{"id":17610,"date":"2022-09-18T02:33:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-18T02:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ovadiahearthealth.com\/old-site\/?p=17610"},"modified":"2022-09-18T02:33:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T02:33:33","slug":"conflicts-of-interest-are-shaping-our-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ovadiahearthealth.com\/old-site\/2022\/09\/18\/conflicts-of-interest-are-shaping-our-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"Conflicts of interest are shaping our diet"},"content":{"rendered":"

They say seeing is believing \u2014 but that isn’t always true. And when it comes to the food we eat and the diets we follow, blind trust can be a dangerous thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>food pyramid<\/span><\/a> is a great example of this. Not only are<\/span> 88% of Americans metabolically unhealthy<\/span><\/a>, but their recommended diet is failing their bodies and their hearts.<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn’t my only reservation about<\/span> modern dietary guidelines<\/span><\/a>. New research finds that 2021 Dietary Guidelines of Americans advisory committee (DGA) is almost<\/span> completely inundated with conflicts of interest<\/span><\/a>, to the tune of<\/span> 95% of the entire board<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

And if that doesn’t give you pause, their non-disclosure will. The DGA has not once disclosed its conflicts of interest in a public setting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at the evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

COI in the DGA<\/h2>\n

Conflicts of interest<\/span><\/a> (COI) are rampant in the food industry. It’s no question that vested interests have a measurable impact on our dietary guidelines, and quite possibly the quality of our dietary guidance.<\/span><\/p>\n

And to see COI in such a high concentration within DGA is disheartening, to say the least.<\/span><\/p>\n

In March 2022, researchers performed background research on the 20 members of DGA to determine the extent of their COIs and evaluate their impact on research funding.<\/span><\/p>\n

The results were staggering:<\/span> 95% of the board<\/span><\/a> was compromised with vested interests. Many board members were associated with industry giants such as Kellogg\u2019s, General Mills, Dannon, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

It gets worse. Roughly 60% of the documented COI was related to research funding or membership on a board. Most if not all of the 20 participants had a direct financial tie to the food industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re starting to see the dirt under the rug. Not only are these COI practices completely unethical from a scientific perspective, but they completely negate the DGA’s purpose: to provide Americans with unbiased, science-based nutritional advice.<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe I speak for everyone when I say dietary guidelines should and must be comprised of objective science. But with such a significant lack of transparency, objectivity, and unbiased reasoning, it’s extremely difficult to trust the validity of DGA’s advice.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t believe everything you read \u2014 even from so-called experts. And when it comes to the<\/span> food you eat<\/span><\/a> and the diet you uphold, you must think critically and do your own research.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what guidelines do we follow?<\/h2>\n

Conflicts of interest have an enormous impact on the guidelines surrounding the Standard American Diet (SAD). And with so much uncertainty, our circumstances beg the question: what do we do now?<\/span><\/p>\n

I firmly believe the guidelines of our diets should be grounded in legitimized, ethical research. The rules we follow must be as whole and as real as the foods we eat, and come from an unbiased place of academic study.<\/span><\/p>\n

From my time in the medical field, I’ve followed several rules of thumb backed by credible research.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These include:<\/span><\/p>\n