178: My Thoughts on the New Nutrition Scoring System

The Funk'tional Nutrition Podcast

We’ve been fed a lot of wack nutrition advice over the years⁣.

When I saw the new Tufts Food Compass scoring system claiming that Lucky Charms is healthier than eggs I nearly pooped my pants - like the time I ate too many Fat Free Lay’s chips (remember Olestra? Remember in the 90s when they told us that fat was bad but poop-your-pants fake fat was good?!)⁣

Today on the podcast I am giving you my thoughts on the “new tool” developed by Tufts to help consumers, food companies, restaurants, and cafeterias choose and produce healthier(?) foods and officials to make public nutrition policy.

TL;DL (too long; didn’t listen)

These scores aren’t perfect and they continue to vilify certain nutrients & foods (like fats & meats), which can have negative health consequences.

In this episode:

-The new “food compass” and why we need to talk about this [1:04]

-What is the new Food Compass, who it’s for, and potential uses for it [8:41]

-How these food scores are created [11:42]

-Looking at sugar and fiber levels within the scoring system [14:34]

-Foods that score high vs low on the scoring system and why this is a problem [19:13]

-The perplexing scoring behind Lucky Charms [25:27]

-Why is meat being vilified in this scoring system? [28:57]

-Spotlighting the connection between mental health and meat consumption [31:58]

-The nutrition benefits found in meat versus veggies [38:44]

-Health benefits of cholesterol, including brain and hormone health [41:28]

-Problems linked with low hormone levels [43:09]

-The health importance of minerals [44:19]

Resources mentioned:

FOR OUR FULL LIST OF LINKS + RESOURCES, HEAD TO: https://www.erinholthealth.com/funktional-nutrition-podcast/2021/10/25/episode-178-my-thoughts-on-the-new-nutrition-scoring-system