Denise Minger - Death by Food Pyramid: How Shoddy Science, Sketchy Politics and Shady Special Interests Have Ruined Our Health

DENISE MINGER

2013, Denise Minger. All rights reserved.

Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission of the publisher.

Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher. Information in this book was accurate at the time researched. The author received no incentives or compensation to promote the item recommendations in the book.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013918123
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher
Minger, Denise 1987
Death by Food Pyramid/Denise Minger

ISBN: 978-0-9847551-3-4
1. Nutrition 2. Food Industry & Trade 3. Politics 4. Food Habits

Editor: Jessica Taylor Tudzin
Proofreader: Marion Warren
Design and Layout: Caroline De Vita
Cover Design: Caroline De Vita and Jane Meadows

Publisher: Primal Blueprint Publishing.
23805 Stuart Ranch Rd. Suite 145 Malibu, CA 90265
For information on quantity discounts, please call 888-774-6259,
email: info@primalblueprint.com, or visit PrimalBlueprintPublishing.com.

DISCLAIMER

The ideas, concepts, and opinions expressed in this book are intended to be used for educational purposes only. This book is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not rendering medical advice of any kind, nor is this book intended to replace medical advice, nor to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any disease, condition, illness, or injury. It is imperative that before beginning any diet program, including any aspect of the diet methodologies mentioned in Death by Food Pyramid, you receive full medical clearance from a licensed physician. The author and publisher claim no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material in this book. If you object to this disclaimer, you may return the book to publisher for a full refund.

TO MY PARENTS,
Sue and David Minger,
who give me more love than
I know what to do with.

by Chris Masterjohn, PhD

On any hunt for understanding, no (wo)man is an island. This book wouldnt exist without the collective brainpower, intellectual courage, and ceaseless dedication of others in the fieldmany of whom are tour de forces in their own right, giants both emerging and established. Its on these shoulders that this book, and the messages within it, can stand.

Id like to thank a few shining stars who were particularly helpful in bringing Death by Food Pyramid into existencewhether by directly contributing to its birth, or by helping me stay sane long enough to deliver it.

To my gifted editor, Jessica Taylor Tudzinwithout whom Id be on my eight-hundredth rewrite of the first sentence. Thank you for your patience, your guidance, your wisdom, and your relentlessness in shattering my pathological perfectionism. Also to Mark Sisson, Brad Kearns, and the rest of the Primal Blueprint Publishing teamfor the opportunity to write this book and fulfill a dream. A special thank you to Caroline De Vita for crafting this books interior layout and to Jane Meadows for the cover design.

To Luise Light, for your courage and your legacy. Marion Nestle, Nick Mottern, Joel D. Goldstrich, Gary Taubes, Lierre Keith, Carol Tucker-Foreman, Susan Welsh, Fran Cronin, Anne Shaw, Sally Fallon, and Sara Light: thank you for generously offering your time for interviews and historical insights. And to Stephen Guyenet, Paul Jaminet, Chris Kresser, and Emily Deans, whose written work has been invaluable for piecing together the nutritional puzzles explored within these pages.

A special note of thanks goes to Dr. Chris Masterjohn for offering extensive feedback as this book evolved, sharing the impossible reams of knowledge in your brain, and being the epitome of a true scientist.

To my friend Lazarus Kauffman for reminding me to breathe.

And to my beautiful family, for intermittently housing me, feeding me, and forcing me to go to bed once in awhile.

BACK IN THE SUMMER OF 2010, several of my colleagues and old friends independently sent me links to a comprehensive and scathing critique of The China Study, a treatise cherished by the vegetarian and vegan communities for its condemnation of animal foods. The hard-hitting critique was my first encounter with Denise Mingers brilliant work.

Five years earlier I had written my own critique of The China Study. This was years before earning my doctorate in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Connecticut and beginning my career as a professional research scientist at the University of Illinois. I was just twenty-three years old at the time, fresh out of college. I had spent two of my undergraduate years as a vegetarian and later as a vegan, strictly excluding meat, fish, dairy, and eggs from my diet, believing such an extreme diet would be more healthful, ecologically sustainable, and ethically sound than one that included animal products.

Contrary to all my expectations, my health actually worsened in a multitude of ways, only to regain its ground once I began eating high-quality, nutrient-dense animal foods. My critique of The China Study, which advocated the very diet that proved in my own experience to be so crippling, was the second article I had written about health and nutrition. I have since written hundreds more, published in Wise Traditions, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and on my web site, Cholesterol-And-Health.Com, as well as other progressive health blogs such as Mother Nature Obeyed and The Daily Lipid. As of this writing, I have also published seven articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and have been invited to give thirty public lectures on nutritional topics, focused especially on my unique ideas about how nutrients interact in complex ways to promote health.

In one of the most recent of such events, my troubling experience with veganisman experience I share in common with Deniseagain came to the fore. The producers of Americas leading debate series, Intelligence Squared, invited me to debate the promises and perils of veganism in front of a live audience, moderated by ABC News Correspondent John Donvan, broadcast live on over 220 National Public Radio (NPR) stations. I joined forces for the debate with Joel Salatin, a pioneer of pasture-based farming featured prominently in Michael Pollans bestselling book, The Omnivores Dilemma. Together we challenged Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, and Dr. Neal Barnard, president and founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). The advisory board for PCRM features none other than T. Colin Campbell, Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, author of the book that Denise and I had both challenged near the beginning of our writing careers: The China Study.

From 2005 to 2010, my critique of The China Study was one of a small handful of go-to articles serving as essential reading for anyone seeking a critical analysis of the book. Once Denise released her much more extensive critique in the summer of 2010, however, it became clear that my review had served its purpose and that its time in the spotlight had come and gone. I was so wrapped up in my doctoral studies at the time that days passed between first receiving a flurry of emails urging me to read her new analysis and finally laying eyes on it. But once I began reading it, I could hardly wrest my eyes from the screen or peel my jaw from the floor.