The Birth of the Recommended Daily Allowances

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The first period of nutrition science from 1930 to about 1950 was really focused on vitamins and making sure we have the right vitamins and food. The human population went up 400% in 100 years so there were fears that a billion people would starve because they didn't have enough food. Food sector largely did what we asked them to do by creating shelf stable cheap starchy calories that were fortified with vitamins. We are now shifting away from those 20th century priorities toward 21st century priorities which is brain health longevity gut health good immune functions less heart disease less diabetes, he says.

Episode #246. Have you ever considered the way our current food system was shaped? Or the way it continues to impact modern dietary guidelines? This episode is for you. In this conversation with distinguished researcher Professor Dariush Mozaffarian, we analyse the past 120 years of nutrition science and assess how this research continues to impact the modern diet.

We cover:

Introduction (00:00)
A Journey Through Nutrition Science History (03:49)
The Food Industry's Contributions to Improving Vitamin and Calorie Deficiency and What Went Wrong (16:05)
The Evolution of Dietary Guidelines (26:59)
Are Food Rating Systems Accurate? (37:48)
Is the Role of Saturated Fat in Nutrition Neutral? (44:22)
Understanding the Algorithm Behind Tufts' Food Compass (46:57)
Industry Funding and Scientific Research (52:03)
Validating the Food Compass Scoring System (57:04)
Are Breakfast Cereals Healthier? (01:04:45)
The Food Compass System: A Work in Progress (01:08:04)
Exploring the Uses of the Food Compass and the Possibility of Improving Its Functionality (01:10:33)
Takeaways (01:29:19)
Outro (01:34:50)

If you found this conversation informative, you can learn more about Dr Mozaffarian here, and read more of his work here. If you have any additional questions you would like answered in future, make sure to leave a comment on YouTube.

Discover more insights and supporting resources in the full show notes.

Enjoy, friends.

Simon

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Simon Hill, MSc, BSc (Hons)

Creator of theproof.com and host of The Proof with Simon Hill

Author of The Proof is in the Plants

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