Griffin Hospital doctor: Competing claims of 'best' diet unjustified

DERBY - At a time when best-selling diet books about weight and health routinely refute both the conventional wisdom and one another, an article in the Annual Review of Public Health asserts that such claims are almost entirely unsubstantiated.
Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center at Griffin Hospital  reviewed several hundred primary research papers for the article entitled “Can We Say What Diet Is Best for Health?”
“The basic theme of optimal eating for human health and weight control is very strongly supported by a vast and diverse literature,” Katz said. 

David Katz, M.D.

“But arguments about the best variant on that theme are mostly unfounded, sometimes utter nonsense, and often about attempts to sell something to a public that is particularly gullible on this topic. Most of the competing claims about diet invoke either a particular scapegoat or panacea, and that seems to conform to the prevailing variety of wishful thinking.”
Katz, who is also the editor-in-chief of Childhood Obesity and President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, cited more than 150 research papers in the article’s bibliography. For his work on the third edition of his textbook, Nutrition in Clinical Practice, now in production, he reviewed thousands.
“From altitude, it’s pretty clear that Michael Pollan pretty much nailed the description of an optimal diet when he recommended eating ‘food, not too much, mostly plants.’ But importantly, that theme can be represented by a diet low or high in fat, low or high in carbohydrate, lower or higher in protein,” Katz said.
“It can be represented by a Mediterranean diet, a traditional Asian diet, a Paleo diet, a vegetarian diet, or a vegan diet. If any one of these is ‘best’ we lack the evidence to say so; there are, not surprisingly, no lifelong studies that randomly assigned people to optimized vegan or Paleo diets. Who would sign up?”
Katz also refutes the currently popular concept that wheat or grains are particularly to blame for weight or health problems.
“People with celiac disease or lesser forms of gluten sensitivity clearly need to avoid gluten and its sources, just as people with peanut allergies need to avoid peanuts. But whole grains figure in the diets of some of the longest-lived, healthiest people on the planet, as highlighted by the Blue Zones project,” he said.
“Like most other competing claims about diet, these seem convincing because the authors only cite the work that supports their point of view, ignoring a vast literature that refutes it.”
Katz, who serves on the panel of judges for US News & World Report’s annual “best diet” release, has published a total of 15 books, and roughly 200 peer-reviewed articles.
“I think it’s very important that I don’t have a dog in this fight,” Katz said. “I don’t really care which diet is best - I care about the truth. My own work over the years hasn’t been about advancing a particular diet, but rather keeping up with the relevant science to know what diet is best - and then doing all I can to help people get there from here. This article was very important to me because competing claims and the confusion they propagate actually forestall progress in public health nutrition. The more time and effort spent on ‘my diet can beat your diet,’ the less time and effort devoted to claiming the common ground of healthful eating. We are not clueless about the basic care and feeding of Homo sapiens, but the way we carry on, we might as well be.”
About the Annual Review Public Health:
The Annual Review of Public Health, in publication since 1980, covers significant developments in the field of Public Health, including key developments in epidemiology and biostatistics, environmental and occupational health, issues related to social environment and behavior, health services, and public health practice. For more information, visit www.annualreviews.org/journal/publhealth.
About the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center:
The Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center (PRC) was established in 1998 through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of 37 such centers nationwide representing academic/community partnerships, the PRC is engaged in interdisciplinary applied prevention research in collaboration with community partners, federal, state, and local health and education agencies, and other universities. The goal of the PRC is to develop innovative approaches to health promotion and disease prevention that will directly benefit the public's health, first locally, and then nationally. For more information, please visit www.yalegriffinprc.org.
About Dr. David Katz:
David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, is the founding director of The Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center. 
Recipient of numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate and nominations for U.S. Surgeon General, Katz is recognized globally for expertise in nutrition, weight management and chronic disease prevention.


This is a press release from Griffin Hospital.

Yale-Griffin center director named to influential list

For 2nd consecutive year

DERBY - David L. Katz, MD, MPH, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, was recently named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness by Greatist.com for the second year in a row.

David L. Katz

Greatist.com, an online health and fitness source that appeals to the young, savvy, and social, selects innovators who revolutionize the way others think about health and wellness. 

This year’s list includes Dr. Oz, First Lady Michelle Obama, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chef Jamie Oliver, food journalist Mark Bittman, food policy expert Dr. Marion Nestle, food writer Michael Pollan, and natural health educator Dr. Andrew  Weil.

'Nutrition trailblazer'

Katz ranked 13^th on this year’s list, on which he was called a “nutrition trailblazer.” Last year, he was ranked 19^th.

Katz, a board-certified preventive medicine physician, is a recognized thought leader in nutrition, chronic disease prevention/health promotion, weight management, and integrative medicine. 

He has been named one of America’s Top Physicians in Preventive Medicine three times by the Consumer’s Research Council of America. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Childhood Obesity President-Elect of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, founder and President of the non-profit Turn the Tide Foundation, and medical director for the Integrative Medicine Center at Griffin Hospital. 

He is the principal inventor of the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System used in thousands of supermarkets across the country, which scores foods on a scale from 1-100 based on nutritional value to help consumers make healthier purchases.

Katz is the founding director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, which is affiliated with Yale University’s School of Public Health. 

For the last 15 years, he has overseen a team that conducts a mix of community-based and clinical research. His team is currently searching for the minimal dose of cocoa that can provide “heart-healthy” benefits, studying the health effects of walnuts on people with diabetes and the health effects of eggs on people at-risk for diabetes, and comparing snacks for their effects on satiety. 

They are partnering with two universities on a study – funded by the National Institutes of Health – to investigate the impact of massage on people with osteoarthritis of the knee. They are also partnering with four school districts in the Naugatuck Valley to promote health and prevent obesity among their students and families. 

In addition to providing nutrition and physical activity programs, they are helping school food service directors in two of the school districts to evaluate the impact of the NuVal system on students’ food selections in school cafeterias and vending machines.

Katz has also authored or co-authored 15 books, including textbooks in nutrition and preventive medicine and a new book titled Disease-Proof: The Remarkable Truth About What Makes Us Well. 

He also has published nearly 200 scientific articles and textbook chapters and nearly 1,000 newspaper articles. 

He is a blogger/medical review board member for the Huffington Post, a health contributor to US News & World Report, one of the original 150 ‘thought leader’ Influencer bloggers for LinkedIn; and a health writer for Everyday Health.

This is a press release from Griffin Hospital.