{"id":2755,"date":"2020-06-15T16:40:44","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T20:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lowcarbaction.org\/?p=2755"},"modified":"2020-06-15T16:40:44","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T20:40:44","slug":"comments-by-academy-nutrition-dietetics-on-dga-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lowcarbaction.org\/comments-by-academy-nutrition-dietetics-on-dga-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Low-Carb Action Network Applauds Comments by Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics on DGA Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\nJune 15, 2020
\nPress Contact: Jessica Wharton
\njessica@lowcarbaction.org<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator type=”normal”][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text]WASHINGTON, D.C.<\/strong> \u2013 The Low-Carb Action Network (L-CAN) today applauded comments submitted by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to the Chair of the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) which detail numerous concerns about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Academy has presented an excellent and comprehensive review of problems in the scientific process by the Advisory Committee to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines,\u201d stated Dr. Mark Cucuzzella, L-CAN Director, medical doctor, and professor of family medicine at West Virginia University. \u201cThe Academy found significant shortcomings in the methodology used to establish evidence-based nutrition recommendations and raises key questions about whether the Guidelines should continue to focus exclusively on preventing diet-related problems for healthy Americans or should expand its focus also to address people with diet-related chronic conditions, including obesity and diabetes, which now afflict a substantial majority of our population.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThe Academy also points out the high correlation between obesity and incidence of COVID-19, particularly among underserved ethnic groups, including African Americans. It further raises concern that the DGAC has excluded consideration of low-carbohydrate diets that can help Americans who are overweight or have obesity, as well as those who suffer from diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

L-CAN has previously submitted 52 scientific studies on low-carb diets to the DGAC after it stated that it had not reviewed any studies of diets with fewer than 25 percent of calories from carbohydrates. The Committee\u2019s exclusion criteria specified that studies should not focus on weight loss, which appears to be a key reason why many low-carb diets were excluded. The rationale for this exclusion, according to USDA officials, is that the purpose of the DGA is only to prevent chronic conditions, not to treat or try to reverse them.<\/p>\n

The Academy states, in bold text, \u201cA Dietary Guidelines that does not address the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight or have obesity is, in our view, a nutrition policy that lacks relevance to much of the general public and reflects an insufficient review of the science.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Academy letter also states, \u201cDGAC members noted that many of the public comments had been focused on the need to address obesity, given its prevalence in the American population, and he urged the committee to explain \u201cwith a little bit of detail and the reasons\u201d why obesity and diets that might be shown to prevent it were \u201cnot taken into consideration in this iteration of the Dietary Guidelines.\u201d [1]<\/p>\n

The letter further notes that \u201cthe evidence base for many analyses came from studies predominantly on white, upper middle class individuals; moreover these studies failed to be adjusted for important \u201cpotential confounders such as race\/ethnicity[and] socioeconomic status.\u201d [2] It cites two relevant examples:<\/p>\n