What's your opinion of the recommended dietary guidelines?

[Watchkeys]

I wonder how people who are trying to lose weight feel about 'the healthy diet' that's recommended to us, and whether they generally feel that it is, actually, a healthy diet, in terms of ensuring that we get the right nutrients.

I'm a PT, and have my own views on this, but I'm curious about how people feel about it generally, and what knowledge people base their opinions on, re nutrition.

I think the other source of people’s idea of food guidelines is a chosen diet or health “expert” who has an aura of “truthiness” that is, “the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, even if not necessarily true”.

Like the common claim that UK dietary guidelines from the 1980s onwards caused the obesity epidemic. (No worries about correlation/ causation there, I notice).

First, people don’t know what the guidelines are.

Second, they never followed them.

People, in general, eat too much sugar and saturated fat and too many calories (compared to the guideline amounts) and not enough fruit and vegetables. See the UK nutritional survey.

Thanks. I do vaguely recall that.

@coronabeer

Christopher Gardner , Kevin Hall, Layne Norton, Gil Carvalho, Kevin Bass, Will Bulsievicz. Some others, whose names have slipped my mind

Thanks again for this. If anyone else comes to mind, I'd love it if you'd post their name. The more reading the better...

Think I added them earlier but: Simon Hill, Alan Glamahan, Chris MacAskill (Plant Chompers on YouTube), Peter Attia

For anyone interested in the subject, Gil Carvalho”s Nutrition Made Simple videos on YouTube are clear and succinct and evidence/based.

Thanks @coronabeer , much appreciated.

Alan Flanagan, not Glamahan!

You ask why rely on your go-to food guru (I don't have one). You could equally ask why rely on the advice of your government/NHS. I see from the current advice that they recommend 'lower fat spread', avoiding saturated fats but don't mention trans fats. And they say that fats should be eaten in small amounts because they are high in energy. What about the healthy traditional mediterranean diet, which is high in olive oil?

Personally I think the government advice should simply be: eat as much veg as possible, as little highly processed food as possible (with a definition of what UPF is) and avoid sweet soft drinks. Or as Michael Pollan (I think) put it: eat real food, not too much, mostly plants (although actually there are plenty of 'plant-based' foods that are ultra-processed rubbish).

Trans fats are not that easy to spot for most people: they’re in meat, dairy, baked goods, fried foods. If you eat moderate amounts of the first two groups , and minimal of the second two, you’ll probably not consume many trans fats. The UK nutrition survey suggests that most people don’t consume more than 2% of calories (off the top of my head) from trans fats. Most margarines no longer contain trans fats.

The guidelines suggest unsaturated oil, of which olive oil is a type (specifically, mono unsaturated).

As for “Real foods, mostly plants, not too
much” - that would include whole grains and unprocessed carbs, would it not? Processed plant foods would fail the “ real foods” test, but things like beans, pulses, legumes and tofu wouldn’t.

The “go-to guru” was transparently Zoe Harcombe, in the OP’s case. Possibly other people as well, but the OP was quoting Ms Harcombe pretty much word for word at times. But lots of people settle on one or two experts as a source of information or advice - most people don’t have the time or the inclination to read loads of research for themselves. And most of us have a tendency to “hear what we want to hear, and disregard the rest”.

I think the government guidelines could be improved, but I don’t think they’re out of step with available evidence. I guess if you’ve posted on this thread you have at least some interest in the subject, but most people don’t really know what the guidelines say. And if interested people don’t really know, what about the rest of the population?

unfortunately guidelines have to be guidelines as we are individuals and react differently to different things due to genetic and environmental factors
guidleines could be improved if lobbyists didn't a say also a lot of scientific research is sponsored
just like everyone doesn't have same response to drug A for high blood pressurre, so everyone is not the same when it comes to metabolism,
Tim Spector has a lot of research on how some people process carbs better than others depending on how well their insulin works some people have high blood sugar and are a healthy BMI and still have type 2 diabetes, other people are actually obese with completely normal blood sugars and blood pressure
so for one a 3 meals a day low carb diet will be healthiest as gets their blood sugar down, for others it is different. Some people absorb minerals and vitamins differently, some are lactose intolerant etc
it is not so simple as if everyone did X Y and Z they would be healthy
some generalisations are true, eating more natural food and less UPF will be good, drinking less alcohol
for most people upping fibre and vegetables will be good for a few it will trigger digestive disorders

I think a big part of people's perceptions about the recommended healthy diet comes from their own experiences, beliefs, and the information they've been exposed to. Some may base their opinions on scientific studies and expert recommendations, while others might rely on anecdotal evidence or popular media.

And then there's the aspect of whether these recommended diets actually provide all the necessary nutrients. It's a valid concern, especially with so many fad diets emphasizing restriction or elimination of certain food groups. Ensuring a diet is nutritionally balanced and provides all essential nutrients is crucial for long-term health and well-being.