Kathryne Pirtle to Testify Today at USDA

Evolution, American Style photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

The Testimony I am Giving Today to the USDA Public Hearing on Dietary Guidelines

by Guest Blogger, Kathryne Pirtle, Author of Performance without Pain
The “new” USDA dietary guidelines are really not new at all. They continue the 60 year experiment of moving people away from nutrient-dense foods that were the foundation of our country’s rich farming history and that supported our people’s robust health. Yet, from all indications-from the record numbers of adults and children who are chronically ill, the ever increasing percentages of children with autism, ADD, ADHD and mental health disorders-the enormous statistics of infertility—our dietary guidelines are a complete failure.

I am a professional musician with a national career and strictly followed the low fat/ high fiber dictates for many years. I ate lots whole grains, salads, fruits and vegetables, a little meat and low-fat dairy and very little fat. However I suffered from 25 years of chronic pain and at age 45, a life-threatening digestive disorder. In order to not only save my career, but also save my life, I needed accurate information.

I found the truth of what really fuels the human body-real food from animals eating their natural diets-traditional fats-bone broth soups-unprocessed full-fat dairy-cultured foods-fermented cod liver oil -foods from small family farms, foods that were eaten for thousands of years—not foods produced by an industrial farming industry.

By eating a diet rich in nutrient-dense foods, I reversed my digestive disorder and intestinal damage and provided my body with the nutritional elements necessary for building health. At 53, I am now recovered and vibrantly healthy. In addition, after 25 years of chronic pain, I have had no pain or inflammation in my body for eight years even with a full performing, practicing and teaching schedule.

Children and adults throughout our country suffer from health problems that stem from following the very same dietary dictates that made me ill. Good digestion, nutrient absorption, growth and development of children, brain chemistry and hormone regulation depend on adequate traditional fats and fat-soluble vitamins that are richly available in nutrient-dense foods like butter, cream, coconut oil, full fat dairy, cheese, meat with the fat, eggs and organ meats. Yes these foods continue to be demonized even though they were a very important part of the diets of healthy people worldwide for thousands of years.

Since 2004 I have given over 70 seminars across the country speaking about building health with nutrient-dense foods. I have spoken to the general public, performing artists and families with children who have autism. In all cases it is nutrient-dense diets with adequate traditional fats that are proving to be successful in helping to reverse chronic health problems of all kinds, including brain disorders.

You can’t fool Mother Nature. Yet, the USDA Dietary Guidelines committee presents a plan to do just that. Why would a great country continue to propose health guidelines that foster degenerative illness it the majority of its population? We cannot afford to continue this type of dietary plan. With record numbers of dietary-caused illnesses, it’s time to look at healthy people for developing governmental dietary guidelines.

Our health is our wealth—our health as a nation is our wealth as a nation-and if we do not change these proposed incorrect dietary standards, our financial wealth will be destroyed along with our people. We must base our decisions on how they will affect people seven generations from now. The signs are all right in front of us—we must change our guiding principles to ones that support the highest good for all people and not merely serve the economics of commodity agriculture.

KATHRYNE PIRTLE is the clarinetist and executive director of the critically acclaimed Orion Ensemble, which tours throughout North America, presents three series each year in the Chicago metropolitan area, and performs a live, internationally broadcast series on WFMT, Fine Arts Radio in Chicago. For More Information visit www.performancewithoutpain.com

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