Newswise — The U.S. government should warn the public about the dangers of high-protein, low-carb diets in the next version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, says the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). In a letter to the newly appointed U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, a group charged with updating the government's main nutrition recommendations, PCRM urges the committee to add an explicit warning against the fad diets. PCRM's letter comes on the heels of a headline-grabbing statement just issued by the British government's Food Standards Agency about the health risks of low-carb diets.
The U.S. advisory committee is holding its first public meetings today and tomorrow in Washington, D.C. It is overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services; the agencies appoint a new committee every five years to update the Guidelines.
Given the hype surrounding the Atkins Diet and other high-protein, low-carb fad diets, PCRM is calling on the committee to add a specific warning to the next version of the Guidelines saying that the diets increase the risk of colon cancer, cardiovascular disease, impaired renal function, and osteoporosis. "We should follow the wise lead of the British government and warn our citizens about the dangers of meat-heavy, low-carb diets," says PCRM nutrition director Amy Joy Lanou, Ph.D. PCRM also advises a new emphasis on vegetarian foods to help reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and many other diseases. Here are PCRM's specific recommendations:
1. Encourage a diet built from plant foods, rather than animal-derived products.2. Specifically identify the foods to be limited or avoided, rather than disguising these recommendations using macronutrient descriptions that many lay persons find difficult to understand (e.g., the Guidelines should encourage Americans to limit or avoid meat, cheese, and foods containing hydrogenated fats, rather than simply telling consumers to reduce saturated fat intake).3. Describe dairy products as strictly optional and in no way preferred or recommended.
In a separate letter to the U.S. government, PCRM is calling on Tommy Thompson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, to replace those members of the advisory committee with extensive or inappropriate industry ties. PCRM has determined that at least 10 of the 13 committee members have financial ties to the dairy, processed food, egg, sugar, and supplement industries. Food lobbies, particularly the meat, dairy, and sugar industries, have a long history of manipulating U.S. nutritional policy to favor their products. In 2000, PCRM won a lawsuit against the USDA proving the agency concealed data showing that members of the last advisory committee had financial ties to the meat, dairy, and egg industries.
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research studies, opposes unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal research.
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