He said the USDA pyramid “ignores” the fact that two kinds of fat, mono- and polyunsaturated, found in vegetable oils, fish, nuts and whole grains, are “good for your heart.”
Starches found in white bread, potatoes, pasta and white rice are not much healthier than sugar because they get processed in the body almost as quickly, Willett said.
The rapid digestion of starches and sugars is “now implicated as part of the perilous pathway to heart disease and diabetes,” he said.
Willett said that many research projects over the past decade have “chipped away” at the USDA pyramid, which has not been revised to address new findings.
The USDA pyramid offers “scientifically unfounded advice” and was influenced by corporate interests, Willett said.
It comes from the USDA, which is responsible for promoting American agriculture, not from the agencies established to monitor and protect citizens’ health, like the Department of Health and Human Services, he said.
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