To question the Eat Well plate?

[TheGruffaloMother]

I know it can take an age to filter new evidence down into official advice but am really struggling to fathom why the Eat Well plate hasn't yet changed despite everything I keep seeing in the media suggesting we've known for a while now that eating such a high proportion of carbohydrate isn't necessarily healthy. Is high fat the way to go? High protein? Is the official advice wrong? Do the alternatives offer lasting ways to keep your weight under control?

To be honest, since you seem disinterested in even looking at the evidence I'm happy to leave it there, so shall we?

Why do you think that I and the guideline producers haven't looked at the evidence HairyLittlePoet

I have looked at the peer reviewed published studies including the Cochrane review I linked to and I don't agree at all that it proves that there is not a link between high fat dairy and meat and heart disease. The bulk of the evidence suggests that reducing saturated fat reduces the risk. Apart from the Cochrane review other quite publications are:

A 2009 systematic review of prospective cohort studies found that replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats reduces risk of heart disease: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19211817

A 2010 systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials found that replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats reduces risk of heart disease. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2843598/

A 2014 systematic review of randomized control trials and prospective cohort studies found convincing evidence that replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats reduces risk of cardiovascular disease. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25045347

A 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials by Cochrane found that replacing saturated fat with ‘cis’ unsaturated fats reduces one’s risk of cardiovascular disease, concluding that permanent dietary reduction of saturated fat and partial replacement by unsaturated fat is beneficial. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD011737/abstract

More recently, two prospective cohort studies from Harvard published have found that replacing saturated fat with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats; whole-grain unrefined carbohydrates; and plant-based proteins such as legumes/beans/pulses reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, in direct contrast to this one cohort study from the Netherlands.

I appreciate that I am just some stranger on the internet and you have no reason to believe that I have read the evidence but what makes you think that you are so much better read and able to assess the evidence than the people who produce the guidance on this issue?

Current "healthy eating" guidelines might not label themselves as high carbohydrate diets but that's EXACTLY what they are.

No they recommend that saturated fat is replaced with unsaturated fat. Sugar and processed carbohydrates should also be reduced and certainly not increased.

It was the adoption of exactly that recommendation that that led to hugely increased levels of obesity and metabolic disease over the past 35/40 years.

No it was the adoption of eating more calories that has led to increasing levels of obesity and metabolic disease.

Apropos of carbohydrates from refined grains vs, carbohydrates from mainly vegetables and some whole fruit, there is also a difference between beef fed on grain (corn) and beef fed on grass too.

Weight loss is 90% food in, 10% excercise. Portion size is the reason people are overweight. Ignorance or denial is rife.
Show people pictures of how much a normal days calorie intake should be and they are shocked.
Educate people with pictures eg 15 slices of bread without any spread/ butter/ whatever is a womans daily calorie need. Make it simple.

Illustrations are a good idea. But it is not just about a calorie being a calorie. 15 slices of bread will have a different metabolic effect in the long term, than the equivalent calories made of say, spinach and nuts.