The old food pyramid pushed Americans into consuming “ultra-processed foods and highly refined carbohydrates that destroyed their metabolic system,” Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a House education hearing on Friday.
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) asked Kennedy what impact the “poor” guidelines from the old food pyramid has had on the health of American children.
Kennedy pointed out that the original food pyramid, which had bread, cereal, and pasta with the highest daily servings and meats and dairy toward the top with lesser servings, was written by industry lobbyists and has remained that way for the last 50 years.
It “reflected the mercantile ambitions of those industries and not public health,” Kennedy said. “It pushed Americans towards ultra-processed foods and highly refined carbohydrates that destroyed their metabolic system.”
He pointed out that the vast majority of calories that Americans eat – 70 percent – “typically right now are ultra-processed or highly refined carbohydrates” which causes “metabolic crisis.”
“Diabetes is an example. When I was a kid, the average pediatrician saw one case of juvenile or type two diabetes over a 40 or 50 year career. Today, 38 percent of American teens are diabetic or pre-diabetic,” he pointed out. “It has made our country the sickest country in the world, the sickest with chronic disease in the history of the world.”
Kennedy offered more alarming stats, observing that 77 percent of American children cannot qualify for military service. That alone, he said, should garner a lot of people’s attention.
The Trump administration announced in January the new inverted food pyramid, promoting a diet rich in healthy fats, protein, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and encouraging Americans to consume “real food.”
The guidelines effectively end the “war on protein,” urging Americans to prioritize “high-quality, nutrient-dense protein from both animal and plant sources” and pair it with healthy fats. It also encourages consumption of a “variety of whole, colorful, nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits in their original form” as well as whole grains over refined carbohydrates.
“Federal policy promoted and subsidized highly processed foods and refined carbohydrates and turned a blind eye to the disastrous consequences,” Kennedy said during the announcement. “Today, the lies stop, and new guidelines recognize that whole nutrient-dense food is the most effective path to better health and lower health care costs.”
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