You aren't what you eat

When President Abraham Lincoln authorized the creation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1862, he called it “the people’s department.” In 1889, the people’s department became a Cabinet position and wasted no time in telling people what they should eat—its first dietary recommendations appeared in 1894. Wartime kicked the USDA’s nutritional function into high gear in 1943 with its first instructional diagram: the “Basic Seven” wheel, featuring the seven food groups Americans should eat every day in order to do their part for victory. (Butter and margarine composed a group by themselves, making future cardiologists gasp in horror.)

Nutrition became a national concern in the late 1960s, after Sen. Robert F. Kennedy toured poverty-stricken sections of the South and Michael Harrington published The Other America. A Select Senate Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, chaired by Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., convened to determine appropriate action. The focus on malnutrition broadened to ill health generally, especially rising rates of stroke and cardiovascular disease, which the American Heart Association had already linked to diet. After nine years of testimony, the committee released in 1977 the “McGovern Report” (aka. “Dietary Goals for the United States”), which fingered cholesterol as the culprit in numerous ills and strongly recommended that Americans limit their intake of meat, eggs, saturated fats, and sugar while eating more “complex carbohydrates” (a term most Americans had never heard).

“Dietary Goals” was supposed to do for diet what the surgeon general’s report of 1964 had done for smoking, but things got complicated. Not all nutritionists agreed with the committee’s findings, and the meat and dairy industries certainly didn’t agree with the recommendations. Under industry pressure, the guidelines were revised to allow lean meats, but sugar and saturated fats remained villains for decades. The Basic Four gave way to the New Basic Four, the Food Pyramid, MyPyramid, and finally MyPlate. Meanwhile, rates of heart disease declined (partly because of fewer smokers), but obesity rates ballooned: from 15 percent of American adults in 1975 to more than 35 percent today. Though we live longer, no one believes Americans are healthier.

The most recent USDA guidelines walk back long-held assumptions: Cholesterol isn’t so bad, coffee won’t hurt you, alcohol in moderation can be beneficial, and skipping breakfast won’t make you a malady magnet. After 38 years, it almost seems we’re back where we started—just a little wiser, and a lot fatter. “All things in moderation,” our great-grandmother’s advice, still works today.

Some contrarians blame the McGovern Report and its progeny for hyping carbs over protein and creating a powerful agribusiness lobby. That may be an exaggeration, but any government action will have political consequences. The worst effect of USDA dietary guidelines might be reducing health to diet and exercise. Here’s God’s dietary guideline: “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you …” (Genesis 9:3). If God says it’s good for food, it’s good for food. Paul agrees: “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). Every body is different, and it’s prudent to find out what foods benefit you most. But gratitude is good for everyone, and healthier than organic pesto.