Avoiding the statistics

I think the real question is: Why has it taken so long? Clearly I am going to add the same sentiment that we all hear on a regular basis, everything has changed and nothing will likely go back to the way it was. So with that said, I know I could address so many topics in that regard but I choose the one I feel needs the most discussion.

The challenge of aging and maintaining a healthy immune system, while not being one of those at high risk from COVID-19—if you choose.

I say COVID-19 “if you choose” because hasn’t that always been the case? Clearly there is no difference in the past 20 years with elderly and challenged immune systems and influenza B, which causes 60,000 to die annually. Instead we are suddenly focusing on awareness and the media portrayal of a “pandemic” through COVID-19.

I am on this path because of two radio conversations I have had in the past week. One of them took place with friends of mine in the dairy business in the United States and the United Kingdom. Honestly, I just cannot get my head around the million gallons of milk being dumped in both countries today. We have clear and exact science that shows the avenue to improving your immune system is an increase in whole milk consumption. In fact, the country of China has actually issued a directive to the Chinese people to basically increase milk consumption three-fold based on that science.

The second conversation was with Nina Teicholz, author of the book The Big Fat Surprise and executive director of The Nutrition Coalition. She has been on the front lines of the battle for using sound, rigorous science as the driver in this year’s re-evaluation of the federal dietary guidelines. This group of university “experts” continues to show their bias against milk, meat and eggs instead of even looking at the science. Teicholz tells us that these experts claim that they can’t find any science supporting the importance of protein and fat consumption, and I would suggest that they would have to look for it before they should expect to find it instead of keeping their agenda-driven blinders on at the expense of the health of our nation.

I have attempted to be a voice in the wilderness about the troubled dietary guidelines but in all honesty I have always tied it to the school nutrition program and how it puts our kids on a path of starvation and depredation. The truth of the matter is that it equally puts our aging population in the same crosshairs. The science is there—why are we ignoring it? What is their hidden motive?

I don’t even want to know how many of you reading this have visited with your doctor and he or she suggested that you reduce your protein and fat consumption.

Earlier this year, the Nutrition Coalition released a statement on the importance of saturated fat in your diet to stave on chronic disease:

Numerous recent meta-analyses of both controlled randomized trials and observational studies have found no significant evidence for effects of saturated fat consumption on cardiovascular or total mortality. Furthermore, there is evidence that saturated-fat intake may be associated with a lower risk of experiencing a stroke.

It should be of great concern to all of us that, as our population ages, the number of signals from medical doctors to reduce our consumption of red meat and fats is continually increasing. Clearly the science shows that the exact opposite is true. As we age, we need to increase our consumption of red meat and fats as a percentage of our total dietary intake.

The Nutrition Coalition is quick to point out that since 1980 in the U.S. population, grain consumption has increased by 40% and red meat consumption has decreased by 28%. Within that, beef consumption is down by 35%. As those dramatic shifts have taken place, the rate of chronic illness and immune challenges have grown significantly. A medical doctor should be able to read that data and give you an accurate diagnosis.

At the end of the day, it seems to be way past the time to get back to the basics in all areas of our life: More time with those that really matter, more foods like my grandparents used to eat and the best medicine of all, more time playing in the dirt. It is my diagnosis that those who have done these things will be far less likely to be listed as one of the grim statistics of this pandemic.

Editor’s note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].