Big Fat Nutrition Policy | Nina Teicholz

The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet

Featuring Nina Teicholz, Author, The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet; director of the Nutrition Coalition; adjunct professor, New York University Wagner School of Public Policy; moderated by Terence Kealey, Visiting Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; author, Breakfast is a Dangerous Meal: Why You Should Ditch Your Morning Meal For Health and Wellbeing.

Nina Teicholz is the investigative journalist who, in her book The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet, overturned 40 years of official dietary advice and showed that meat, cheese, and butter are nutritious and need not be avoided.

At this event, Ms. Teicholz will tell of her discovery of the systematic distortion of dietary advice by expert scientists, government and big business to the detriment of the health of Americans. She will chronicle the succession of unfortunate discoveries she made, and she will describe how the Nutrition Coalition, a non-profit, bipartisan group which she founded and directs, works to educate policy makers about the need for reform of nutrition policy so that it is evidence-based.

Want to find the Cato Institute elsewhere on the internet?

[pmarie-setz]

I work in a large hospital in Houston, TX. If you want a honey bun, bag of chips, and 20 ounce, sugary drink at 2 a.m., you'll have no problem getting them. If you want real food, you had better bring it with you. After you get finished with the vending machine, turn around to see them touting their "heart research, " advertised on the elevator door.

[NovaDoll]

One thing she didn’t talk about is our sugar intake is up 50% since the 70s. Why? Because they took all the fat out of the food. Which makes it taste bad. So they put in sugar because it taste better.

[jerricaher]

In July of 2022 I prepared myself for giving up sugar for a month. I told myself that on August 1, 2022 I wasn't going to eat sugar for 31 days. At the end of July I found out I had gluten sensitivity by reading a book and researched about it. On August 1, 2022 I gave up both gluten and sugar and I felt amazing. After 31 days of being sugar free I was finally able to admit to myself that I have a sugar addiction and decided adding sugar back into my diet was not ideal for me. I soon figured out i'm lactose intolerant, sensitive to corn. allergic to soy (crazy cuz everything have soy in it) my stomach can't tolerate seed oils and artificial sugars. All these sensitivities that I have is crazy. I'm full black and I grew up eating junk food and buying the cheapest items in the stores. I use to shop at Walmart and buy great value food products now I can't even buy great value food products because it's all full of junk that my stomach can't digest properly or soy that im allergic to. I try to educate other blacks but all I say seems to fall on death ears. My highest weight was 280 pounds two years ago and now i'm in the 160s and I dont feel like im on a diet at all I just know what I can eat and what I need to stay away from. I really enjoy eating and don't feel the need to over eat and when i'm not hungry I dont eat. I dont eat any grains, dairy, soy, sugar and flours and I feel like a million bucks.

[veeveeisallyouneed]

After 13 years of following a high starch plant-based diet both on the advice of my physician and thanks to movies like Forks Over Knives and Hungry for Change, I'm 50 lbs overweight. Since moving to a low carb, mostly meat and fat centric diet, I've already lost six inches off my waist in less than a month!!

[janeeb]

She failed to mention that Ancel Keys studied 22 countries but only used the data of 7 because that's how he " fit" his hypothesis to the data

[Lenzer]

I dropped 70+lbs and reversed my fatty liver that I had for 10+ years in about a year doing Keto, plus I’m putting muscle back on that I lost on starvations diets from the past. I also have to thank Dr. Eric Berg and Dr. Darren Schmidt for helping me to turn my health around.

[kicknadeadcat]

Does anybody else find it odd that if you eat like the food pyramid, you will look like it.

[breal]

Another thing I love about this woman... When she answers the question about her team and talks about its diversity, she's not talking about race, gender, sex orientation, etc... It's about their knowledge, skills, and background. The things that really define us, so refreshing. We need more people like her.

[fainitesbarley]

I am old enough to remember when I was little that not only hardly anybody was fat, or even plump, but when women wanted to lose a few pounds to fit their best frock better on Saturday, they stopped eating potatoes, bread, cakes and biscuits for a few days. They ate all the meat, eggs, cheese etc. These foods were considered nutritious. My mother called bread and potatoes ‘fillers’.

[LilacDaisy]

My grandad saved his children and their children ... and their children by his experience working in a margarine factory during WW2. It was such a disgusting dark-coloured and rank smelling slop that was bleached and coloured to look like butter. I grew up eating butter, unlike all my school friends in the 80s, and none of us believed the margarine ads on TV, because we knew Pa's story. I can't imagine the ailments my whole family would have today if we'd listened to the health advice of the government.


Interestingly, the people who married into the family, and refused to convert to butter, have had cancer and high cholesterol/blood pressure. I wonder ...

[TalalAlSaad]

"The American diabetes association is almost 100% supported by the pharmaceutical companies that makes insulin"

It says it all.

[MrNlichtwar]

As an 83 year old carnivore/keto man.
Glad to have seen this, why because I am constantly told I will die sooner than later…
I’m stronger feel great I can look in a mirror and see a 50-60 year old…
I do no heavy exercise but do chores etc! walking a lot…
Live in NYC a car is not necessary….

[donnamarshall]

My daughter and I just watch the documentary 1969 Woodstock and that's exactly what we noticed. Not one person at that concert was even a little bit overweight.

[Lockhart]

The medical industry is in the business of treating dis ease, it's not in their interest to prevent it. When you realize this you'll understand that doctors are not experts on nutrition.

[rykbrown]

Ask any doctor how much time was spent in medical school studying nutrition, and that will tell you everything you need to know about the true goals of the health care industry. You want to live a long and healthy life, stay the hell away from the health care, processed food, and pharmaceutical industries.

[FIRSTWORLDSTATUSBY]

Nina, I cannot even begin to tell you how much I appreciate the 10 years of your life you spent to bring us such a profound disclosure. you are my hero

[barcelonaclinic]

When I was a kid everyone cooked with lard, and there were only 2 fat boys in my town, and they were both the kids of two different bakers. So, there you have it; they ate bread every day (carbs). In this town, avocados are everywhere and we ate them daily.

[coolroy]

Alot of the stuff we were told was to help sell more corn and soybean products.
Very bad for our people.
Kellogg's got rich though.

[tensevo]

I can confirm that many "scientists" are no longer required to "distrust" themselves, but instead to double down on the position that pays the best. Real science is hard and must be held to the highest levels of scrutiny. If a study cannot be replicated then it is as good as trash.

[juliesaadwellness]

Wow! It's fascinating how so much public nutrition policy is based on nothing more than an unproven hypothesis, in fact a now disproven one! Thank you for doing this work, Nina.