The success story in Finland shows that science-based dietary guidelines can save millions of lives.
Dietary Guidelines: From Dairies to Berries
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Why do we care what the federal Dietary Guidelines say? Well, the Guidelines do “direct how billions of dollars are spent in programs like the School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Food Stamp Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children [WIC].” More importantly, though, is their potential to turn this country’s health around.
After World War II, Finland joined us in packing on the meat, eggs, and dairy. By the 1970s, the mortality rate from heart disease of Finnish men was the highest in the world. They didn’t want to die, so they got serious. Heart disease is caused by high cholesterol; high cholesterol is caused by high saturated fat intake; so, the main focus of the strategy was to reduce the high saturated fat intake. So that means basically cheese and chicken, cake and pork.
So, a berry project was launched to help dairy farmers make a switch to berry farming. Whatever it took! And indeed, many farmers did switch from dairies to berries. They pitted villages against each other in friendly cholesterol-lowering competitions, to see who could do the best for prizes.
So how’d they do? On a population scale, look, even if mortality rates drop 5%, you could still save thousands of lives. But remarkably great changes took place.
An 80% drop in cardiac mortality across the entire country. “With greatly reduced cardiovascular and cancer mortality the all cause mortality was reduced about 45%, leading to greater life expectancy: approximately 7 years for men and 6 years for women.” That’s what real dietary guidance can do.
Now vying for the world record heart disease death rates: the United States of America.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Peter Mellor.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Herman J. 2010. Saving U.S. Dietary Advice From Conflicts of Interest. Food and Drug Law Journal 65(20):285-316.
- Ovcarov V, Bystrova V. Present trends in mortality in the age group 35–64 in selected developed countries between 1950–73. World Health Stat. Quart. 1978; 31: 208.
- Keenan NL and KM Shaw. 2011. CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report — United States, 2011.
- Pekka P, Pirjo P, Ulla U. Influencing public nutrition for non-communicable disease prevention: from community intervention to national programme--experiences from Finland. Public Health Nutr. 2002 Feb;5(1A):245-51.
- Puska, P. Successful prevention of noncommunicable diseases: 25 year experiences with North Karelia Project in Finland. Public Health Medicine 2002; 4(1):5-7.
- Puska P. 2011. Lessons from North Karelia. Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases Seminar, Helsinki.
Image thanks to foxypar4 / Flickr
Why do we care what the federal Dietary Guidelines say? Well, the Guidelines do “direct how billions of dollars are spent in programs like the School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Food Stamp Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children [WIC].” More importantly, though, is their potential to turn this country’s health around.
After World War II, Finland joined us in packing on the meat, eggs, and dairy. By the 1970s, the mortality rate from heart disease of Finnish men was the highest in the world. They didn’t want to die, so they got serious. Heart disease is caused by high cholesterol; high cholesterol is caused by high saturated fat intake; so, the main focus of the strategy was to reduce the high saturated fat intake. So that means basically cheese and chicken, cake and pork.
So, a berry project was launched to help dairy farmers make a switch to berry farming. Whatever it took! And indeed, many farmers did switch from dairies to berries. They pitted villages against each other in friendly cholesterol-lowering competitions, to see who could do the best for prizes.
So how’d they do? On a population scale, look, even if mortality rates drop 5%, you could still save thousands of lives. But remarkably great changes took place.
An 80% drop in cardiac mortality across the entire country. “With greatly reduced cardiovascular and cancer mortality the all cause mortality was reduced about 45%, leading to greater life expectancy: approximately 7 years for men and 6 years for women.” That’s what real dietary guidance can do.
Now vying for the world record heart disease death rates: the United States of America.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Peter Mellor.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Herman J. 2010. Saving U.S. Dietary Advice From Conflicts of Interest. Food and Drug Law Journal 65(20):285-316.
- Ovcarov V, Bystrova V. Present trends in mortality in the age group 35–64 in selected developed countries between 1950–73. World Health Stat. Quart. 1978; 31: 208.
- Keenan NL and KM Shaw. 2011. CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report — United States, 2011.
- Pekka P, Pirjo P, Ulla U. Influencing public nutrition for non-communicable disease prevention: from community intervention to national programme--experiences from Finland. Public Health Nutr. 2002 Feb;5(1A):245-51.
- Puska, P. Successful prevention of noncommunicable diseases: 25 year experiences with North Karelia Project in Finland. Public Health Medicine 2002; 4(1):5-7.
- Puska P. 2011. Lessons from North Karelia. Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases Seminar, Helsinki.
Image thanks to foxypar4 / Flickr
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Dietary Guidelines: From Dairies to Berries
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Content URLDoctor's Note
Be sure to check out all my other videos on dietary guidelines and heart health. And be sure not to miss my blog post: Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board accused of making illegally deceptive claims.
Also check out my related blog posts for more context: Eating To Extend Our Lifespan; Dietary Guideline Graphics: From the Food Pyramid to My Plate, Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate, and PCRM’s Power Plate; Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk; Avoiding Dairy to Prevent Parkinson’s; Industry Influence on Dietary Guidelines; and Raspberries Reverse Precancerous Lesions.
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