If you want to get sick and gain weight...

...follow the 2010 USDA Food Pyramid Guidelines.

Here is a great article about the proposed changes, written by Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Some highlights of the article (emphasis mine):

“Basic biochemistry shows that the human body has a very high requirement for saturated fats in all cell membranes; if we do not eat saturated fats, the body will simply make them from carbohydrates, but excess carbohydrate increases blood levels of triglyceride and small, dense LDL, and compromises blood vessel function,” says Fallon Morell. “Moreover, high-carbohydrate diets do not satisfy the appetite as well as diets rich in traditional fats, leading to higher caloric intakes and often to bingeing and splurging on empty foods, resulting in rapid weight gain and chronic disease.”

The proposed guidelines will perpetuate existing nutrient deficiencies present in all American population groups, including deficiencies in vitamins A and D found in animal fats, vitamins B12 and B6 found in animal foods, as well as minerals like calcium and phosphorus, which require vitamins A and D for assimilation. Moreover, low intakes of vitamin K2, are associated with increased risk of heart disease and cancer. The main sources of vitamin K2 available to Americans are egg yolks and full-fat cheese. Incredibly, the Guidelines single out cheese as an unhealthy food!

The Guidelines lump trans fats together with saturated fats—calling them Solid Fats—thereby hiding the difference between unhealthy industrial trans fats and healthy traditional saturated fats. Trans fats contribute to inflammation, depress the immune system, interfere with hormone production, and set up pathological conditions leading to cancer and heart disease, whereas saturated fats fight inflammation, support the immune system, support hormone production and protect against cancer and heart disease.

Her version of the food pyramid looks like this:

Every day, eat high quality, whole foods to provide an abundance of nutrients, chosen from each of the following four groups:

1.Animal foods: meat and organ meats, poultry, and eggs from pastured animals; fish and shellfish; whole raw cheese, milk and other dairy products from pastured animals; and broth made from animal bones.

2.Grains, legumes and nuts: whole-grain baked goods, breakfast porridges, whole grain rice; beans and lentils; peanuts, cashews and nuts, properly prepared to improve digestibility.

3.Fruits and Vegetables: preferably fresh or frozen, preferably locally grown, either raw, cooked or in soups and stews, and also as lacto-fermented condiments.

4.Fats and Oils: unrefined saturated and monounsaturated fats including butter, lard, tallow and other animal fats; palm oil and coconut oil; olive oil; cod liver oil for vitamins A and D.

Here is another interesting article about the new guidelines, written by Robert K. Su, MD, which also supports the idea that a diet high in carbohydrates is a recipe for disease and obesity, and that a diet rich in whole foods and animal fat is much healthier.

I went to mypyramid.gov and took their MyPyramid Plan (2005 Guidelines) and for a woman my age and size, and with my activity level, they are recommending the following food plan:

• 7 ounces of grains
• 3 cups vegetables
• 2 cups fruit
• 3 cups milk
• 6 ounces meat and beans

I should also aim for this each week:

• 3 cups dark green veggies (are they joking??)
• 2 cups orange veggies
• 3 cups dry beans and peas
• 6 cups starchy veggies
• 7 cups other veggies

And only 6 teaspoons of oil per day. 

Yikes!  If I ate like that I can't even imagine how horrible I would feel.  My day looked like this today:

• Breakfast:  2 pastured eggs fried in butter, 1/2 cup soaked oatmeal with raw milk and honey, and some blueberries
• Snack:  apple
• Lunch:  pastured round steak (fried in olive oil and then baked in tomato/basil sauce), quinoa noodles (in the same tomato sauce) and salad with olive oil dressing
• Snack:  homemade whole wheat pretzels (made with coconut oil)
• Dinner: pastured beef liver (fried in nitrate-free bacon grease - I was a bad girl), peas, rhubarb, and watermelon
• Drinks throughout the day: tea, raw milk and water

I'm not going to add up the amount of fat that I ate, because as you can see, it's a lot.  But, I am a mother providing breast milk for two toddlers, who is of childbearing age, and I need healthy fat to support healthy babies.  None of the fat I eat is hydrogenated or unhealthy, and I eat whatever I want without any fear of gaining weight.  I also have a BMI of 19 (in March at least) and I haven't been sick in ages.

The government would like people to think that eating a diet like my family's will make us obese, with heart disease.

For Gabe and David, young boys with brains and bodies still developing, they recommend the following diet:

• 3 ounces grains
• 1 cup vegetables
• 1 cup fruit
• 2 cups milk
• 2 ounces meat and beans
• only 3 teaspoons of oil per day

I don't even know what to say.  In my opinion, children this age need higher amounts of fat in order to develop properly.  I can't imagine feeding this to my kids each day.  That is the amount of fruits and veggies they usually get per meal.

With a healthcare crisis in our country, I cannot believe that our government could be so blind to common sense nutrition. 

Here is how we can stay healthy - Eat whole foods.  Eat food that God put on this earth for us to consume, not things created by man in a laboratory somewhere.  Cook our food at home.  Eat organic.  Avoid processed carbohydrates and sugar.

It's really pretty simple.

-Jessica