The FDA's New Nutrition Guide: Sad but True.

The shovel (I'm assuming) is for your own grave if you follow this nutrition guide,The FDA came out with their new MyPlate a couple of weeks ago and I know I made a little stink about it on my Modern Hippie facebook fanpage...  

...My mini rant was hardly noteworthy but when I saw this cartoon yesterday at NPR.org, I felt compelled to give a bit more explanation as to why the MyPlate guidelines don't cut the mustard.

They over simplify healthy eating.  While that is good on one hand, on another hand it makes it look as if eating healthy is and should be easy, which it's not.  

It takes vigilance to maintain optimum health.  Vigilance in your choices, the time it takes to prepare and the percentage of your income that must be dedicated to the cause.  It's pay now or pay later. 

Here's were it gets really annoying; MyPlate breaks it down into what looks like 30% vegetables, 30% Grains, 20% Protein & 20% Fruit with a side of Dairy.  It sounds terrifically balanced, doesn't it?  

Too bad those foods don't break down very well together in your stomach. There are separate enzymes that the body produces to break down each one of those foods.  Eating them all together is like throwing your body 5 curveballs at once.  The stomach is not going to hit all of them.   

"What's the problem with that?" you might be asking. Can you say gas, bloating, intestinal upset, diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, diarrhea and colon cancer?  This type of eating should be reserved for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanakkah, 4th of July and maybe your Birthday.  The FDA is telling you to eat like this everyday though- and it just isn't right!

They DON'T tell you to eat your veggies raw (75% of your veg and fruit intake should be). It fails to show that people get protein from vegetables and grains (adding significantly over the course of the day to protein intake). Which is a HUGE contributer to Cancer and other diseases.  

Yes, I was so bold as to say:  Too much protein in your diet will cause you to eventually develop disease, shorten life expectancy and decrease quality of life. Period. 

The human body doesn't need more than 25 grams of protein a day from any source.  Anyone that tells you different doesn't know what protein does in the body or is trying to sell you a hot dog.

The US government will never tell us NOT to eat as much meat, or to avoid eating dairy.  There is too much money to be made in the Meat and Dairy industries, not to mention Health Care, (A.K.A. Sick Care). The FDA caters to these lucrative industries, which in turn keeps us sick.

Health isn't lucrative.

I'll give you an example with Cancer.  Cancer is a scourge, I can name 2 people that I know right now that are dying from it.  I bet each of you reading this can name two people that have it as well.  There are companies that make equipment to care for cancer patients, companies that make chemotherapy drugs and even non-profits that generate millions of dollars all in the name of the war on Cancer.  But are we really winning the war?  It's not in the interest of the American Cancer Society to find a cure for Cancer, just as it's not in the government's interest for us to eat more vegetables.

It may seem cynical, but for this Modern Hippie the writing is on the wall.  I see the negligence of doctors, the conflicts of interests of our government agencies and the total disregard for the land, the sea, the air and our bodies.  What can we do?? What can I do?

Educate.

It's up to you reading this to educate others in ways to be healthy naturally.  It's up to me to keep digging, blogging and ranting about diet, herbs, local food, the dangers of pharmaceutical and environmental toxins. We're on our own to seek the truth and educate those on what we find no matter how unsavory it might be. Keep searching, question everything and above all go with your gut! (remember, your gut likes vegetables).