health. His controversial statement has sparked debate, but underscores the seriousness of the situation he sees.

The consequences: Obesity and chronic diseases

After the introduction of the dietary guidelines, there is no doubt whatsoever that obesity, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases immediately began to rise at an alarming rate.

The numbers are undeniable, and we see it around us every single day.

We are seeing an epidemic of cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia and mental illness that can easily be traced back to a diet dominated by ultra-processed foods, vegetable oils and sugar.

At the same time, natural sources of fat such as butter, tallow and animal fat have been replaced with margarine and industrially processed oils – if you eat fat at all!

Many people barely touch fat, even though it is literally essential for life. And with a brain that is mainly made up of fat, and with every nerve fiber, and every single cell, needing fat to function and exist, it goes without saying that decay must come.

A new direction

Today it is time to go back and question the foundation of the dietary advice that was introduced almost 50 years ago.

We need to acknowledge the role that natural, animal foods play in our health, and stop demonizing fat as an enemy. It is very striking that the smartest animal in the forest needs all these experts to be able to eat properly – then we see in a way that this is a construction created by powerful forces.

As Dr. Harcombe, Nina Teicholz and Professor Noakes point out, along with many other professional voices in the diet debate, it’s time for honesty in nutrition research. It’s not just an academic exercise – it’s about saving lives and preventing future generations from suffering from the same mistakes.

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