- Nov. 11, 2008
- The Low Down on the Dietary Guidelines
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines committee has been announced and will begin the long and hard task of evaluating all the science we’ve collected to date on what to eat and what to do to be as blissfully healthy as we can be.
The Dietary Guidelines are determined every five years and consider all the new knowledge that we have gained since writing the last set of guidelines.
These guidelines are not a conspiracy by our government nor are they intuitive enough for every person in America to follow. They're merely guidelines that put everyone on the same page when it comes to what it means to act healthier; by everyone, I mean anyone you might go to for information on what to eat—think dietitians, doctors, health councilors, food companies, nutrition editors, and food associations.
I’ve been asked many times whether I think the Dietary Guidelines have too much industry bias. After reading our 2005 Dietary Guidelines cover to cover, I’m confident in the team’s integrity when looking at the totality of the evidence and making recommendations regardless of any affiliations.
The Dietary Guidelines Committee often gets slammed for “ties to the food industry”. Frankly, I don’t care who committee members have worked with, so long as the members can be trusted to hold themselves to the professional codes of ethics. Professionals are held to high moral standards. Is this a full proof check and balance system?
No; but have a little faith.
I'm confident in those appointed to the committee to make recommendations that help people live better.
But we don’t have to leave it all up to them. Our voices can be heard, too. You can leave your comments for consideration by the committee at on the official Dietary Guidelines website. Go for it!
The Dietary Guidelines are determined every five years and consider all the new knowledge that we have gained since writing the last set of guidelines.
These guidelines are not a conspiracy by our government nor are they intuitive enough for every person in America to follow. They're merely guidelines that put everyone on the same page when it comes to what it means to act healthier; by everyone, I mean anyone you might go to for information on what to eat—think dietitians, doctors, health councilors, food companies, nutrition editors, and food associations.
I’ve been asked many times whether I think the Dietary Guidelines have too much industry bias. After reading our 2005 Dietary Guidelines cover to cover, I’m confident in the team’s integrity when looking at the totality of the evidence and making recommendations regardless of any affiliations.
The Dietary Guidelines Committee often gets slammed for “ties to the food industry”. Frankly, I don’t care who committee members have worked with, so long as the members can be trusted to hold themselves to the professional codes of ethics. Professionals are held to high moral standards. Is this a full proof check and balance system?
No; but have a little faith.
I'm confident in those appointed to the committee to make recommendations that help people live better.
But we don’t have to leave it all up to them. Our voices can be heard, too. You can leave your comments for consideration by the committee at on the official Dietary Guidelines website. Go for it!
- Posted by:
- Tara, the RD
- Category:
- Food Matters
- Add A Comment
Hear hear! I’m on board! I would like to believe that the guidelines are being set to benefit the general population and not the pockets of CEO’s ...
Jen
http://www.runningwithfood.com
Until our country undergoes lobby reform, I think it is a grave mistake to trust government dietary guidelines. Besides, the guidelines are grossly incorrect. I recommend trusting people who are working and living in a manner that they are motivated by learning the truth and helping people, animals, and the environment (helping this small planet in other words). These people can be found with a little research. You have to actually look at their lifestyles to really understand their motivation. For example, to understand you would need to see their houses, cars, charitable contributions, etc. This is what Dale Carnegie calls “character,” meaning what makes a person feel important determines his or her character. Some dietary experts who have excellent character include:
Dr. McDougall
Dr. Graham
Kushi (Macrobiotics)
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
etc.
Essentially a ‘balanced diet’ is not 33% of each of the three macronutrients. A balanced diet is more like at least 75% carbs, then split the rest with fats and proteins.
At least we are growing away from the age of Atkins thankfully.
Until the government strongly urges the citizens of the US to stray far from overly processed grains, processed sugars and poly unsaturated fats (yes folks, this is the bad one, not saturated fat), I’ll continue to believe that they are in the tank with the the food processing industry. If you want to know why people are sicker, look at what they eat.
Are any of your breakfast bars gluten free?
These are just the kind of comments I want you to share at the guidelines committee! I have read the reviews of comments of past dietary guidelines, and it was refreshing to see honest consideration of every comment no matter who submitted it.
The dietary guidelines (dg) do not give specific percentages for nutrients to be included in every person’s diet. We know everyone’s needs are unique. They give general guidelines, a starting point from which you can make your individual adjustments. For example, 75 % carbohydrate is great for someone who does a lot of activity but may not be so great for someone who is less active and is more sensitive to fluctuations in blood sugar.
What is glaringly missing from dietary guidelines is how the health of our food supply is reflected in the health of the eaters. Healthy soil grows healthy food and the majority of our farmland is in less than ideal health due to large scale farming of wheat, rice, and corn.
We need to remind our USDA that they are they are after all, the Department of AGRICULTURE. My comment to the guidelines committee will be fueled by the fact that the US currently doesn’t grow enough if its own food for everyone of its citizens to meet the nutritional needs illustrated for good health the committee’s reviews.
OUR dietary guidelines need to promote food choices that support healthy eco-systems and healthy soil because healthy soil makes healthy food and healthy food makes healthy eaters.
Let the committee know how we can reconnect our country to their food and lead by example.
Hi Angela,
Emily here from Consumer Service.
Thanks for taking the time to read our blog!
To answer your question, unfortunately all of our bars contain gluten, with the exception of Nectar bars.
The oats we use in most of our products are sourced from a farm that rotates their crops with other grain crops one of which is wheat. Because the soil takes a certain amount of time to clear of all elements of the previous crops, they are at a pretty high risk for cross contamination. So, while they don’t contain any wheat in the ingredients, they are not free of wheat gluten.
We do have a few products that are made in a gluten free environment and not at risk for cross contamination. These products are the Clif Kid Twisted Fruit and the Luna Sport line (Luna Sport Smoothie, Luna Moons and Luna Electrolyte Drink).
The Nectar bars, while free of any grain ingredients, are manufactured in a facility that also handles wheat or gluten ingredients. My concern, therefore, would be the possibility of cross contamination.
I hope this helps!
--Emily, Consumer Services
Just wondering: i wasjust reminded by a Rainbow grocery worker re: the aphlatoxin thing w/peanuts and how the only real way to avoid it is to get them in the shell(i.e.no clif bars w/them in)
also heard some story lately in the media re: peanuts being linked in an unhealthy way to alzheimers: could you please comment on these two issues? Are you confident that your products have no aphlatoxin in them? What re: the Alz. thing: i can’t seem to find any info on it so have you heard re: that and do you feel it could be ignored? i really love peanuts and your products w/them in them so rsvp so that i can go back to eating them??
Thanks!!!
Adam
San Francisco
Hi—I’m one of your Clif Bar Marathon Pace Team leaders. To help with weight control, I’ve started logging my food intake at the free government website http://www.mypryamid.gov This is the same organization that sets the nation’s dietary guidelines.
The website is free, and is a good place to analyze the nutrients I’m getting from my food and see how they balance against my exercise and training.
It has other energy bar brands, and even fast foods, but Clif Bars and Clif Shots are not listed. I wonder if you could arrange to get the nutritional info for Clif products posted on that site. That would make it easier and more accurate for me to post my daily intake.
Thanks so much for the work that you do,
Sharon McNary
Hi Sharon,
Tara, here.
Agreed! Mypyramid.gov has great resource for meal planning! CLIF BARS and CLIF SHOTS are not yet listed with the menu planner on http://www.mypryamid.gov because we are still in the process of confirming the nutrition information in the USDA ingredient data base, which is also a great tool when trying to figure out specific nutrients in foods. If your curious check it out http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=12-35-45-00</a>
Hi Adam,
Well there a several lines of defense against that nasty little mold that leads to aflatoxin in peanuts. Knowing where our peanuts are coming from and the standards of practice of the supplier is a huge in making sure that there are not aflatoxin in peanut flavored CLIF Bars.
Peanut vendors need to meet very strict requirements to ensure the lowest possible level of aflatoxin before their product can even enter the country. Sometimes peanuts grown in tropical areas or very underdeveloped areas (India, Africa, China, or Brazil) reach higher levels.
There are no immediate ill health effects of aflatoxin. Rather it is the regular and continuous exposure over years to levels higher than are allowed for import can cause health effects in small percentages
of the population.
Nobody really knows exactly what conditions lead to the aflatoxin. The theory is that when peanuts are heat-stressed, exposed to a lot of rain, followed by humid heat, followed by rain, etc., there does seem to be more aflatoxin present in peanuts.
So the first defense for peanut farmers against aflatoxin is to have a proper type of
soil and a climate. The second defense is the development of breeds that are relatively resistant to aflatoxin. The third defence is post harvest handling which removes any suspicious peanuts from the lot and allows the rest to dry to very low moisture levels. On top of all this aflatoxin levels are tested at many different points along the way.
And as far as peanuts and Alzheimer’s, I have not read anything negative. Peanuts and other nuts contain valuable nutrients such as B-vitamins and vitamin E which are beneficial at reducing risks of age related diseases.