One of the themes here is mocking experts. It's not expertise that is mocked, just experts, since so many are puffed up self important charlatans. Nowhere is this clearer than with nutrition, food and health. See this data rich post that evaluates the American dietary experience.

I'm going to show how what we've been eating has dramatically changed in the past 100 years. Most nutrition experts tell us to cut back on red meat and dairy -- and to eat white meat or fish if we must -- while increasing our intake of grains and fruits and vegetables. Since we know that obesity, type II diabetes, and the other symptoms that make up Metabolic Syndrome have been shooting up since roughly the 1970s, we can see whether our changing diet has anything to do with it.

Did we follow the experts' advice? And if so, did it do us any good? Let's see.

Yes, we did as the experts advised, especially since the 1970s. We consume less red meat, dairy and eggs, but much more poultry, fish, vegetables (especially greens), and fruit. We consume less potatoes and grains but more sugars.

To sum up, we've done everything the nutrition experts have told us to do -- and have so for decades. Aside from eating less sugar, all of these supposedly health-promoting changes began no later than 1970, with some beginning as far back as 1940. Surely that's enough time for the benefits to show up in national health statistics, right? Well, let's see what the end results of this gigantic national experiment are.

The results are more heart disease, more obesity, and more insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome illness which emerging insights even link to the rise in diseases of aging such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Does that mean that these so-called experts don't have the foggiest idea what they're talking about? Yes -- that's exactly what it means.

I doubt that eating more spinach has harmed us, obviously. The main culprits are eating more carbohydrates (potatoes, grains, and sweeteners) and eating less of the fatty animals products (red meat, dairy, and eggs). I won't go through the reasons why since, if you're reading a blog called Low Carb Art and Science, I assume you already know why.

But for those of you who, like most of us, weren't aware of how bogus the experts' advice was, here are three links that provide plenty of information in an easily understandable form:

Gary Taubes' lecture at Berkeley, where he reviews the material in his encyclopedic book Good Calories, Bad Calories.

Tom Naughton's Fat Head blog, where you can buy the DVD of Fat Head, his hilarious spoof of Supersize Me, which lays out how different types of food promote or discourage obesity, depression, and so on. The movie is currently #1 in Amazon's comedy documentary section. (Imagine that -- a documentary that isn't maudlin or obnoxiously political.)

Michael Eades' blog, where the co-author of excellent Protein Power regularly explains the science behind many health and nutrition concerns that we have, especially when new studies come out.

I would add that we have also changed the diets of meat and dairy animals, putting them on a high carb diet too, and that this is relevant since they are less healthful and nutritious than in the past. To improve your health you would need to seek out foods produced in better ways as well as changing your food selections.