- What would you say if I told you
that everything you've been taught about a healthy diet
has been a lie?
(woman screaming)
Well, maybe it's not that bad,
but between nutritional research, lobbyist groups,
and outdated science,
some really poor eating choices have been recommended.
Let's look at how they've confused us
and examine what we really should be eating.
Thanks to Walmart+ for sponsoring this video.
Beoo!
The United States first implemented dietary guidance
in 1894, and it changed constantly
because of things like the Depression, World War rationing,
and the discovery of vitamins and minerals.
Things didn't get firmly established 'til 1956
when the USDA announced the dietary guidance
known as the four basic food groups.
This became the main education tool
for American school children for the next 36 years.
So what were they pushing people to eat?
If there are four basic food groups, as they said in 1956,
what do you think those four basic food groups are?
- Proteins.
- Poultry, vegetables, dessert. (chuckles)
- Protein, vegetables, fruit.
- Protein and fruits.
Oh, that's not right.
- Steak, chicken, eggs.
- How about those fruits and vegetables, man?
The four basic food groups were as follows:
milk, meats, fruits and vegetables, and grains.
These foods were introduced as part of a balanced meal,
and the recommendation was that you eat all of these foods
every single day.
However, these recommendations had major flaws.
For example, there was no distinction made
between refined grains, like white bread,
and whole grains, like whole wheat bread.
And it's an important one to make because whole wheat bread
takes more energy for your body to break it down,
therefore it doesn't spike your blood sugar.
It doesn't spike your insulin.
These are really important factors
that affect the metabolic state within your body.
The worst part of this guidance
is that it provided no guidance
for the proportions of how much you should be eating.
In fact, in a single day, you can have a well-balanced meal
with a gallon of milk, a rib-eye steak,
peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread,
and a single piece of broccoli.
I don't think that's so healthy.
And kind of weird.
Well, then things then got better. Sort of.
Over the years, the USDA had realized
there should be a bit more nuance in how people eat,
so they introduced the idea of proportionality.
A great move, unfortunately, the USDA often relied
on industry experts to help craft
and approve official dietary guidance.
This influence from groups like the dairy, corn,
and meat industry led to dramatic messaging
surrounding the importance of things
like low fat or fat free foods
with zero recognition of the benefits
of things like healthy fats and clean oils.
But while they suggested eating
different proportions of foods,
they didn't necessarily recommend the right proportions.
Bread, pasta, cereal, oatmeal, carbs on cards on carbs.
The bottom of this food pyramid is literally all grains,
and its recommendations were 6 to 11 servings a day.
There's only 10 servings of oatmeal in here
and look how much it is.
I mean, look, I'm not here to demonize
a single food ingredient
because whole grains could totally be part
of a healthy diet.
The problem here is if you look at their recommendations
and proportions, you could literally be eating
twice as much white bread as you do vegetables a day,
and it was permissible and recommended by this food pyramid.
That's poor guidance.
Also, America was going through its fat free, low fat kick,
which meant that we were demonizing fats.
Not all fats are bad, A,
and B, we also poorly understand fats.
Like, do you know the difference between whole milk and 1%?
This is 2% milk.
What does the 2% number represents?
- 2% of how much dairy is in it?
- 2% lactaid.
- 2% reduced.
- Fat. - Fat.
- The percent of fat in there.
- Exactly. So it's the percent of fat by weight.
This is whole milk.
What percent is in whole milk?
- Just all the fat. All of it.
- 100%.
- Probably zero.
- You think this has less fat than the 2%?
- Yes. - 10%.
- 80%, 80%.
- 100%. - 1%.
- 50% - 4400.
- Percent. - 40%.
- 3 or 4%.
- You're right. That's really accurate.
How did you know?
- I'm just guessing.
- And forgetting milk for a second,
once you remove fat food begins to taste pretty badly.
So what did we do? Threw a ton of sugar in there.
What did that do?
Spike our insulin, spike our blood sugar,
make our waistlines get bigger.
And here we are right in the middle of an obesity epidemic.
(image dinging)
Despite the flaws in nutritional guidance over the years,
there has always been a strong push
for variety in your diet,
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In 2005, they came out with some better nutritional guidance
and they gave us a pyramid to look at.
What do you take away from it?
- Oh, there's like different categories of foods.
- I don't know what I'm supposed to be saying
right now though.
- Do they tell you how much of each food you should eat?
- No. - It's confusing. (chuckles)
It seems like the further he gets up, the less he eats.
- I don't really get it.
Get to the top, try to eat all of them.
- This is the steps he needs to take in his diet
to reach the top.
Nope.
- Now the good part is My Pyramid does aim to provide
some insight into proportionality,
as represented by these colorful stripes on the pyramid,
but it stops there,
leaving you to estimate how much more orange
there is than yellow.
It's really, really confusing.
The chaos of the My Pyramid wasn't a total waste though,
because there was a wide variety of foods here,
unlike the four basic food groups.
There was upwards of 40 different foods on the graphic.
In 2011, the government tossed all the confusing guidance
from the pyramid into the trash
and introduced us the new redesigned My Plate.
It was gonna change how we talked
and communicated about nutrition.
Unfortunately, they may have over-corrected.
While the misguided proportions
of the pyramids were now gone,
they also pulled a complete 180 in regards to fitness.
Where'd the stairs go?
We've also introduced a new word into our graphic: protein.
And while recognizing that protein comes in forms
that extend beyond animal products
is no doubt an important evolution in messaging,
there is but one fatal flaw.
Protein is a macronutrient, not a food group.
This means that you can get your protein portion
with hamburgers and hotdogs.
Yeah, tasty, but not an ideal healthy source of protein.
There is something I love about My Plate: fish.
For the first time we actually see guidance
recommending the consumption of seafood,
and it's such a healthy food.
It contains omega-3 fatty acids.
We've actually seen evidence of reductions in heart disease
and stroke risk.
My biggest issue with My Plate is that it says
100% fruit juice is the equivalent of a fruit serving.
Yeah, maybe the vitamins and minerals are in there,
but do you know how much sugar is in here?
A can of Cola, a popular energy drinks,
some sugar cubes, fruit juice.
Which one of these four has the most sugar?
- I would say the energy drink maybe.
- Probably the can of soda.
- Energy drink. - Why do you say that?
- Because I drink energy drink every day
to do my job. (laughs)
- And it gives you that sugar kick?
- Yep.
- Energy drink. - The soda.
- What if I was to tell you those two
have the lowest amount of sugar?
- [Women] Oh!
- Probably the pure sugar cubes. No?
- No. - No?
- The fruit juice.
- You're right. - I am.
- And I actually sometimes drink it
thinking that it's more nutrition.
- Yes, fruits contain sugar, but they also contain fiber,
which slows the absorption of the sugar
thereby not spiking your blood sugar,
not spiking your insulin.
Drinking 100% fruit juice might get you
the vitamins and minerals,
but it's also gonna spike your sugar,
just like any other unhealthy sugary beverage.
Folks, just eat the fruit.
In strong contrast to the pasta extravaganza from 1992,
we finally see vegetables dominating the plate.
While this is excellent to see,
the further guidance doesn't differentiate
between leafy, dark green vegetables and potatoes.
As much as it breaks my heart to say so,
potatoes and french fries do not count
as your daily vegetable.
And that brings us
to what modern nutritional guidance is today.
What should you be eating?
What should I be eating?
For that, we turn to our friends at Harvard.
Back to the kitchen.
Here's a plate of food recommended
by Harvard's modern nutritional guidance.
We're entirely removing dairy
and swapping it out for a healthy fat like olive oil.
But it's nice that we're finally making the statement
that not all fats equal bad
because there are healthy fats and they play important roles
within your body.
Creating hormones, protecting your organs,
giving you energy, and even boosting your HDL
which is your good cholesterol.
For the record, there's nothing wrong with having dairy.
Remember, we're not villainizing ingredients.
It's about not having excess dairy
and not having low quality dairy.
Another great addition to their recommendations
is good old-fashioned water.
It's important to stay hydrated,
not only for you to feel healthy,
but also to encourage your metabolic rate.
Those who are dehydrated actually have trouble losing weight
and have lower levels of energy.
Also, as you notice,
the majority of the plate is plant-based,
fruits and vegetables,
but it's really important to get
a wide variety of vegetables in different shapes,
colors, and even sizes.
They're focus on healthier proteins
like fish, chicken, beans, and nuts is also really sharp
because these are all yummy options
that carry a lot of vitamins and minerals.
And finally, we get some guidance that encourages you
to eat whole grains rather than refined ones.
I've actually gone vegan and keto for 30 days
and it wasn't easy, so click on those to check it out.
And again, huge thank you to Walmart+
for sponsoring this video.
Click the link in the description
to start your free trial today.
Stay happy and healthy.
(upbeat music)