The fact that most medical doctors are not well informed about proper nutrition is really not their fault. The majority of their time in medical school is reserved for learning how to diagnose many different diseases and what types of medications or treatments to prescribe to combat those dis- eases. Therefore they must depend on the information they read in jour- nals and publications outside of their normal education. No medical doctor would disagree with the statement that proper diet and exercise are good for you. Unfortunately, much of the information they've been reading about proper diet is based on studies financed by the food industry. The food industry has made hundreds of millions and prob- ably into the billions of dollars off the American public with this low-fat, nonfat diet craze. How many people do you know who have had high cholesterol and were told by their physicians to cut out foods containing fat? How many people do you know who cut out fat and actually lowered their cholesterol levels? Probably not many. Normally physicians are so busy diagnosing and treating their patients that they don't have the time to consult on proper nutrition. That's why they refer their patients to dieticians and nutritionists. In fact, about 30 to 40 percent of my patient referrals come from medical doctors. Unfortunately, the majority of dieticians and nutritionists still believe the same misinformation about the high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, much of which has been promoted by the present United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid. Therefore their results with most patients are poor at best, and eventu- ally the patients get frustrated and abandon all hope of gaining control of their health through diet and exercise. Reevaluating the Food Guide Pyramid The USDA Food Guide Pyramid has been taught in schools and seen in brochures and on food labels since 1992. It was originally developed to give Americans dietary guidelines to help them make better food choices. Unfortunately, despite being a great graphic representation, the informa- tion on this pyramid doesn't reflect a healthy, balanced way of eating. That's because, as previously mentioned, it was based on flawed and biased scientific evidence. The shape of the pyramid is a great way to illustrate which foods should be eaten in higher quantities and which to consume more sparingly, but let's take a closer look at its present recommendations to reveal its flaws. * Bread, Cereal, Rice & Pasta Group (6-11 servings): High- glycemic carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, rice, and pasta, should never be considered a fundamental part of our diets. The USDA's recommendation of six to eleven servings per day borders on the dangerous, and the original reason for placing them in the base of the pyramid was to fill people up. This was meant to keep us from eating too much fat. Unfortunately, the message when the food pyramid was created in 1992 was that fat was the culprit in causing overweight and disease.