Oral Presentation on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines …

             Oral Presentation on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines
                       Advisory Committee Report
                             Public Hearing

        Sally Fallon, President, The Weston A. Price Foundation
                            September 21, 2004

I am Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit
501(c)(3) nutrition education organization with over 200 chapters in the U.S.
and overseas. The Foundation is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to
our diet through education, research and activism. I am also the author, with Dr.
Mary Enig, of the best-selling cookbook Nourishing Traditions and our
forthcoming title Eat Fat Lose Fat on the benefits of coconut oil and other
traditional fats for weight loss and health recovery.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory
Committee for conducting this public hearing on its Report to the Secretaries of
Agriculture and Health and Human Services. We particularly thank you for
stressing improved access to nutrient-rich foods, which conforms to the vision
of the Foundation.

Unfortunately, your report recommends that saturated fats, along with trans
fatty acids and cholesterol, should be kept very low, with saturated fats
providing less than 10 percent of calories. We fully agree with your conclusions
on trans fats as Dr. Mary Enig, our vice president, was one of the pioneers in
exposing the detrimental effects of trans fats back in the late 1970's.

However, we very much disagree with your conclusions on saturated fats and
cholesterol. The scientific evidence does not support the assertion that "artery-
clogging" saturated fats cause heart disease. Actually, evaluation of the fat in
artery clogs reveals that only about 26% is saturated. The rest is unsaturated, of
which more than half is polyunsaturated. Furthermore, the consumption of
saturated fat in this country has decreased as rates of cancer, heart disease and
other diseases have increased. Children put on lowfat, low-cholesterol diets
actually develop markers indicative of increased risk of heart disease.

The denunciation of saturated fats is the result of politics, not science, the result
of behind-the-scenes manipulation of the vegetable oil industry's efforts to
demonize its competition. Saturated fatty acids actually play many important
roles in the body chemistry--they enhance the immune system, are necessary
for healthy bones, provide energy and structural integrity to the cells, protect
the liver and enhance the body's use of essential fatty acids. Stearic acid, found
in beef fat and butter, has cholesterol-lowering properties and is a preferred
food for the heart. As saturated fats are stable, they do not become rancid easily,
do not call upon the body's reserves of antioxidants, do not initiate cancer, do
not irritate the artery walls.

In addition, mostly saturated animal fats carry important vitamins that
contribute to optimal growth and development, a healthy nervous system,
immune system function and many other processes in the body. Children who
are deprived of animal fats often suffer from failure to thrive, asthma, learning
disabilities and--surprisingly--overweight. This is because the nutrients found
uniquely in animal fats support thyroid health and adrenal function. You cannot
fatten pigs by giving them whole milk, but skim milk puts weight on pigs very
quickly.


For this reason, we urge you to reconsider your recommendation that
Americans increase their daily consumption of nonfat or low-fat milk and milk
products. Children, in particular, need the nutrients found in butterfat and whole
milk. Nature puts butterfat in milk for very good reasons.


In our opinion, the concept of the food pyramid should be dropped as it results
in inappropriate pejorative value judgments of many healthy foods. Instead, we
recommend guidelines that encourage the inclusion the following four food
groups in the daily diet: animal foods including whole milk and eggs; whole
grains and legumes; fruits and vegetables; and beneficial fats and oils such as
butter, lard, beef fat, coconut oil, palm oil and small amounts of olive oil. The
emphasis should be on food quality, not on contrived macronutrient ratios, with
warnings to avoid refined foods such as sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white
flour, industrially processed vegetable oils, trans fats and artificial flavorings.

For our full report on the proposed dietary guidelines see
www.westonaprice.org/federalupdate/commentsFoodPyramid_26AUG04.pdf

Contact:
Sally Fallon, President, (202) 333-4801, safallon@aol.com
Bill Sanda, Director Public Affairs (703) 823-3153, bsanda@verizon.net