🥩 Food Myths: National nutrition guidelines are unbiased and evidence-based Part 3
Our mission is to promote the benefits of a meat-based diet so we can fight back against the anti-meat rhetoric pushing too many modern humans in the wrong direction. We win by introducing as many individuals as possible to this results-driven way of life.
🥩 Hello Meatlings,
As you can see, this, unfortunately, is a series on why public nutrition guidelines are so a**-backwards. Today, we will examine the Tufts University Food Compass and next time, we are going after the big kahuna, the American Heart Association.
The Food Compass from Tufts came out in October 2021. Tufts' Food Compass was developed as "a food product scoring system to assess the healthfulness of foods, beverages, and mixed dishes, as well as food choices, such as supermarket baskets, diets, and food company portfolios."
In their opinion, Food Compass is a novel food rating system developed by researchers at Tufts University. By evaluating foods across 9 domains and using a unique algorithm to determine a score, we can assign a Food Compass Score (FCS) between 1 and 100 (100 being the most healthful) to nearly any food. The Food Compass Nutrient Profiling System evaluates over eight thousand foods and beverages, spanning all major food categories. The formula also tries to consider food mixtures of different foods, such as pizza.
A food product scoring system to assess the healthfulness of foods, beverages, and mixed dishes sounds helpful. Not so fast. Let's check out some of the foods they ranked:
According to the wonderful evaluation written by Unsettled Science:
In the author Mozaffarian’s defense, his Compass does score most fresh fruits and vegetables at 100. Kale, dandelions, collards, cress, and something called charmenul are all supremely healthy, according to these rankings. Yet, there’s a strange preference for processed foods over real, with, for instance, frozen OJ (with calcium added) scoring 11 points higher than fresh-squeezed. Also, most fruit juices are “to be encouraged,” even though these are now widely seen as sure routes to fast-spiking blood sugars.
A preference for ultra-processed foods can be seen throughout the Compass rankings. For instance, a lightly salted, “reconstituted” potato chips ranks nearly as high as a regular potato.
This is, again, an industry viewpoint, since a central truth of Big Food is that the profit comes from processing. Whereas the margin on a plain potato is next-to-nothing, if you peel, slice, fry, salt, reconstitute and package that potato as a chip in a fancy bag, the profit margins rise. A lot.
Mozaffarian himself seemed to recognize the problem of over-valuing ultra-processed foods in his Food Compass. In response to the recent criticism, he said, “We’re looking at ways to see if we can scientifically improve the scoring. We do account for processing, but maybe we should account for it even more.”
Still, there’s been no talk of correction or retraction of the Food Compass, and Mozaffarian’s back paddling comes after his team had “validated” the Compass in a paper last fall. More "Chocolate Covered Almonds equals better health, they confirmed.
Indeed, chocolate almond milk (unsweetened) is said by Tufts to be the Number One, healthiest dairy product you can buy.
And meatless/animal-free options being ranked higher across the board: fake cheese over real cheese, soy milk over real milk, meatless chicken, even breaded and fried, over real chicken.
Here’s another head-scratching chart showing that experts like those at Tuft don’t discriminate against processed foods:
MnMs and Reeces Cups are healthier than ground beef? Aside from the many nutrients and complete protein provided by beef, there’s the fact that meat (and eggs and cheese) contain no glucose and therefore generally don’t raise blood sugar, the primary driver of diabetes as well as the single health factor most strongly associated with poor outcomes from Covid. People understand that sugar is bad for health. Many people also understand that grains, which convert to sugar upon eating, can be harmful. Why do our experts not get this?
Perhaps you remember the big 2016 story in the New York Times about how in the 1950s, the “Sugar Industry Shifted the Blame to Fat.” In that case, it was a top Harvard scientist who was paid off by Big Sugar to dismiss the sweet stuff as a possible cause for heart disease and instead pin the blame on fat. Some version of this story has clearly been going on for decades now, funded by Big Sugar. Big Grain. Otherwise how could Lucky Charms, full of grains and sugar, triumph over eggs cooked in butter?
The blame is still being shifted to fat (saturated) and cholesterol, which explains why, in the Food Compass, no item in the meat, poultry or eggs categories scored higher than 73, according to this analysis—meaning that none of these foods is “to be encouraged.” The vilification of animal foods is not unique to Tufts experts, but since they claim their Compass is based on “cutting-edge science,” why doesn’t it include the last decade of scientific findings, including the abandonment of caps on cholesterol, by both the American Heart Association and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, and more than 20 review papers concluding that saturated fats have no effect on coronary or total mortality? All this is documented in a paper I co-authored, in a a journal of the National Academies of Sciences. Still, the Food Compass does not recognize this recent science or even the existence of a scientific dispute on these topics. As a result, it “exaggerate[s] the risks associated with animal-sourced foods,” says the Journal of Nutrition paper.
The ultimate loser in the Food Compass is clearly beef. According to the Food Compass, you’d be better off—hilariously—eating ostrich, beaver, opossum or even bear than a steak.
Coincidentally, Beyond Meat and PlantPower Ventures are both Tufts’ Silver Members, and in 2021, the school received a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop “cultivated meat.” Tufts also has a venture-capitalist funded entrepreneur fellowship program whose aim to “remove animals from the global food system.”
I think most people don’t realize that the haloed “plant-based” diet promoted so assiduously by our elite nutrition schools means more fruits and vegetables, yes, but also replacing natural foods with ultra-processed fake foods and grains, as the Food Compass encapsulates so perfectly.
Recently, Mozaffarian lamented that the “exaggerated controversy” over the Compass is “dismaying,” and fears it “can be weaponized by the food industry.” In the past, he’s also spoken about the “growing epidemic of fake news about nutrition.” But here we see our most credentialed experts evidently doling out industry-friendly fake news.
I don’t want to say the solution is for people not to trust experts, but when they’re recommending Frosted Mini-Wheats and Chocolate Cheerios, it’s time for reasonable people to start looking elsewhere for healthy eating advice.
There you have it, yet another expert evaluation of foodstuffs recommending absolute garbage. One of my favorite sayings I’ve been seeing lately is “make it make sense,” and the Food Compass does not. Any nutrition expert advice that ranks processed foods higher than real food should be ignored.
✌🏻 and ribeyes,
Miranda Ebner MS, LN & The Yes2Meat Team
📰 News & 🔬 Research
🤳🏻 The food industry pays “influencer” dietitians to shape your eating habits. Who? Registered dietitians who collectively have millions of social media followers. An investigation by The Post and The Examination found that they don't always disclose their sponsorships. They’re pushing Foods like candy and ice cream while downplaying the risks of highly processed foods, sugar, and the artificial sweetener aspartame.
🛢️Seed Oils, Plant-Based Diets, and Chronic Inflammation (new study everyone should know about). A new study finds vegan dieters have higher concentrations of omega-6 fatty acids and lower quantities of health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids, including pro-resolving lipid mediators, in their cell membranes compared to omnivores.
🐀 New study to determine if intermittent fasting or weight loss can slow aging. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting can help people lose weight and may be easier to follow than counting calories to lose weight, such as traditional calorie restriction. Exciting new research in animals suggests that intermittent fasting slows aging and helps animals live longer and will now be examined in humans to see if there is a similar result.
🍟 Modern Diets Are Rewiring Our Appetite for Obesity. Humans strongly regulate their protein intake, leading to increased consumption if protein is diluted in their diets. Modern-day processed foods, rich in fats and carbohydrates, dilute protein, prompting people to consume more calories to meet their protein needs. This “protein leverage” mechanism is being identified as a significant factor driving the obesity epidemic.
🩻 One-third of normal-weight individuals are obese. A recent study out of Israel found that one-third of normal-weight individuals are obese. The researchers studied 3,000 men and women and classified them according to body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans, and other markers. About 1,000 of the participants were in the normal weight range. However, 38.5% of the women and 26.5% of the men in this category were identified as obese—having excess body fat despite their average weight. This is a potent reminder that body fat percentage is a much more accurate indicator of metabolic health than BMI and weight.
✈️ Eating a big breakfast could help older adults recover from jet lag. What to know: Eating a hearty breakfast in the new time zone each morning (and skipping a late meal) helps reset the body’s network of circadian clocks, a new study found. How it works: Older people’s circadian clocks are more prone to misalignment, and regular meal times offer a powerful way to resynchronize the body’s rhythm.
🤪 Meme
🏛️ Legislative Updates from Nutrition Coalition
Nutrition Coalition Raises Alarm on Studies to be Excluded from Dietary Guidelines Review
For those that don’t know, this is regarding how the next 2025 USDA MyPlate guidelines will be revised by the current Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
On August 9, Nutrition Coalition founder Nina Teichoz and Chair of our Scientific Council, Mark Cucuzzella, MD, submitted a public comment to the current Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee detailing concerns about the methodologies that are being planned for some of the upcoming scientific reviews for the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The bottom line is that the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the methodologies for the “Dietary Patterns” (the guidelines’ main advice on diet) will exclude many necessary clinical trials on diet and health.
These methodologies, if left unchanged, will:
Exclude trials that do not include a complete description of all foods and beverages consumed by participants. (This means nearly all low-carb diets will likely be excluded since they focus on limiting carbohydrates rather than listing all the foods and beverages allowed.)
Exclude clinical trials on patients with any chronic disease (hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, etc.) except those who are overweight/obese. (This would eliminate many clinical trials on people with these other features of metabolic disease.)
High-quality research continues to demonstrate that low-carbohydrate diets can be a powerful weapon against obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases. The scientific literature on these diets includes more than 100 randomized controlled trials, considered the gold standard for scientific evidence.
How you can help: We’re asking you to submit a public comment on these methodological problems. Feel free to use our letter for more information. Your comment will go directly to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. There is power in numbers, so please add your voice to this effort. Thank you!
🔗 Link Corner
💊 Ozempic Not Good for Fat Loss: 40% of Weight Loss is MUSCLE! DEXA scans show where the weight loss comes from with popular weight loss drugs. Sadly, it's mainly from muscle and lean tissue.
💧 Does Beef Waste Water? (Re-release) *This is a re-release of Episode 2, Does Beef Waste Water?* We’ve all heard that beef is a water hog, often enough that it’s common knowledge. Caroline goes to the source - a UNESCO study - to see what we can unpack about that claim. Holes are poked, rants are ranted, and nuance is added.
🤓 Teicholz Explains Why US Dietary Guidelines Aren’t Evidence-Based. Nina delivered a masterful critique of the US Dietary Guidelines in a Low Carb Denver 2023 presentation. Watch the video (34 min) for a quick crash course on why these guidelines aren’t based on current science, how following them has worsened our health, and how science is being actively suppressed.
🤔 To Ponder
"TO BE A SUCCESSFUL FARMER ONE MUST FIRST
KNOW THE NATURE OF THE SOIL."
-Xenophon of Athens, (431BC – 354BC). Greek historian, philosopher, and student of Socrates.
Do you think the modern farmers using glyphosate and huge machines know anything about the soil? 🤔
🙋♀️ Licensed Nutritionist Services to Support Your Animal-Based Diet with Thrive Nutrition
Get professional help for starting or tweaking your animal-based diet. We also provide tailored advice for resolving digestive issues, fertility/pregnancy, Type 2 Diabetes, healing emotional eating, and more.
Eat real food, get collaborative support, and enjoy lasting results. Use medical insurance, an HSA/FSA, or cash. Start with a free 30-minute phone consultation.
🥩 The Yes2Meat Newsletter and Community
The Yes2Meat community is a hub to bring like-minded people together to share, collaborate, commerce, and help grow the world’s most important movement for change.
If you would like to volunteer, please complete this form.
If you would like to support us, you can become a subscriber below (with a ton of limited access coming soon to supporters) 👇🏻
🙏🏻 Our Supporters
*Using our affiliate links supports the project and helps us reach more people
Noble Origins → Nose-to-Tail nutrition in tasty chocolate and vanilla featuring organs and beef protein. Use code Yes2Meat for free shipping
Wild Foods → Sourcing the highest-quality foods and supplements from around the world.
Nose to Tail → We deliver locally produced regenerative meat & beef tallow body care to your door.
Thrive Nutrition → Personalized nutrition counseling using real food to reverse disease or augment already good health. Burn fat, fix your gut, heal emotional eating, and more.
The Better Human Newsletter by Colin Stuckert → Weekly, Free, and full of useful ways to be a Better Human.
The Meat Mafia Podcast → Harry Gray and Brett Ender are the hosts of the Meat Mafia Podcast, which aims to address fundamental issues with our food and healthcare systems.
👋 The Yes2Meat Team
Brian Sanders, Founder
Colin Stuckert, Founder
Miranda MS, LN - Founder, Chief Nutritionist & Editor
Volunteers → let us know if you want to support and contribute.
Thank you for reading Yes2Meat. This post is public, so feel free to share it.