Webinar Forum: The Food Tree: The Food Pyramid revamped. A Rational Approach to Nutrition

Natural Standard is offering a series of upcoming complimentary webinars on integrative medicine. Natural Standard remains impartial and offers these educational webinars as an informational public service. All webinars are recorded and archived at www.naturalstandard.com.

An innovator in nutrition, Dr. Ranveig Elvebakk specializes in treating diabetes and other metabolic illnesses with nutrition. Her book, The Food Tree, debunks diets and food pyramids, raising nutrition to a scientific level that individuals can understand and accomplish.

Complimentary access is available until June 30, 2009. To listen to the webinar, please visit www1.gotomeeting.com/register/439086584 (Requires Windows Media Player).

Natural Standard values the opinions and views of its readers and welcomes feedback and questions about the latest webinar. Individuals are invited to leave comments below and/or e-mail to questions@naturalstandard.com.

Comments

[Trevor Fields]

It was about time that somebody attempted to recreate the food pyramid. Obesity is running rampant in the U.S., and something needs to be done. People need a guide they can rely on to give them the baseline instructions on how to properly feed themselves. So much nutritional value is lossed these days with the varying forms of processed food -- whether from a restaurant, fast-food chain or grocery market. Regardless, diets need to be tailored to the individual because of individual metabolism rates and internal regulatory mechanisms. The next step is to write a book that can take into consideration all of these personal variables and hope to explain the necessary adjustments made to the baseline diet approach.

[Doug Graves]

Trevor,

I will agree that it is excellent that someone is picking up the ball on this one, but consider that obesity has became an epidemic… An EPIDEMIC!! People don’t have time to be healthy or just don’t care; I mean think about people from other eras, what % of the population were overweight? Do you REALLY think another guide will help? Consider the Healthy People 2010 guidelines -- have you read them? There have been diet programs and infomercials with diets that can be tailored to the individual’s metabolism and internal regulatory mechanisms, but most of them were flops. Also, consider how many people elect to have the gastric bypass. According to WebMD the number of weight-loss surgeries in the U.S. alone had grown by 450% from 1998 to 2002. The problem with people today is everyone is looking for a cure in a pill, and are just plan lazy. Yes, there are people who have lipid problems or genetic dispositions, and a new pyramid may help them, but they do NOT make up the majority. The majority are over-worked, underpaid and just stressed-out. Have you tried to live on a budget? The not-so-good for you foods are cheaper than the healthy things. If you REALLY wanted to help slim down Americans, I suggest: force the vendors to lower the prices of the good-for-you foods. NEVER elect another Republican President, and GET OFF THE COUCH!!!

[Zosia]

Proper nutrition is crucial if we are to live happy healthy lives. And making information about proper nutrition more accessible to the masses is crucial if the nutritional and lifestyle habits of Americans are ever going to change. More importantly is educating people while they are young, before their bad habits have developed, and increasing awareness of the repercussions of unhealthy lifestyles in the youth.

I don’t think that vendors should be forced to lower prices on healthy food, as this could force then out of business, and we won’t have any healthy foods. Also, one could argue that in the long run, it is cheaper to eat healthily. A little extra money spent now on good food is well worth the money saved by preventing a heart attack in ten years. And if someone disagrees, then that is their prerogative.

[Summer]

I would have to agree that proper nutrition should start when you are young. A lot of kids these days eat so much junk and do not learn about nutrition and the problems that arise due to poor nutrition.

Although it is important to educate our children, it is often difficult to do so when healthy alternatives are more expensive. Zosia, I do agree that in the long run, healthy eating may be cheaper, but in areas/populations where every dollar needs to be maximized, it can be very difficult to eat healthy. I think vendors should lower their prices so that more people go to them rather than the convenient, not-so-good-for-you, fast-food chains that are on every corner.

[Dental Beaumont]

I agree with Zosia. I think that we need discipline to achieve a healthy body, even though we can see that there are lots of food out there with low nutritional value. It is still up to us if we consume healthy food and follow a healthy lifestyle in order to have a great body. Let's not blame any body else and start right.

[Rachel]

I enjoyed listening to this webinar. I agree with Zosia. I think everyone would be so much healthier if they followed this new food tree rather than the traditional food pyramid. I always found it very frustrating during school classes when instructors still clung to the FDA-approved food pyramid for dietary recommendations. It is refreshing to see this healthier food tree that completely changes the positions of the grains/starches and meats.

[Raymond]

Wow...after listening to the food pyramid, I must reduce my carb intake since it's associated with higher omega-6 when my insulin is high. I learned that a 1% increase in hemoglobin A1c is associated with 10-20% increase in CV disease.

[Peter]

After listening to this webinar about the Food Tree, I will encourage my family to listen to it as well. So many people I know base the majority of their diets on starches and grains, yet feel like they are following a healthy diet. All the while these high-sugar and grain diets are causing inflammation and metabolic syndrome. So many people I know assume that because something is low-fat, it is healthy for you, not realizing that sugar is the real danger.

[Nadya]

I agree with this protein-based diet because in one major trial (Omniheart trial), it also showed a significant benefit for protein-based diet compared to the carb-diet and unsaturated fat diet. DASH diet (which is primarily carb) reduces the 10-year risk of CV events by 16%, while a protein-based diet reduces the risk by 21%.

[ariel]

The Natural Standard webinar on the Food Pyramid provides timely information on the importance of diet and nutrition and novel ways to create a tailored, balanced and nutritious diet to promote healthy lifestyles.

[Estelle]

This Food Tree is great resource for everyone trying to live healthy lives. Like many of you, I'm going to try to include some of these concepts into my daily life and encourage my family to do the same. I liked how this webinar explains what actually goes on in the body to give you an idea of how what you eat actually effects you. Very informative!

[Stacy]

It's great news to see that the Food Tree has been recreated! Although I learned about the basic food groups differently as a child, this update was necessary for the changing needs of the population. I am glad to see that years of scientific research on lifestyle and diseases can now be incorporated into something that the general public can relate to. I am certain that this will make a positive impact on the future of our health, although it will take some getting use to.

[Foody]

There is a new site discussing the USDA food pyramid, but also other food pyramids. Check out www.foodpyramid.com

[l-carnitine]

Glucose is a great source of energy for your child, and it affects the level of his blood sugar directly. It also functions in building your child's attention span.

Do not undermine the importance of a good breakfast and make sure that your child's breakfast has enough glucose to keep him going through a physically demanding day.

Do not allow your child to skip breakfasts, as this could lead to problems with recall and attention.