Kris Gunnars, a nutrition researcher, medical student and personal trainer at AurthorityNutrition.com, has compiled a series of graphs that appear to show a direct correlation between changes in the Western Diet and the current, seemingly uncontrollable, obesity epidemic.
Kris Gunnars says, as many others such as Zoe Harcombe and myself have, that sugar intake has increased drastically in the past 160 years and our diets have changed the type of fat we eat and we are consuming more processed food than ever before.
Gunnars also believes that there are other contributing factors such as eating fewer eggs and changing butter for margarine.
On his website he says:
"There is an immense amount of evidence I've found that runs completely contradictory to what the governments and dietitians around the world are recommending. The modern diet is the main reason why people all over the world are fatter and sicker than ever before.
"Everywhere modern processed foods go, chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease soon follow.
"The studies are clear con this... when people abandon their traditional foods in favor of modern processed foods high in sugar, refined flour and vegetable oils, they get sick."
First dietary guidelines for Americans were published in 1977, almost at the same time the obesity epidemic started.
"Of course, there are many things that can contribute to these health problems, but changes in the diet are the most important factor."
"The first dietary guidelines for Americans were published in 1977, almost at the exact same time the obesity epidemic started." (1983 in the UK)
"Of course, this doesn't prove anything (correlation does not equal causation), but it makes sense that this could be more than just a mere coincidence.
"The anti-fat message essentially put the blame on saturated fat and cholesterol (harmless), while giving sugar and refined carbs (very unhealthy) a free pass.
"Since the guidelines were published, many massive studies have been conducted on the low-fat diet. It is no better at preventing heart disease, obesity or cancer than the standard Western Diet, which is as unhealthy as a diet can get.
"For some very strange reason, we are still being advised to follow this type of diet, despite the studies showing it to be completely ineffective."SUGAR
"People in Western countries are consuming massive amounts of refined sugars, reaching about 150 lbs (67kg) per year in some countries. This amounts to over 500 calories of sugar per day.
"The sources vary on the exact figures, but it is very clear that we are consuming way more sugar than our bodies are equipped to handle.
"Controlled human studies show that large amounts of sugar can lead to severe metabolic problems, including insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides - to name a few.
"Added sugar is believed to be one of the main drivers of diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even cancer."According to Zoe Harcombe, author of The Obesity Epidemic: What Caused it? How Can We Stop it? agrees with Kris Gunnars, she says:
"The UK chart looks very similar to this chart. Just over 200 years ago we used to take 4-5lbs of sugar a year; by the middle of the 19th century, this had increased five-fold to about 25lbs a year; we now take about 100lbs per year."
FRUIT JUICE CONSUMPTION
"Of all the sugar sources in the diet, sugar-sweetened beverages are the worst. Fruit juice is actually no better - it contains a similar amount of sugar as most soft drinks." Gunnar explains.
"Getting sugar in liquid form is particularly harmful. The studies show that the brain doesn't "register" liquid sugar calories in the same way as calories from solid foods, which dramatically increases total calorie intake.
"One study found that in children, each daily serving of sugar-sweetened beverages is linked to a 60% increased risk of obesity."Zoe Harcombe adds that: "It's a similar picture in the UK. Figures show that sugar-sweetened beverages have increased in consumption from 512ml per person per week in 1975 to 1.142ml per person per week in 2005."
CALORIE INTAKE
"Although sources vary on the exact figures, it is clear that calorie intake has increased dramatically in the past few decades.
"There are many complicated reasons for this, including increased processed food and sugar consumption, increased food availability, more aggressive marketing towards children, etc.."In fact, according to Zoe Harcombe things were different in the UK; "In 1975 we were eating 2,290 calories per person per day- but by 1999, this had fallen to 1,690 calories per person per day. Yet there are an increasing number of people who are overweight or obese."
My opinion on this is that it depends on the type of calories you are eating. Not all calories are used by the body in the same way so fewer calories of the wrong type of food could do more damage than lots of calories of the right foods.
ADDED FATS
The type of fat eaten has also changed, with oils being favored over butter.
"When health professionals started blaming saturated fat for heart disease, people abandoned traditional fats like butter, lard and coconut oil in favor of processed vegetable oils.
"These oils are very high in Omega-6 fatty acids, which can contribute to inflammation and various problems when consumed in excess.
"These oils are often hydrogenated, which makes them high in trans fats. Many studies have shown that these fats and oils actually increase the risk of heart disease, even if they aren't hydrogenated.
"Therefore, the misguided advice to avoid saturated fat and choose vegetable oils instead may have actually fueled the heart disease epidemic."BUTTER AND MARGARINE CONSUMPTION
Gunnars says that saturated fat has been "demonized", resulting in many people switching to unhealthy margarines containing trans fats which have been linked to heart disease
"Another side effect of the "war" on saturated fat was an increase in margarine consumption.
"Margarine was traditionally made with hydrogenated oils, which are high in trans fats. Many studies show that trans fats increase the risk of heart disease.
"Grass-fed butter actually contains nutrients that are protective against heart disease (like Vitamin K2), therefore the advice to replace heart-healthy butter with trans-fat laden margarine may have done a lot of damage."SOYBEAN IS A BIGGER SOURCE OF CALORIES THAN MOST PEOPLE REALIZE
Soybean oil is often used in cheap, processed foods
"The most commonly consumed vegetable oil in the U.S. is soybean oil. Soybean oil actually provided 7% of calories in the U.S. diet in the year 1999, which is huge.
"However, most people don't have a clue they're eating this much soybean oil. They're actually getting most of it from processed foods, which often have soybean oil added to them because it is cheap.
"The best way to avoid soybean oil (and other nasty ingredients) is to avoid processed foods."EGGS
Eggs have been falsely accused of increasing the risk of heart disease, this has now been disproved.
"Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. Despite being high in cholesterol, eggs don't raise the bad cholesterol in the blood.
"For some reason, the health authorities have recommended that we cut back on eggs, even though there is no evidence that they contribute to heart disease.
"Since the year 1950, we have decreased our consumption of this highly nutritious food from 375 to 250 eggs per year, a decrease of 33%.
"This has contributed to a deficiency in important nutrients like Choline, which about 90% of Americans aren't getting enough of."
LINOLEIC ACID
Too much linoleic acid
"Most of the Omega-6 fats that people are eating is a fatty acid called linoleic acid.
"Studies show that this fatty acid actually gets incorporated into our cell membranes and body fat stores. These fats are prone to oxidation, which damages molecules (like DNA) in the body and may be increasing our risk of cancer.
"In other words, the increased consumption of processed vegetable oils has lead to actual harmful structural changes in our bodies. That's a scary thought."
Sources:
Authority Nutrition
Zoe Harcombe
Social Nutrition: You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype). Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com
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