This Brownstone article proposes an official health agency devoted to pushing dietary fads. The article starts with one valid point. Since 1920 the medical establishment has ignored basic aspects of health like diet, exercise, confidence, and sunlight, focusing EXCLUSIVELY on adding more pills. Doctors will rarely tell you to eat less and walk more.
But the author runs off the track into the usual GMO and gluten and vegan fads, showing the usual OCD obsession. If we set up an agency to push those fads, it would instantly behave the same way as the other monstrous “health” agencies, locking down and starving everyone who tests positive for one molecule of gluten or one suspiciously animal-derived protein.
In fact we already have two agencies in charge of monitoring diet. The Dept of Ag and the FDA. The movement that led to the FDA was partly inspired by unsanitary conditions, and partly by a dislike of ultraprocessed foods.
This 1910 book by Ellen Richards was part of the movement that led to the FDA. Richards laid out the difference in a clear way, distinguishing between sophisticated foods and adulterated foods. At that time adulterated foods were the bigger problem, as many food companies added water or sawdust or more toxic ingredients to accomplish shrinkflation. Richards understood, long before it was officially described, that our entire body needs to WORK for its living. Digestive enzymes and gut bacteria are meant to CHEW UP fibers to derive nutrients. When we pre-chew the food, the gut runs wild trying to do its job on an input that doesn’t need chewing.
Unfortunately the FDA concentrated mainly on adulteration, which was the chief failure at that time. The USDA tries to deal with sophistication, especially in school lunches and food stamp regulations, but those are limited to part of the population.
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