WEBVTT - Ep 208 Dietary Guidelines Part 1: Who’s behind these guidelines? 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.840 How can the housekeeper tell whether or not she is 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:06.000 providing the food which her family needs and is getting 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:09.800 the best possible returns for the money she spends. Unfortunately, 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:12.240 the price she pays for food is no test of 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.800 the nourishment it yields to the body. Tomatoes at five 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.840 or ten cents apiece in winter do not build body 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:22.120 tissues nor furnish fuel for the body engine any better 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:24.480 than those at five cents a quart in the summer. 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:29.000 Appetite is not always a safe guide. A child's appetite 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.840 might be satisfied with a diet of nothing but sugar, 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.120 but this certainly would not be good for him. Neither 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.800 can hunger and its satisfaction always be relied on. A 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.000 bulky diet of potatoes or bananas alone would soon make 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:44.680 a person feel that he had eaten enough, but would 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.040 not furnish all that the body needs. Evidently, what a 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.160 person who plans meals ought to know is what things 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.480 the body needs in its food, and how these needs 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:58.200 can be fulfilled by the ordinary food materials. This paper 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:01.000 is intended to give such information in a simple way. 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:04.120 It should make plain that different kinds or classes of 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.280 foods serve different uses. In the body and should help 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.360 the housekeeper to choose those which will serve all these 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:14.200 uses without waste. It is very hard for a housekeeper 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:16.479 to know exactly how much of each of the food 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:20.320 substances or nutrients her body needs, or exactly how much 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.040 of each she is giving them. In order to calculate 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:27.000 exactly how much starch, sugar, fat, protein, etc. The family needs, 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.160 one would have to know exactly how much muscular work 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:33.480 each member was performing, and also exactly how much of 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.320 the different nutrients each food contained, and exactly how much 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.240 each person would eat. This, of course, would mean a 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.800 great deal of figuring. Fortunately, such exactness is not necessary 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:47.520 in ordinary life. If a little too much or too 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.040 little of one nutrient is provided at a single meal 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:53.000 or on a single day, a healthy body does not suffer, 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.840 because it has ways of storing such a surplus and 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.120 of using its stored material in an emergency. The danger 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.800 would come if they take in week in and week out, 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:05.000 always provided too much or too little of someone nutrient. 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.680 Against this danger, the housekeeper can more easily protect her family. 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:12.639 Good food habits, it must be remembered, include more than 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.400 cleanliness and order in everything that has to do with 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:19.200 food and meals and leisurely ways of eating. Equally important 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.760 are a liking for all kinds of wholesome foods, even 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.160 if they have not always been used in one's home 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:29.480 or neighborhood, and eating reasonable amounts. Every effort should be 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.720 made to train children in such good food habits. If 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.320 older people have not learned them, they too should try 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:37.800 to do so, for such things are very important, not 0:02:37.840 --> 0:03:13.600 only to health, but also to economy. 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:28.720 I love it, Aaron, Isn't that great? Have that replies 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:32.320 all of our guidelines except the housekeeper bit and the 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:33.480 housekeeper heard. 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.280 Yeah, I mean, I think, like what I love about 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.520 these guidelines is that there and there's so much more 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.320 to them, right, Like this comes from a fourteen page 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.680 or so pamphlet about how to feed your family. It 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.920 has sample meals that I kind of called out, So 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:51.040 it's like, what is one? Here's here's an example for 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.040 a man. So they have it broken down by like, 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.480 here's one for a family with two adults and three children. 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:58.320 Here's one for a man who does a lot of 0:03:58.400 --> 0:03:59.640 muscular work outside. 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.240 He would need each day. 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.000 One of a quarter pounds of bread, a quarter cup 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.280 of butter oil, meat, drippings or other fat, quarter cup 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:10.560 of sugar or a third of a cup of honey, 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:13.040 and then like a little bit of fruits and veggies 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:18.480 and twelve ounces of meat, meat twelve ounces or also 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.800 fish or cheese or eggs or legumes. Okay, so there 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:27.480 are other there are non animal protein sources acknowledged and recommended. 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.559 Fascinating, isn't that wild? 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:35.960 So that is from really the United States first Nutritional 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.800 Guidelines from nineteen seventeen. It was from a pamphlet written 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:41.880 by Caroline Hunt and Helen. 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:45.400 Atwater and yeah, I love it. 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:46.080 There you go. 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.120 Hi, I'm Aaron Welsh. 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.000 And I'm Erin Alman Updike, and this. 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:52.720 Is this podcast will kill you. 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:56.080 Welcome to what are we calling this the food pyramid? 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.279 Okay, that's what I initially called it, and then I 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:00.479 was like, nutritional guidelines might be more. 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:02.320 Actual dietary guidelines. 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:06.280 Dietary guidelines Part one, We go part one. Yeah, So 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.360 we're breaking this up into two episodes because there is 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:13.240 so much to cover and it's really exciting too, Like 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.120 I feel like, I'm really glad that we chose to 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:17.800 do this in two episodes because it's given, it's given 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.360 us an opportunity to dig deep into some of these 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.880 questions as like how these guidelines are put together and 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.559 the history of them, like what actually goes into making 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:32.120 these guidelines, and some of the ethical considerations that we 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:32.919 should consider. 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:34.320 I guess that's all. 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:35.880 That's all this episode, and then. 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:37.800 Next week you're going to be taking us through the 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:42.480 most recent guidelines and what the science actually does have 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:45.120 to say when it comes to diet and health and 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.360 foods that we should eat and foods that we should avoid, 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:48.599 and blah blah blah, all that stuff. 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:50.480 No small task. 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.400 It's yeah, I have a wide variety of sources for this. 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.520 I can't I cannot wait to learn, especially just about 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:02.000 the history of the Terry Guidelines in the US, because 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.159 it's I know there's a lot there. 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:07.280 I am really hoping that I get the answer from 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.360 you next week as to what the heck is going 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.400 on with protein and why. Yesterday I went to the 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:18.600 store and I was like, there's protein, popcorn, protein popcorn, protein, 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:22.320 protein water, protein, sparkling water. I about fell over when 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:22.839 I saw that. 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.599 I will I don't know if I'll answer that question, 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:27.560 but we will talk quite a lot about protein, because 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:31.200 you can't not you can't, I am. I. Yeah, I 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:35.159 don't have an answer as to why there's protein popcorn. Yeah, 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:39.000 I was like, what before we can do any of this. Yes, 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.000 it's quarantine. It's a quarantine time. 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:45.920 Yeah, we are drinking this week your daily Apple. 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:46.680 Your daily Apple. 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.560 An apple a day keeps the doctor away. 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.960 This is in no way an endorsement of Apple specifically, or. 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:54.039 We're not being paid by the Apple lobby over. 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:54.719 No, we're not. 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:58.839 But you know, there is one I'm sure. 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:01.520 In your daily Apple. 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.600 How you make it is you mix together some apple juice, 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.839 various juices essentially, you know, try to find ones that 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:12.280 are juice and not just pure sugar, but apple juice, 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.760 lemon juice, pomegranate juice, and a dash of sparkling water. 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:17.600 It's great. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.920 Yeah, you can be refreshing. Sure, we'll post the full 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:26.400 recipe for your Daily Apple on our social media's for sure, 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:28.120 probably on our website. 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.000 I think we're getting rid ofsite video situation. 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.080 Right so you can find them day this podcast with 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:35.480 kill you dot com, yes, where you can also find 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:40.440 so much other amazing information there. You know, we've got 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.840 transcripts from all of our episodes. We've got sources that 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.000 we use for every single episode. We've got merch We've 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:47.720 got a good Bread's list, We've got a bookshop dot 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.560 org affiliate account. We've got leaks to bloodmobile who does 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:55.760 our music. We've got Patreon, We've got I mean wow, 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:57.200 the list goes on. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:02.120 Absolutely goes on and on. Thanks for that, ared no problem. 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.080 I think we have no other business that I can remember, 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:07.840 and so let's take a break. 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:23.760 Everything great, Okay? 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:25.600 How do we decide what to eat? 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.360 Our days are filled with endless micro decisions about what 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.880 to make for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack time. These decisions 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.840 are shaped by so many factors, right from what we 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.000 have on hand, to how long something takes to make, 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.079 from what we grew up eating, to what we can afford, 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.520 from whether we have dietary restrictions, to know just what 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:51.000 we're in the mood for. How exactly we make these 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:56.959 decisions has greatly shifted over history, as agriculture, global trade, industrialization, 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:00.240 and advertising have altered the ways that. 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:01.320 We interact with food. 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:04.520 In most high income countries, what we've seen over the 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.559 past century is an explosion in food variety and an 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.920 overall expansion in access that means that the question has 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:15.040 morphed from what can we eat to what should we eat? 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.520 But who is behind that should and where did they 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:20.320 get their information? 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:22.040 You gonna tell me. 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.880 On January seventh, twenty twenty six, the US Department of 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:30.800 Health and Human Services, along with the USDA, unveiled the 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:34.440 new Dietary Guidelines for Americans. And while some of the 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:38.000 recommendations have not changed in decades, like an emphasis on 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:42.560 fresh vegetables and whole grains, others represent a pretty stark 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:46.320 departure from previous guidance, like the inclusion of butter and 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:50.600 beef tallow as good or you know, healthy fat, healthy 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:55.400 sources of fats. Changes to the guidelines are not unprecedented. 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:59.000 They are actually expected since nineteen eighty when the US 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:03.840 Dietary Guideline for Americans or DGA was passed. Every five years, 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:08.040 those guidelines are revisited by an appointed committee who publishes 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:13.320 a new report. The logic behind this decision is very sound, 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.079 like why we keep revisiting these guidelines? Our knowledge is 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:19.520 always evolving, and so we should evaluate policies in light 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:23.360 of new scientific research and be open to change. That's 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:27.319 how science works, at least that's how it should work. 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.760 Where things get tricky is when other interests such as 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:35.360 financial are present that we can or refute the science. 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:41.160 National dietary guidelines are presented as a scientific consensus, But 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:45.360 are they or are some guidelines influenced more by industry 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.040 than by science. And maybe you're listening to this and 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.959 thinking like, well, those guidelines don't mean anything to me. 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:51.960 I never use them. 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.400 I don't even know what's in the newest ones at 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:58.559 fair enough, like that's I get that. But these guidelines 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:01.600 do have a huge impact, not just on overall perception 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.320 of what a healthy diet is, but also in a 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.960 very tangible way. They will affect with the thirty million 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.840 US children in the National School Lunch Program eat on 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:14.320 an average school day. They will affect other people who 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:17.000 are on food assistance programs and what foods they can 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:21.560 get assistance for. Tracing the history of these guidelines can 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:26.160 reveal so much about our understanding of nutritional science, about 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:30.439 globalization and the food supply, and about the insidious influence 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:35.840 of industry on our perception of quote unquote healthy. Today, 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.080 I'm going to take us through the story of a question, 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:43.560 how should we eat? Not by answering that question, but 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:47.520 by examining who has answered it and what underlies their advice. 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:49.160 Oh my gosh, I'm thrilled. 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.240 Dietary advice is far from a twentieth century invention. Long 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:59.079 before the words vitamin or carbohydrate had entered our vocabulary, 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:02.840 there were strong, culturally distinct recommendations on what to eat 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:06.320 and what not to eat. Certain animals and plants carried 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:10.880 powerful symbolism and were reserved for ceremonial purposes, consumed for 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:15.520 their purported medicinal qualities, or just forbidden entirely. But beyond 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:19.200 these food taboos or medicinal ingredients, there were also general 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.559 recommendations for a quote unquote healthy diet. 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:22.560 So like, for. 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:26.480 Instance, the ancient Greeks and Romans advised moderation in food 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:30.199 and beverage for example, and in keeping with the humoral 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:35.040 theory of disease, a balanced diet was recommended for someone 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:37.760 who was ill. That balance might be tilted to restoring 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:42.080 the humors. Overall, though I'm not sure what a balanced 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:43.400 diet meant. 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.439 What it meant yeah, and whether. 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.640 That was consistent and how achievable it would have been 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:50.960 for like your average citizen of the ancient world. 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:54.040 I have no idea. Did they even know about balance dites? 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:56.640 I don't know, like what were their food groups that 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:00.800 they were balancing, you know, I don't That is a 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.640 separate wig. One. 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.560 The wine was absolutely a food group. 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:08.599 Then you had I don't know, like there must have 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.800 been bile, like you know what I mean, like yellow bial. 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:14.280 This is going to increase your yellow vial and whatnot. 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.360 Right, But I think that what foods hot foods? Wasn't 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:17.920 that a whole thing? 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:18.199 Yeah? 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:18.760 That was a thing. 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:19.840 That is still a thing. 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:21.160 Yeah. 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.679 But where the link between diet and health was clearer 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:28.120 in ancient times was actually in raising livestock. So farmers 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:30.920 noticed that if they fed their livestock different diets like 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.040 grass versus straw, for example, there might be a pretty 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:36.720 major difference in how many young they had, how early 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.880 they matured, how big they grew, the milk they produced, 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:40.559 stuff like that. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.400 Okay, how much of this was carried. 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.959 Over to dietary guidelines for humans, I don't know, not sure, 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:50.680 but it seems that overall, thousands of years would pass 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:54.319 before there was anything resembling like a general consensus on 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:58.679 what constituted a healthy diet, partly because global trade and 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:03.240 food preservation practice like refrigeration and canning that limited how 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:05.760 much food or the variety of food that someone had 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:08.839 access to, Like how many people could reliably eat a 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:12.199 few cups of leafy greens a week, year round? Right? 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:16.800 No one, not a thing, not really a thing ancient 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.760 in the ancient world. Yeah right, right, and so but 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:22.320 the answer, I mean, sure there were some people that 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.400 achieved more of like a diet in line with what 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:29.040 we eat today, but it would depend a lot on 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:34.040 the person themselves, right, like where they lived, their socioeconomic status, 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:39.160 all of these different factors. But even if someone had 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:42.320 a variety of foods available to them, how would they 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:47.280 know to choose fruits and vegetables over other options, especially 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.320 when like fats and sugars taste good for a reason 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.040 like it's good. It's like evolutionarily, we are ingrained to 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:57.680 think that that is the most delicious thing on earth. 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:03.280 And yeah, but the eighteen hundreds is really when nutritional 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:06.520 science got its start, and it was initially mostly focused 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:10.800 on identifying and treating nutritional deficiencies rather than the much 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:14.480 trickier puzzle of determining, you know, which elements constitute not 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.080 just a sufficient. 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:16.800 But a healthy diet. 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:22.000 The goal of nutritional science in these early years was 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:25.320 preventing disease, not maximizing health. 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:31.640 That's a really interesting distinction, yes, because it's also preventing, 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:36.080 like you said, deficiency diseases, very different than what the 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:37.760 goals of nutrition guidelines are. 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:43.400 Today preventing chronic diseases. Yes, yeah, yeah, it's and so 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:47.520 this question of how do we use food to prevent 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:51.000 disease it was interesting in its own just like scientific right, 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:53.840 but more than that, it was a logistical question. 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:55.000 How do you. 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:56.680 Feed an army? 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.520 How much food or what kinds of food does a 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.640 soldier or a sailor need to stay in fighting shape? 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:05.840 So that is really what drove a lot of these 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:09.280 questions in nutritional science. So, for instance, scurvy, which we 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.560 know today is caused by vitamin C deficiency, had plagued 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.800 humans for millennia, but it grew to new levels of 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:20.280 concern in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, prompting military doctors 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:23.320 like James Lynde to investigate what foods might stave off 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.880 this horrific illness our scurvy episode for more on that. 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:32.000 But these observational studies then led to people realizing that 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:35.680 citrus was a good scurvy prevention or preventative, and so 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:39.640 in eighteen thirty five, British Parliament passed the Merchant Seamen's Act, 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:43.040 which required lemon juice to be included in all rations. 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.640 This is really some people consider this to be the 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.640 first governmental dietary guidelines. 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:51.400 Oh that's so interesting, Yeah, because just like you got 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.520 to have lemon juice, that's the first. 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.400 It is required on all of these ships. And it's like, 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.880 even though it's a subset of the population, even though 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.160 the rationale was not figured out for another century because 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.760 of guinea pigs again see our scurvy episode. But it's 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:08.879 I find that I do find that really interesting, is 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.080 that like this, we know that you need to have this, 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:13.679 and we don't know why, but. 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:14.400 This is important. 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:16.200 Yeah, that's so interesting. 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:20.520 So while Lynd and other pioneers in this field mostly 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:24.160 relied initially on observational studies, you know, what food seems 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.200 to help prevent this disease, but then the chemical revolution 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:30.400 of the late eighteenth century that is what really paved 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.320 the way for the quantification of what we ate, like 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:37.240 what is in the food that we're eating. These chemists 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.960 we're figuring out essentially what life is made of and 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:44.159 how we turn matter into energy, and it led some 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.399 to ask what we needed to sustain life, not just 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:49.080 what life is made of, but what does it need 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:53.600 to keep going. The Industrial Revolution provided the perfect metaphor 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:57.760 for these explanations of nutrition, the body as a machine. 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:03.040 That was one important diference that they realized. Unlike machines 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.680 which ran on, you know, one type of fuel, experiments 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:10.719 revealed that the body needed a mixture, otherwise disease or 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:11.960 death might result. 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.000 You needed the right kinds. 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:18.320 Of fuel, Yeah, the combination, combination, and so this kind 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:22.000 of reasoning though, seeing diet as a way to avoid deficiencies. 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:24.640 This persisted throughout the rest of the eighteen hundreds, and 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:28.480 it guided scientific research into what was considered a quote 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:32.280 unquote complete diet, not in the way that we think 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:34.560 of a complete diet today, as in like you know, 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.240 the different balanced components that we should aim for for 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.800 healthy eating and not having too much of this or 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:42.919 too much of that, but a complete diet as in 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:46.880 the bare minimum to avoid deficiencies, not only in terms 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.359 of specific nutrients, but just like enough food. 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:49.880 Period. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.240 This research served multiple purposes right. On the one hand, 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.560 it was helpful for figuring out how to feed people, 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.800 especially people who are like, for instance, unemployed British cotton 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:02.720 factory workers. 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:04.200 Was like a big part of this. 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:06.520 Early on, like how do we give them enough food 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:11.040 so that we're not killing them but not spending too 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:11.920 much money. 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:13.359 You know, Like how do we do this as cheaply 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:14.400 as possible. 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.639 The minimum that we need to just keep people alive? 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:18.160 How can we preserve life? 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:21.439 Yeah, And on the other hand, though, it served as 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.399 helpful advice for the general public, much of which was 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:29.000 navigating a totally new food landscape compared to past generations. 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:33.200 The Industrial revolution and growth of cities overall meant that 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.120 food had to travel farther to get to the mouths 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.399 of consumers, leading to all sorts of issues with food 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:44.320 safety and consumer protection. Alongside greater technology into how to 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:48.760 make food more shelf stable and so this innovation in 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:52.360 food preservation and packaging it meant that consumers had more 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:56.200 options to choose from, like more ways to spend their money. 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:59.280 The cheapest options were rarely nutritious, which meant, of course 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:02.160 that you could spend or entire meager paycheck to feed 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.120 your family and they would still not get what they 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:10.959 needed to avoid deficiencies, let alone achieve optimal health. So 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:14.959 by the late eighteen hundreds, many countries who were seeing 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.840 a looming nutritional disaster stepped in to regulate food safety, 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:23.520 which gradually encompassed coming up with dietary guidelines for their citizens. 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:24.520 So in the. 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:28.520 US, this process was spearheaded by wo Atwater, who was 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:31.280 appointed by the USDA in the eighteen nineties to be 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:36.320 the first Director of Research Activities. His goal essentially was 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:40.560 to break down foods into their main components protein or nitrogen. 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:45.000 He also called it carbohydrate, fats, etc. And then to 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:49.360 make recommendations, especially geared towards poorer families, on how to 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.439 have a healthy diet on a limited income. So he 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:57.399 suggested a balance of fifteen percent protein, thirty three percent fat, 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:01.640 and fifty two percent carbs that men doing moderate work 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:04.680 should consume about thirty five hundred calories, which is about 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:08.560 one thousand more than today's recommendations, but overall proportions are 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:09.600 I think pretty similar. 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:14.439 It's so interesting that back then they especially in the 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:17.320 context of how things went this year in the US, 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:21.240 that they were specifically targeting their guidance for poorer families, 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:27.240 like recognizing this socioeconomic disparity that early on in that Yeah, 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:29.480 that's very interesting in the context of today. 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:31.520 I mean, it's like the more things change, the more 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:35.040 they stay the same, for sure, because so many things you're. 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:38.400 Like, we've been saying the same thing for so long, really. 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:42.600 And then also it's like, oh my god, protein again, 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:43.960 what are we doing here? 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:47.400 So, like hatwater was a little bit kind of like. 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:51.680 Mega focused on protein as this really important thing, and 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:55.199 it was among the most expensive of food items, and 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:57.359 so under his guidance, you would have these families that 0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:00.640 were spending about fifty percent of their entire house income 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:04.679 on protein, and that of course then made fruits and 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:07.879 green vegetables a disposable luxury. It was like protein first, 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:10.600 everything else later later. 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:10.960 Yeah. 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.439 Yeah, interesting, it's like not that dissimilar to today in 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:18.160 terms of this like overwhelming focus on protein and his 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:20.600