8 sessions, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM
September 28 through November 16, 2017
Kendal at Hanover - Hanover, NH
Course Fee: $80

Eating is the most fundamental human activity, but we are constantly challenged by ‘scientific studies’ that tell us what to eat and not to eat. The study we read this week often contradicts the one we read last week. This course examines forty years of government policy and nutritional research related to diet and health.

A 1979 Congressional report urged the food industry to develop low fat products and doctors to be trained to recommend the low fat diet. Within two years, the trend in obesity started to climb. The low fat recommendations then formed the basis for the USDA Food Guide Pyramid released in 1991 that recommended people also limit their intake of meat and sugar.

We will examine the Food Guide Pyramid recommendations in a simulation of the 1991 Congressional hearings that approved its publication. Do the Food Guide Pyramid’s recommendations represent good science? Is it possible for the USDA to give accurate advice when it also promotes the meat and dairy industries?

The course will then examine the basic assumption that a low fat diet will prevent heart disease. The 1979 committee that made the recommendation will form a second simulation that will examine what was known in 1979 about dietary fat and health. Should the government promote a low fat diet for everyone?

After the simulations, we will discuss the current state of nutritional research and the challenges of applying scientific methods to diet. We will also try to discern what really constitutes a healthy diet.