Full Transcript Opening the mismatch between science and the graphic 0:00 All right, stop. 0:01 One moment. 0:01 Take a look at this picture. 0:03 This is the problem. 0:04 Because the science inside the guidelines, it says the healthiest patterns that they're built on plants. 0:09 But the marketing image makes it look like you should be prioritizing meat and dairy. 0:14 That's why today I'm gonna show you exactly where the Science and the Message don't match using their own report. 0:22 And at the end, I'll give you a 20-second plant-forward scientific evidence-based version of what this graphic should have been. 0:29 I'm Dr. 0:29 Columbus Batiste, an interventional cardiologist and a lifestyle advocate. 0:33 Listen, I live in the cath lab. 0:34 Just ask my wife. 0:35 And every day nearly I treat the end result of bad nutrition, high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure. 0:43 So when the country gets a national eat this message, So here's how we're doing this today. 0:49 Real simple. 0:50 I'm going to give you three receipts from their own science. 0:53 Receipt number one, the healthiest patterns are plant forward. 0:57 Receipt Number two, The swaps you make actually matter. 1:05 its impact on cholesterol. 1:07 You ready? 1:08 Let's dig in deep. 1:09 All right, I need to be fair because there are things this guideline absolutely got right. 1:13 Number one, they finally got loud about ultra processed foods. 1:17 The salty, the sweet, ready to eat stuff that hijacks your appetite. 1:22 Second thing, take a firm stance against added sugar and sugar sweetened beverages.
What the guidelines got right 1:27 Third thing they tell people to prioritize fiber rich whole grains and cut refined carbohydrates. 1:33 And this part here, it bears a lot. 1:35 The Journal of Nutrition reported that habitual sugary drink intake has been linked with higher inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein, 1:42 which is associated with increased cardiac events. 1:45 So yes, these parts are solid. 1:48 But here's the problem. 1:48 This public-facing message sounds a bit like, eat real food. 1:52 Lots of options. 1:53 Protein at every meal. 1:54 Healthy fats. 1:55 Whole grains. 1:56 Sounds great, doesn't it? 1:57 I even I like that. 1:59 But then you see the graphic, this inverted pyramid-style image. 2:04 And the visual takeaway is protein plus dairy plus healthy fats equals the headline. 2:09 Vegetables and fruits? 2:10 Well, they're present, I think. 2:12 Oh, there they are, but not hit leading. 2:14 Whole grains? 2:15 There they, are small and quiet. 2:17 That's a huge disconnect because their scientific report, it describes a very different emphasis. 2:22 All right, so we need to go through this and dig into these receipts. 2:25 Let's start first with the research. 2:27 So when we look at the scientific reports of this 2025 dietary guidelines advisory committee, they actually do a good job of summarizing the dietary patterns 2:36 that have been linked to better health outcomes. 2:38 That's what we all care about. 2:39 And here's is what repeatedly shows up in patterns with favorable outcomes. 2:43 Higher intake of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and nuts. 2:47 Also, higher intake whole grains and sometimes fish and seafood. 2:51 But lower intake refined grains, red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and foods, as well as saturated fat.
Plant-forward patterns in the evidence 2:57 Now listen. 2:58 This is the part that should be bold in billboard material. 3:02 Because guess what? 3:03 The scientists, they graded the evidence linking these dietary patterns to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes as strong in adults. 3:11 That means the force was strong with them. 3:13 So the core pattern isn't confusing. 3:15 The dietary pattern, eat more plants, more fiber, and more legumes and nuts. 3:20 Eat less or no red meat and processed meat. 3:23 No or less sugary drinks. 3:25 Have no or least saturated fat. 3:28 All right, quick quiz. 3:29 I don't want you to overthink this. 3:31 What food group would you guess is showing up again and again as a favorable dietary eating pattern? 3:36 No, it's not steak. 3:37 It's no butter. 3:38 Is not cheese. 3:39 Its legumes, beans and peas and lentils, which brings us to our second receipt, protein. 3:45 Now the marketing summary, highlights high quality protein as if all protein is created equal. 3:50 And then it lists everything under the earth from eggs and poultry to red meat, plus beans, and lintels. 3:56 But the science gets more specific when you dig down deep inside of it. 4:00 And it talks about what happens when use swap foods. 4:03 So in their own report, they highlight that substituting red meat with plant protein sources, beans and peas, nuts and seeds and soy and lentils, 4:12 is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease morbidity. 4:16 And they gave the evidence grade as moderate, which is substantial. 4:19 They also note that substituting red meat with whole grains or vegetables is linked also with lower cardiovascular disease morbidity, 4:26 again, grade that as a moderate. 4:28 Another significant grade. 4:30 So here's my translation, the cardiologist's translation. 4:32 If you want protein at every meal, That's actually okay, right? 4:36 But the default protein in a heart protective pattern should lean plant first. 4:40 Now based on substitution research that was reviewed, here's the direction that tends to be the most heart-protective.
Protein swaps and heart health 4:47 Make your default proteins plant-based. 4:49 Beans and lentils, tofu and tempeh. 4:51 If you're not fully plant based or vegan or you are still transitioning, adopt fish or seafood as an option followed by poultry. 4:58 Now red and processed meats, they're like driving through a red light. 5:02 It's not beneficial for your overall health. 5:03 All right, this brings us to receipt number three, fats. 5:06 Now the marketing phrase, healthy fats, it gets thrown around once again in a similar fashion to protein, as if everything is equal. 5:13 But that's not the case. 5:15 And their report is clear when it compares specific foods and specific fats. 5:19 As a matter of fact, they state replacing butter with plant-based oils and spreads that are predominantly unsaturated will decrease your LDL cholesterol. 5:28 Now the advisory committee recognizes evidence as strong, right? 5:32 So read that again. 5:33 It's what we read in the ledger. 5:36 Swapping butter for plant-based oils and spreads results in your low-density lipoprotein going down. 5:42 That's not an opinion, that's fact. 5:44 that is a strong conclusion. 5:46 You might be thinking, okay doc, but listen, does that show up in real-world outcomes? 5:50 Well, it's good that you brought that up because there was a large analysis published in the Journal of American Medical Association following over 220,000 5:57 US adults for 33 years. 6:00 And they found that higher butter intake, was associated with higher mortality. 6:04 while higher plant-based oil intake was associated with a lower mortality. 6:08 And so they decided to develop this model, and they replaced about 10 grams a day of butter with plant based oils, And they found that it was associate 6:16 with 17% lower risk of death. 6:18 Now this is observational data, so it's not proof, right? 6:21 Causation and correlation, but it is a powerful signal that replacement actually matters, which you're replacing on your plate matters. 6:29 Here's the cath lab truth. 6:30 I've seen healthy looking people, fit people muscular people. 6:34 who tell me how they eat almost any and everything, but their arteries don't match their outward appearance. 6:39 Their arteries are highly blocked in disease. 6:42 So I'll tell you this, when a public graphic visually elevates butter adjacent, saturated fat heavy choices without scientific clarity on replacement,
Fats, butter, and plant oils 6:50 all that happens is confusion. 6:52 And I tell ya this confusion is not neutral. 6:55 Confusion, it costs lives. 6:57 All right, quick check in. 6:58 Real life stuff, what's your default fat that you use at home? 7:01 Be honest, you still using lard? 7:03 How about ghee? 7:04 Margarine? 7:04 Butter? 7:05 Olive oil? 7:07 Because that one replacement shows up in the science and in your labs. 7:12 Another mismatch from the dietary guidelines for America. 7:16 Written guidance, it says prioritize fiber-rich whole grains. 7:19 But the visual, whole-grains look small and secondary, hard to find them. 7:24 And here's the problem. 7:25 Most people aren't going to read the report. 7:27 They won't identify the fact that there is power in consuming whole grain. 7:31 they're going to follow the picture. 7:33 A picture is worth a thousand words. 7:35 So the pictures should make the right thing obvious. 7:38 Whole grains and legumes are foundational. 7:40 They're not optional. 7:41 Besides that, this is where I do give the Dietary Guidelines Association some credit again. 7:46 Once again, calling out that ultra processed foods and sugar sweetened beverages, it is a big deal. 7:50 And remember, sweet drinks aren't neutral. 7:52 they push your metabolism and your inflammation in the wrong direction. 7:56 If you do one thing this week after watching this video, replace your sweet drink. 8:00 Replace it with water or maybe sparkling water, a little lemon, lime and mint. 8:04 Maybe some unsweetened green tea or coffee. 8:07 Now not that coffee that you turn into a dessert with the sugar in the cream, but real coffee, black coffee That one move, 8:12 it can change your metabolic direction. 8:14 All right, so the summary document that they put out also says that chronic diseases may actually improve low carb eating. 8:21 Now, the honest truth is that can be true, but only if we stop pretending that all carbs are the same. 8:26 There are two types of carbs, there's whole food carbohydrates and there are ultra processed carbohydrates. 8:31 That's what I call garbage. 8:33 Now garbage, once again, these are carbs or carbohydrates that behave like garbage in your body. 8:38 It's the stuff that's engineered to be easy to overeat, easy-to-absorb, sweet drinks, packaged snacks, refined bakery goods.
Whole grains, sugary drinks, and low-carb nuance 8:45 And here's a key that studies are continually telling us. 8:48 Ultra-processed carbohydrates are associated with a higher chronic disease risk, while whole-food, fiber-rich carbs, like beans and intact grains, 8:56 they're protective. 8:57 Similar magnitude, opposite directions. 8:59 So when someone tells me, doc, I'm going low carb. 9:02 I've cut out carbs. 9:03 My first question is, what exactly are you cutting out? 9:05 Are you getting garbage or are cutting beans and greens and oats? 9:10 Because those are not the same move. 9:12 If low-carb means fewer sugary drinks and refined snacks, that is tremendous. 9:16 It low car means you're ditching fiber rich foods and you are replacing them with saturated heavy fat choices. 9:23 Now you trading one risk for the other. 9:25 Carb quantity matters for some people, but carb quality it matters for everyone. 9:30 All right, quick moment. 9:31 Choose your move. 9:33 If you're going low carb or you've gone low-carb, what have you or are you replacing those carbs with? 9:38 More vegetables and legumes or more cheese and butter? 9:41 Now that replacement, it determines whether your labs are going to improve or your risk shifts sideways. 9:47 So here's a clean close the loop, right? 9:49 Their science back patterns are plant-forward. 9:52 High vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, lower bread and processed meat, sugary drinks, refined grains, and saturated fat. 9:59 There's substitution evidence it favors plant based swaps. 10:02 Red meat for plant protein, whole grains or vegetables is linked with lower cardiovascular disease mortality. 10:08 Fat science? 10:09 It's clear. 10:09 Swapping butter for plant oils, it will lower your LDL and there is strong evidence to support this as well as evidence that support a lower mortality 10:18 when we swap butter with plant-based oils. 10:20 But I'll tell you what, that visual depiction, It doesn't lead with legumes and whole grains. 10:25 It leads with protein, dairy, and fats as the headline. 10:28 And it makes you question what is the truth, but we've just uncovered what the true is. 10:32 The science is, build the pattern around plants. 10:35 The graphic implies, lead with animal products. 10:38 That contradiction? 10:39 That's the whole problem. 10:40 So the graphic has to match the science. 10:43 Period. 10:44 Alright, here's that 20 second version, I promise. 10:47 Here's how to apply the best science without getting trapped in the graphic.
Closing summary and plant-forward takeaway 10:50 Just make half your plate with vegetables and fruit. 10:52 Put one quarter legumes or soy, talking about beans and lentils, tofu, tempeh, another quarter whole grains, oats, brown rice, 10:59 quinoa, or maybe even a starchy vegetable like a purple potato, depending on your goals. 11:03 Add in some seed-based dressings or olive oil to top it off to get that flavor. 11:08 and then transform your drink from sugary beverages to water-based drinks. 11:12 And if you want a simple weekly scorecard, make sure you get in beans on a daily basis, eliminate the sweet drinks, and try to incorporate whole grain 11:20 meals throughout the day. 11:21 If you do that consistently, you're aligned with the dietary patterns repeatedly associated with better outcomes. 11:27 All right, quick safety note. 11:28 You can't forget this. 11:29 Always consult with your provider. 11:31 Make sure you're engaging in shared decision-making because I'll tell you what, we work for you, you don't work us. 11:36 And remember this, if you have chest pain, don' self-diagnose, get evaluated. 11:40 All right, last, I want you to drop a comment. 11:41 Now, do you think the national graphics should show beans and vegetables at the top? 11:45 Since that's what the evidence keeps supporting, type in yes or no. 11:48 No, i'm not here to erase your culture or your traditions. 11:52 I'm here help you build new traditions surrounding health-promoting foods that can help lower your health risk. 11:58 Mainly, so you can stay out with my calf lab. 12:00 All right, I want you to always remember, if you want to go fast, go alone. 12:04 If you wanna go far, together. 12:06 Let's go together by building healthier hearts and stronger communities. 12:10 So like it, share it. 12:12 Send it save a life. 12:13 I'll see you next time.
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