Protein First: How the New Dietary Guidelines Shift Nutrition

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
The new guidelines recognize that whole nutrient-dense food is the most effective path to better health.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:07)
How would you describe why we would have guidelines, just in general?

**Dr. Donald Layman** (0:11)
I think the origins of it came out of the end of World War II, and people started getting more oriented to public health and the well-being of everyone. People realized that heart disease was a real cause of mortality, and so they started to look for reasons why. Also, during World War II, they were interested in the fact that there were a million people, men overseas, fighting a war, and they had to have some idea of how much food to send. So I think those were the two things that really brought nutrition to the forefront. How do we define what people need?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:42)
Protein and healthy fats are essential, and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines.

**Dr. Donald Layman** (0:49)
What Kennedy is saying is what we need to base our science on is well-controlled studies, and if we don't have well-controlled studies, we shouldn't make conclusive answers.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:58)
This is a monumental moment for Americans. The dietary guidelines. Dr. Donald Layman, welcome to the show. You are no stranger to this. You're probably the most frequently returning guest. Welcome.

**Dr. Donald Layman** (1:20)
It's good to be back, even on the road show.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (1:22)
This is, you know what? I think we should probably create a Dr. Don Layman and co-road show on nutrition. We're actually in DC. This is a monumental moment for Americans. The dietary guidelines, I just have chills thinking about have changed. And the listener or viewer is thinking two things right now. Wow, these guys are total nerds. Like, who cares about it? Or number two, maybe there is something more to nutrition for optimal health and that the problems that we're chasing begin on our plate as opposed to looking for more medication to change obesity and heart disease and all the other chronic diseases. With these changes, potentially with prioritizing protein, which is unbelievable, hasn't changed the original guidelines at 0.8 grams per kg. They haven't changed in over since, I mean, since ever, have they?

**Dr. Donald Layman** (2:19)
No, that's been the RDA forever. And that RDA hasn't changed, but we've highlighted the fact that an optimal range is probably about twice that, 50%, you know, 1.2 to 1.6, so 50 to 100% above the minimum.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:38)
And we're going to... And we should touch on what the old guidelines were for the people listening or watching the show that have never really spent time thinking about the dietary guidelines. Before we move to the new and improved, incredible upside-down pyramid, what were the old guidelines, roughly speaking?

**Dr. Donald Layman** (2:56)
The old guidelines, in my mind, were more about what you shouldn't eat than what you should eat. It was using the minimum protein intake of 0.8 grams per kg, which is just the minimum to prevent deficiencies. But it was about not eating cholesterol, not eating saturated fat, not eating sugar, not eating any salt-containing products. So it was all about what you shouldn't eat. They did have some guidelines about eating a variety of foods and things like that and maintaining normal weight. But really when they started structuring what people should do, it was really about avoiding anything that had fat in it and eating things that had a lot of carbohydrates.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (3:37)
Seems really counterintuitive that the guidelines, if we were to think about what the guidelines, what their use is, how would you describe why we would have guidelines just in general?

**Dr. Donald Layman** (3:48)
I think the origins of it came out of the end of World War II, and people started getting more oriented to public health and the well-being of everyone, and people realized that heart disease was a real cause of mortality. And so they started to look for reasons why. Also during World War II, they were interested in the fact that there are a million people, men overseas fighting a war, and they had to have some idea of how much food to send. So I think those were the two things that really brought nutrition to the forefront. How do we define what people need?

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (4:20)
Would you say, and I don't actually know this number, would you say that the majority of people follow the current dietary guidelines? I mean, I know that answer, but I don't know the percentage.

**Dr. Donald Layman** (4:30)
Yeah, people often ask me, what difference does the dietary guidelines make? And for the average person, none at all. They totally ignore it. Most people don't even know it exists. But the reality is they have a big impact on any group that gets any government support. So school lunch, daycares, nursing homes, even prisons or hospitals or the US military, they all have to follow these guidelines. So there's a huge impact across the nation in terms of, do these guidelines really represent a healthy way to go?