Problems with the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: An Alternative

Abstract

Abstract The updated 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published in January 2016, have stirred much controversy since the advisory report first appeared. Several important changes have been made, with some recommendations having greater scientific evidence for their support than others. The focus of this review is to discuss specific recommendations from the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans that lack sound scientific evidence; these include: 1) Allowing approximately half of all grains to be refined; 2) The continued recommendations for fat-free or low-fat dairy and limitation of saturated fat intake to < 10% of calories; 3) Sodium intake < 2,300 mg/day; and 4) Consumption of up to 27 grams/day of "oils" (high in polyunsaturated fat or monounsaturated fat). Based on our review, the aforementioned recommendations found in the updated 2015 Dietary Guideline for Americans may increase the incidence of cardiometabolic disease, diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and possibly cancer.

Figure 1

Kaplan-Meier Estimates of the Incidence of Outcome Events in the Total Study Population The incidence of the primary end-point (a composite of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from CV causes). Hazard radios were stratified according to center (Cox model with robust variance estimators). CI denotes confidence interval, EVOO extra-virgin olive oil, and Med Mediterranean.