Milling & Baking News - December 19, 2017 - 7

Editorial

Systems science and the next Dietary Guidelines

o the degree compliance is the ultimate mea- disease. While research suggests excessive intake of
sure of success for the Dietary Guidelines for saturated fat may lead to lipid deposits within blood
Americans, the performance of the government vessel walls leading to a cascade of responses culmirecommendations would certainly receive a failing nating in heart disease and potentially death, the group
grade. Even amid evidence that the science underpin- notes there are many intermediate physiological steps
ning the Guidelines is stronger than ever, more than and "potentially modifying factors" that are important
90 per cent of Americans fail to consistently follow the to track before definitive conclusions may be reached.
D.G.A. Widespread confusion about and skepticism The same may be said about the associations between
toward often contradictory dietary advice contribute chronic disease and flour-based foods.
to the gaping difference between the Guidelines and
The field of systems science has blossomed thanks
the public's eating habits.
to advances in computing systems and computational
Recognizing that something is amiss, the National methods and capabilities, the N.A.S. says. A vigorous
Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine advocate for a systems approach has been Bruce Y.
has published two reports in recent
Lee, an associate professor at the
months with recommendations to
The N.A.S. believes systems Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
revamp the process for establishing
Public Health in Baltimore.
science will clarify the
the Dietary Guidelines. Several of
"The tendency in the past has
connection of diet and
the recommendations are of great
been to look at things in a very bichronic disease.
interest to grain-based foods. If the
nary manner," Dr. Lee said. "This
changes will bring still greater scientific rigor to the food is associated with disease, so it's bad. Or this is
process, the recommendations should be embraced.
not associated with disease, and it's good. That's not
Amid the N.A.S. recommendations is a distinction how life works. That's certainly not how nutrition
between eating as a means toward nutrient delivery works. Systems approaches help better understand
and more complex and poorly-understood effects eat- connections and risk, and I think there is the potential
ing has on health. The report advocates systems-level of a lot more clarity if systems approaches are used. If
approaches to the study of nutrition with the hope we don't, there is almost certain risk of continuing to
of "elucidating the interactions and pathways (e.g., think of nutrition in a binary manner."
biological, behavioral, social and environmental) inHow much time would elapse before such an apvolved in complex relationships, such as the relation- proach yields measurable results is difficult to preship between diet and health." More specifically, the cisely pinpoint, Dr. Lee says, but he predicted progN.A.S. believes systems science will clarify the con- ress would be recognizable as early as the 2020 Guidenection of diet and chronic disease.
lines with an even more significant impact by 2025. A
An approach used with success in recent years in precise understanding of the connection between eatfields as disparate as transportation and meteorology, ing and chronic disease may take considerably longer.
systems approaches will require something of a "culIt is impossible to predict what kind of recommentural shift" for the D.G.A., requiring researchers to be- dations, positive or less so, would be generated from
gin their inquiries with a systems map and model to systems approaches with regard to grain-based foods.
begin charting relationships and potential mechanisms Given the industry's longstanding commitment to sciconnecting food with a health outcome. An iterative ence-based recommendations, its fundamental confiprocess, the model would be used to establish research dence in the healthfulness of grains and the negative
priorities and guide data collection and interpretation. default position toward bread already assumed by so
As a hypothetical example of a topic that may benefit many consumers as well as those in the media and
from a systems approach, the N.A.S. cited the potential academia, the clarity that may result from systems apconnection between saturated fat and coronary artery proaches is worth exploring. MBN
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