Tag Archives: Food sensitivity testing

Yesterday the government announced a new “inverted” food pyramid which looks different than those in the past and upends some previous ideas that were promoted about health.  HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy said “We are ending the war against saturated fat” and calling for an end to policies that promote highly refined foods that are harmful to health.

Take a look at the new food pyramid:

Here are 3 important things to note about this new guidance:

1) Refined foods, sugars and chemicals are completely removed.  Not recommended at all. I like that.

2) Protein, healthy fats, vegetables and fruits dominate.

3) Grains are minimized, and only whole grains are recommended.

One pattern I also notice is that lower glycemic index foods are stressed over high glycemic index foods. Generally the lower on this inverted pyramid you go, the higher the GI is for foods shown.

While there will certainly be debate about particulars, I think this new advice generally keeps in line with their idea of promoting the consumption of real foods to promote health. When introducing these guidelines, Kennedy and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called for a “dramatic reduction” in the consumption of “highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives.”

While Kennedy and Rollins are keen on removing saturated fat as a villain, other health experts don’t agree.  The saturated fat and cholesterol hypothesis has been entrenched in medicine for a long time.  Personally I feel that the consumption of refined, inflammatory foods is a far bigger concern. I like the idea of only including whole real foods, though I generally do not promote the consumption of dairy.  While it does contain many nutrients, it is not a natural food for adult mammals. In my practice and through food sensitivity testing I find that dairy and gluten are the 2 most inflammatory ‘real’ foods’ that we consume.  Patients generally exhibit better health when they eliminate these. Very often people report losing dramatic weight when just these 2 foods are removed.

As a quantitative guide, I recommend to my patients at Functional Health & Acupuncture Institute that at least half of what we eat should be vegetables and fruits. These are most important for keeping a low inflammation diet that has adequate fiber.  This is crucial to feeding our gut microbiome and promoting a strong immune system.