U.S. DIETARY GUIDELINE REVAMP HELPFUL

            In these posts I routinely excoriate government agencies of all types, so I'm tickled to give some kudos to new U.S. dietary guideline recommendations that for the first time have reached down to children under 2 years old.

             The one eating area the government has left alone is no longer.  But horror of horrors, IT RECOMMENDS MEAT.  Can you believe it?  A 20-person subcommittee released recommendation in July and they're being reviewed by the USDA before final approval probably in December.

             The recommendations advise feeding babies and toddlers meat, poultry, seafood and eggs, noting these are excellent sources of iron, zinc, and choline.  According to these scientists, 54 percent of breast-fed infants 6-12 months old are deficient in zinc, which may be the primary nutrient necessary for building and maintaining vibrant immune systems.

             As you can imagine, these recommendations are already being criticized  by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which advocates plant-based diets.  This outfit says infants and toddlers can get iron from fortified cereals, spinach, and lentils.  My question is why?  Fortified cereals?  Really?  Those of you who have followed this blog for awhile know that in my list of "what wouldn't exist if everyone ate similar to me" breakfast cereals is right up there with Coke.

             Think of what you could put in that whole grocery aisle currently stocked with boxes of Cheerios and Cap'n Crunch.  We could put summer sausage, pemlicin, bone broth and a host of better foods.  Isn't it amazing that a whole group of pediatricians and scientists believe that lab-manufactured iron and zinc in Cap'n Crunch (fortified cereal) is actually better than eggs and drumsticks? I'd say these folks are deficient in essential fatty acids to make their brains function well.

             The recommendations say these infants should eat weekly between 4 2/3 ounces and 16 ounces of red meat, half to 1 1/4 ounces of poultry plus seafood, eggs, nuts, and seeds.  Notice the red meat is multiplicatively higher than poultry.  I'll bet that got some pants in a wad.

             The lead author of the recommendations, Dr. Kathryn Dewey, professor emerita in the department of nutrition at the University of California, Davis, said "A totally vegan diet at this age is really not going to meet nutrient needs unless you use a lot of fortified products."  I would add:  artificial fortified products.  Why, when you can eat real food?

             As we say down south, bless her heart for stepping out into this minefield.  She deserves accolades and our support for being willing to speak the obvious into traditional intuition.  The report points out that eggs are a good source of choline, which is important for developing vision and cognition.  We could certainly use a bit more cognition in our culture, don't you think?

             Do you think the USDA will eventually adopt these recommendations, or water them down to appease the vegans?

Source of basic information:   Wall Street Journal, Oct. 13, 2020.