this is nothing new and is very likely happening all over the world
the Aus Govt trying to sell the public on health benefits of wheat based 'grain fibre' breakfast cereals
“It’s just madness and lazy politics to allow a cereal company to fund a health study and promote it as government advice” … “This means that the main evidence relied upon for the Australian Kellogg’s report is another Kellogg’s report”.
Recently, I challenged the conventional dietary advice recommended to people with Type-2 diabetes, saying it was likely to worsen the disease. Specifically, I was critical of health authorities recommending a ‘low fat diet’ based on carbohydrate-rich foods like whole grains, breads, pasta and cereals.
These foods are marketed on the benefits of high fibre and therefore inherit a ‘health halo’ but in reality, foods like whole grain cereals and bread are simply broken down to ‘glucose’, making it virtually impossible for diabetics to control their blood glucose levels without medications.
Suffice to say, it was disappointing to see the Assistant Minister for Health, David Gillespie release a statement last week, encouraging people to eat more “grain” fibre to reduce their risk of type-2 diabetes and heart disease, claiming a new study showed it could save “the economy almost $3.3 billion in healthcare and lost productivity costs”.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/kelloggs ... th-policy/UK Obesity researcher Dr Zoe Harcombe penned a full critique the report, exposing some embarrassing flaws. Dr Harcombe was concerned that it relied heavily on one study, which was also funded by Kellogg’s saying “This means that the main evidence relied upon for the Australian Kellogg’s report is another Kellogg’s report”.
The fatal flaw in the study is where the authors presumed that an “association” between grain fibre and chronic disease somehow proved “causation” by calculating the number of people who would not develop disease, thereby saving the economy millions.
Dr Harcombe said “We know from the characteristics of participants in all dietary studies that people who eat fruit, vegetables and whole grains also tend to be non-smokers, non or moderate drinkers, exercisers, educated, and have a lower Body Mass Index”. Therefore, pinpointing the exact reason for why they are ‘healthier’ cannot be attributed to their grain fibre intake.