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Without a doubt, the level of obesity in the United States is climbing and at its record high. The Center for Disease Control has reported that as of last year, the number of people who are considered obese1 has jumped to 25.6%, up from 24% in 2005. This means that for every 100 adult Americans, 25 are considered obese.
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The low-fat diet was introduced in the late 1970’s. The percentage of obese population between the ages 20 and 74 years old during this period was close to 15%. The total percentage of overweight and obese population for the same age group was less than 50%. Thirty years later, the total percentage of overweight and obese population was close to 70%, in spite of a strong and unabashed government recommendations to reduce the amount of dietary fat intake, alongside an aggressive marketing effort by food manufacturers promoting low-fat foods. What could have gone wrong with the American diet that has caused obesity near an epidemic level?
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As the condition of obesity increases, medical and health experts have begun to quietly question the validity and efficacy of the “low-fat” dietary guidelines. Dr. Paul Marantz of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, contended that ‘the message delivered by these dietary guidelines might actually have had a negative impact on health, including our current obesity epidemic.’2 Dr. Marantz and others, put forth a question in the March 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, published by Elsevier, ‘Is it possible that the government direction of dietary guidelines has somehow caused these unintended consequences, or is it just a coincidence?’3
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To get a better understanding of how a low-fat diet may have negatively affected the health condition of our nation, it is important to look at how the human body works. Our human body is equipped with a control mechanism that determines our appetite and satiety conditions. This control center is located in the central part of our brain called the hypothalamus. This tug-of-war between appetite and satiety happens through the hormones that communicate with the brain.
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The immediate level of control has to do with the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK), one of the gastrointestinal hormones. This hormone is secreted from the small intestine during digestion of a meal containing fat and to a lesser extent with protein. Substantial data has shown that the secretion of this hormone creates the feeling of satiety, even before the nutrients are broken down in our stomach. This may explain the early satiety we feel even before we finish a meal.
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The supplementary level of control has to do with the hormone leptin. According to researchers, the adipose (fat) tissue releases the hormone leptin (leptin means “thin”) which directly and indirectly tells the brain the size of the fat stores. It is believed that once leptin is released, as stimulated by fat in the food we eat, the hunger or appetite switch is turned off, giving way to release the neurochemical CART (cocaine-amphetamine-regulatory transcript). CART is known to promote calorie expenditure.
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In light of these phenomena, could the low-fat diet be the reason why we are now faced with this obesity epidemic , because we have upset the trigger that affects the internal control that promotes satiety for food?
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Dr. Marantz and colleagues offered a theory that the reason the low-fat diet recommendation may have been ill-advised, and might in fact be harmful was that people may have been lead to believe that as long as fat intake is low, the diet will be entirely healthful, and thus causing an overconsumption of total calories in the form of carbohydrates. This observation was made in light of the increasing prevalence of obesity that corresponded roughly with an absolute increase in carbohydrate consumption. 3
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It is important to note in the midst of this controversy, the food pyramid that has become the official nutritional guidelines of Americans of every age, was created by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).4 The irony of it all, this is the same governing agency that overlooks the production of grains, vegetables and fruits in this country. Furthermore, if you look at the first official food pyramid that came out in the early 1990’s, the largest daily serving located at the base of the pyramid was represented by food products made from grains, vegetables and fruits. Would you say this is nothing short of a “conflict of interest”?
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It does not take a genius to understand that any program under the influence of interest groups will always end up favoring the interest groups. In this case, it just so happened that the interest group was the producers of grains and produce who advocated that the population ought to consume more grains and produce to alleviate the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases.
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I believe this is a serious government agency blunder and mishandling of the nation’s health. The United States Health and Human Services is the main government agency responsible for our nation's health and safety. You and I would assume that any recommendation about nutrition for the general public will be coming from this agency or the nutrition recommendations made by this agency would have more clout that that of the Department of Agriculture (USDA)? And what does USDA has to do with nutrition anyway?
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The Surgeon General Richard Carmona told an audience at the University of South Carolina in 2006, “Unless we do something about obesity, the magnitude of the dilemma will dwarf 9/11 or any other terrorist attempt."5 Dr. Carmona, if you truly believe what you said, then my question to you is, what are you and your panel doing now, aside from revising the food pyramid, to help our nation avoid this escalating obesity crisis?
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