For decades Americans have been told to consume less animal products and eggs because fat and cholesterol were allegedly “bad” for their health.  But that advice turned out to be wrong, and it bears keeping in mind as the some of the same activists who promoted the advice are at it again.

The 2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has once again come out with recommendations on what we should avoid and some of it is based more on personal beliefs rather than what science tells us about nutrition. Advice on salt, meat and sugar have been assailed as based on unsound research – or even worse, no research at all.

Now, a growing number of nutrition experts have been speaking out to warn the public about the danger of repeating the inaccurate advice of the past.

"Every week in my nutrition practice, I see children and adults who have been negatively impacted by the government's low-saturated fat nutrition dogma," registered dietitian Pam Schoenfeld said in a statement to the Weston A. Price Foundation. "As a nation, we must end this population-wide nutritional experiment we call the Dietary Guidelines.  It is clearly failing."

Why would public health officials and researchers oversimplify nutrition science – which may be well-intentioned – and make recommendations on “bad” or low-quality science?

As Adele Hite, nutritionist and director of Healthy Nation Coalition, states, "They want to enforce a diet that will result in poor health for many Americans. The DGAC expects us to eliminate foods that are traditionally found in nourishing dietary patterns. Instead, the federal government should focus on recommendations that help all Americans acquire adequate essential nutrition. "

We agree. We’ve said it before: only recommendations that are based on the totality of scientific evidence will provide real world dietary guidance that is achievable. We can’t categorize foods into “good” or “bad.”  It all comes down to balance and moderation.