Continued from Home Page . . .

Comments by Dr. Hans Diehl for the hearings in regards to the proposed 2010 Dietary Guidelines to be made on July 8 in Washington, DC before the USDA and HHS

I am Dr. Hans Diehl, the founder and director of the Coronary Health Improvement Project, better known as the CHIP Program. With over 50,000 graduates and with clinical results published in 17 journal articles, the CHIP program has clearly demonstrated that better dietary and lifestyle choices can consistently and markedly improve the level of health as measured by the level and presence of coronary risk factors and by reductions in medication requirements and healthcare costs. 

CHIP is an intensive, 40-hour educational lifestyle intervention program offered in communities, corporations and in hospitals. Here participants are encouraged to get into a daily 30-minute exercise program and to move towards a largely unrefined plant-food centered diet. With its emphasis on "whole foods", this diet is centered more on the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain products, legumes and some seeds and nuts. It is a diet that is high in fiber and nutritional density, is moderate yet plentiful in protein, yet low in caloric density, fat, animal protein, sugar and salt and virtually free of cholesterol. The success of the CHIP program aiming at cultural transformation in the community, hospital and workplace has been extraordinary. For instance, with nearly 5,000 CHIP graduates in the City of Rockford in Illinois, over 25 restaurants are now offering at least 5 CHIP approved health-supportive menus, and they are doing well. 

By utilizing a special, evidence-based 16 health lecture series on video and delivering the program in groups from 20 to 500 people, and providing coronary risk assessments before and after the program, certified CHIP teams active in many cities are providing education, motivation and inspiration for people to adapt a healthier diet and lifestyle in a most cost effective manner. 

That's why I am especially pleased to read this draft of the Dietary Guidelines. This is the most progressive report to date and reflective of where the science is today. At last, it informs people of the dietary changes needed to move towards health and the prevention of chronic diseases and towards treating their causes and not just their symptoms.  

It is my sincere hope that the drafting of the final 2010 Dietary Guidelines will be characterized by the same integrity and adherence to scientific evidence that brought us the current report. Only then, and by educating and motivating the people towards making wiser choices in diet and exercise will be able to reverse the trends of epidemic rates of preventable and often reversible diseases, such as overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, essential hypertension, depression, heart disease, and some adult cancers. We will never do it by relying on more pills and more procedures. This desperately needed paradigm shift, however, demands courage and integrity of those who shape policy and the future of our people and of our nation.