It's not usual for a medical doctor to have any significant training in nutrition. In history, miracle diets, natural cures and using plants as medicine is the mark of a "quack", and real doctors rapidly distance themselves. Doctors are professionals, and they try to offer effective medicines, with scientific validation. Doctors are expected to apply standard protocols in the treatment of patients. If a dietary change is contemplated they are supposed to recommend a dietitian.
Going to a dietitian is to leave the world of science, and to enter the world of "expert opinion". Nutrition science is difficult to do, and expensive. Most studies are very constrained because of the lack of funding. There is a small cohort, limited control of what people eat, and a limited time, often as short as fourteen days.
Open Future Health has an opinion on vegetarian diets, a bias. We think that becoming a vegetarian is a serious decision, not to be undertaken lightly, and likely to harm your health. Taking this dietary trend a stage further and becoming a vegan, is likely to be very detrimental to you mental health, to the structure of your bones and teeth, and to your gut health (IBS is common.) and cause sarcopenia (Loss of strength.). In particular young women often feel compelled to become vegan's. This often leads to depression, self-abuse and eating disorders.
Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets
Vesanto Melina, MS, RD; Winston Craig, PhD, MPH, RD; Susan Levin, MS, RD, CSSD
https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(16)31192-3/fulltext#back-bib7
Abstract It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that appropriately planned vegetarian, including vegan, diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits for the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. These diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes. Plant-based diets are more environmentally sustainable than diets rich in animal products because they use fewer natural resources and are associated with much less environmental damage. Vegetarians and vegans are at reduced risk of certain health conditions, including ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain types of cancer, and obesity. Low intake of saturated fat and high intakes of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, soy products, nuts, and seeds (all rich in fiber and phytochemicals) are characteristics of vegetarian and vegan diets that produce lower total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and better serum glucose control. These factors contribute to reduction of chronic disease. Vegans need reliable sources of vitamin B-12, such as fortified foods or supplements.
American Dietary Guidelines
Adopt a rigorous scientific method.
Review the caps on saturated fat in the diet.
Making a Low Carbohydrate Diet One Approved Option
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, "The DGA has to be based on the highest standards of scientific data and analyses to reach the most robust recommendations. The steps used currently to evaluate the science are generally reasonable, but there are many ways in which the analyses need to be strengthened."
The National Academies committee identified five values to improve the integrity of the process:
•enhance transparency to engender trust in the process;
•promote diversity of expertise and experience, including stakeholders such as the public, advocacy, food sector, academia, and professional organizations;
•support a deliberative process by obtaining input from multiple types of stakeholders and by adopting a process adaptable to changes in purpose and advances in evidence;
•manage biases and conflicts of interest, both financial and non financial, to promote independence in decision making; and
•adopt state-of-the-art processes and methods, using validated, standardized processes and the most up-to-date data.
Pyramid of Evidence?
Preponderance of the evidence.
