U.S.

Dietary Guidelines
Why aren’t they telling us to eat like a pig?

Eric P. Berg
2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines
Schedule
Eating “Red” Meat
Eating “Red” Meat
 What
challenges
face the 2020
DGAC?
What is “meat”?
AMSA Meat Science Lexicon
 AMSA Meat Science Lexicon
Meat was defined as:
• “Skeletal muscle and its associated
tissues derived from mammalian, avian,
reptilian, amphibian, and aquatic species
commonly harvested for human
consumption. Edible offal consisting of
organs and non-skeletal muscle tissues
also are considered meat.”
 AMSA Meat Science Lexicon
Red and White Meat
• The USDA differentiates livestock (red meat
species) from poultry (white meat species) based
on meat inspection regulations for livestock (1906)
and for poultry (1957).
• The terms were not developed for scientific usage.
• The committee observed that these terms were
originally created to describe and differentiate
meat from livestock and avian species.
 AMSA Meat Science Lexicon
Processed Meats
• Minimal processing was defined as:
• any process where raw, uncooked meat products
have not been significantly altered compositionally
and contain no added ingredients, but may have
been reduced in size by fabrication, mincing,
grinding, and/or a meat recovery system.
 AMSA Meat Science Lexicon
Processed Meats
• Further processing was defined as:
• any process where meat products undergo a
transformation, beyond minimal processing,
containing approved ingredients, and may be
subjected to a preservation or processing step(s)
through the application of salting, curing,
fermentation, thermal processing (smoking and/or
cooking), batter/breading, or other processes to
enhance sensory, quality, and safety attributes.
 AMSA Meat Science Lexicon
Cell Cultured/ in vitro Meats
• To be considered meat, these products must be
comparable in composition and sensory
characteristics to meat derived naturally from
animals. In particular, the essential amino and
fatty acid composition, macro and micro nutrient
content and processing functionality should meet
or exceed those of conventional meat.
Sustainable Food Systems
Sustainable Food Systems ?
https://www.nap.edu/read/24637/chapter/1
Obesity in America
 Obesity-related disorders

• 18.8 million diabetics (8.3% of U.S. population)

• 7 million undiagnosed
• 79 million “are thought to possess symptoms”
of pre-diabetes
American Diabetes Association, 2011

46.3%
Population Consumption Trends
• What makes us fat/diabetic?
– Meat, Eggs, Dairy?
– Fast Food?
– Total Calories?
– Sedentary lifestyle?
– All of the above?
Population Consumption Trends

74%
starch &
sugar
Pigs as a Model for Humans
Anatomy & Physiology
 AA intake of 8 year old boy
% of req.
120

98
100 g rice + 55 g beans
100
82
80 75
65 65
58 61
60
48 45
40

20

0
His Ile Leu Lys SAA AAA Thr Trp Val

H. H. Stein
 AA intake of 8 year old boy
% of req. 100 g rice + 55 g soy flour
180 168
161
160 155
138
140
117 119 116
120
104
97
100
80
60
40
20
0
His Ile Leu Lys SAA AAA Thr Trp Val

H. H. Stein
Essential Amino Acids (EAA)
 DIETARY IMBALANCE
Humans OVER-index the carbs and
UNDER-consume essential amino acids

• What would happen if domestic pigs were

fed like humans ate?
• Pig diets are balanced for amino acids
(AA are treated as an individual nutrient)
 Lysine Deficient Pigs
• 19% more total subcutaneous fat
• 8% smaller longissimus muscle area
• 89% increase in intramuscular
triglyceride
Collaborative Digestibility Research Proposal
“Determination of True Ileal Amino Acid Digestibility
in Dietary Protein Sources Commonly Consumed by
Humans: Towards an international database of the
protein quality of human foods”
▪ Objective: to determine DIAAS values for approximately
100 protein sources commonly used by humans
▪ Proteos proposal
- International collaboration (New Zealand, Netherlands, France, US)
- Riddet Institute lead/coordination (Distinguished Prof Paul Moughan)
- 2-3 years
- Cost of $3-4 million
- Management of collaborators, funds to be determined
▪ Consortium of funders within food sector

31
Adequate Essential
Amino Acid

DIET
 Glycemic Index
All dietary carbohydrates, from
starch to table sugar share a basic
biological property: they can all be High GI
Food
digested or converted into glucose Low GI
Food
(Ludwig, D. 2014)

The Glycemic Index (GI)

and Glycemic Load

• How foods affect blood

sugar and insulin after
consumption

SOURCE: “International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008” by Fiona S. Atkinson, Kaye Foster-Powell, and Jennie C.
Brand-Miller in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care, Vol. 31, number 12, pages 2281-2283.
 Glycemic Index
55 or less = Low GI (good)
– Grapefruit GI of 25
– Peanuts GI of 7

56- 69 = Medium GI
– Raisins GI of 64
– Fanta Orange Soda GI of 68

70 or higher = High GI (bad)

– White Bread GI of 71
– Fruit roll ups GI of 99

SOURCE: “International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008” by Fiona S. Atkinson, Kaye Foster-Powell, and Jennie C.
Brand-Miller in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care, Vol. 31, number 12, pages 2281-2283.
 Glycemic Index
According to the American Diabetes Association
(2014), Meat does not have a glycemic index and
therefore does not raise blood glucose
How are humans getting more
obese/diabetic?
Extra Cellular Fluid Affects of chronic insulin
exposure
• Glycogen saturation in
muscle & liver
• Down-regulation of
Muscle insulin receptor
Cell
• Adipocytes remain
receptive to insulin
• Increased adiposity
Tissue-Specific Insulin
Resistance
Blood
Glucose

Glycogen

Liver
Tissue-Specific Insulin
Resistance
Blood
Glucose

Active/Growing
Muscle
Glycogen
Saturated
Liver

Glycogen
Tissue-Specific Insulin
Resistance
Blood
Glucose Triglycerides
1) ↑ Blood Sugar
2) ↑ Serum Triglycerides
3) ↑ Insulin
4) Insulin resistant muscle
Glycogen
Saturated
Liver

Glycogen
Saturated
Tissue-Specific Insulin
Resistance 1) ↑ Blood Sugar
2) ↑ Serum Triglycerides
3) ↑ Insulin
Blood 4) Insulin resistant muscle
Glucose Triglycerides

DIAGNOSIS
• Fatty Liver
Glycogen
Saturated • Sarcopenia
Liver
• Metabolic syndrome
• Pre-diabetes Glycogen
• Etc… (chronicSaturated
disease)
 Tissue-Specific Insulin
Resistance
1) ↑ Blood Sugar
2) ↑ Serum Triglycerides
3) ↑ Insulin
4) Insulin resistant muscle

DIAGNOSIS
• Fatty Liver
• Sarcopenia
• Metabolic syndrome
• Pre-diabetes
• Etc… (chronic disease)
What if a Pig Ate What the
Average American Eats?

http://time.com/8515/hungry-planet-what-the-world-eats//
 EXPERIMENT
Using swine as a model for humans, the
objectives of this project were to determine if
replacing the sugar in a modern, average
American diet with cooked ground beef would
alter body composition and risk factors for
obesity-related metabolic disorders
What are Americans Eating?

NHANES: What we Eat in America

• Ages 2 and older
• Represents the average daily intake levels
for all nutrients reported to the NHANES
 NHANES Diet for Swine
“Fat” Composition (Hintze et al., 2012)
11.8% ground corn
7.8% whey powder g/kg
18.6% soybean oil
13.7% butter 3%
Carb Composition
16.6% olive oil
19% 52.8% ground corn
16.6% lard
43.1% table sugar
14.7% beef tallow
1.7% whey powder
0.8% mineral premix
1.6% vitamin premix
59%
“Protein” Composition 19%
23.5% ground corn
76.4% whey powder
0.14% butter

Carbohydrate Protein Fat Fiber

 Average American Diet vs. a
Conventional Swine Diet
• More energy dense because of its much
higher fat content
• Lower in total carbohydrates yet higher in
high glycemic carbohydrate (sucrose)
• About equal in crude protein
• Higher in sodium and many B vitamins,
which are commonly fortified in human
foods
 Average American Diet vs.
Conventional Swine Diet
• Much lower in calcium, phosphorus,
magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc

• These nutritional shortfalls are obvious to

swine nutritionists because of extensive
production research which is absent in
human nutrition
 Sugar vs. Beef Study

• The objectives of the project were to

determine if replacing sugar with beef in
an average American diet would alter …
– body composition
– risk factors for obesity-related metabolic
disorders
• Using Berkshire gilts as a model for
humans
 Pig Feeding Protocol
• Ground beef replaced sugar kcal for kcal
in the treatment diet

• To standardize intake, pigs were pair-fed

across SUGAR (the control diet) and
GROUND BEEF to the lowest
consumption pattern
– Fed approximately 3.8% of body weight
 Weekly Body Weight Disparity
85
Treatment: P < 0.0001
75 Treatment*Day: P < 0.0001

*
65 *
*
Body weight, kg

*
55 *
*
*
45 *

35

25

15
-1 6 13 20 27 34 41 48 55 62 69 76 83 93
Day
SUG GB
 Longissimus muscle area (cm2)
40

35 33.10

30
Longissimus muscle area, cm2

24.00
25
20.32
20 18.19
16.13 15.87 15.87
14.32
15

10

0
d42 d56 d70 d93
SUG GB
 Subcutaneous Fat Depth (cm)
3.5
Treatment: P < 0.0001 3.05
Treatment*Day: P = 0.40
3.0

2.32
2.5
Subcutaneous fat depth, cm

2.13
2.03
1.93
2.0 1.75 1.67
1.52

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
d42 d56 d70 d93
SUG GB
 Percentage Fat Free Carcass Lean
55
51.6

50
Fat-free carcass lean, %

45
41.7
40.5 40.2
39.6
40

36.1
34.7
34.0
35

30
d42 d56 d70 d93
SUG GB
Transverse Cross-Sectional

Sugar Ground Beef

 Littermate
Pair 3 & 4

Sugar Ground Beef

Littermate
Pair 11 & 12
Sugar Ground Beef
 FEMUR

GB CON

GB CON
 HUMERUS

GB CON

GB CON
 CONCLUSIONS
• GB > Muscle Mass & % Lean Body Mass;
Circulating CRP; Hct & Hb levels

• GB < SubQ Fat Depth; Thinning of hair &

Porcine Acne; Total, HDL, & LDL cholesterol;
i.m. Triglycerides; Femur mineral density

• GB = Serum Triglyceride; Liver & Heart size

Dietary Guidelines?

←1980→

Any Questions?
Does replacing sugar (snacks)
with beef (snacks) during
gestation prevent postnatal
stunting and predisposition for
obesity-related metabolic
disorders in a swine biomedical
model?
 DIAAS Scores for Pork & Beef
Pork
• Well-done pork loin
• Med-well pork loin
• Rare pork loin
• Fresh pork belly
• Smoked (uncooked) bacon
• Smoked (baked) bacon
• Uncured (baked) pork leg
• Cured ham (RTE)
• “Natural”-cured ham (RTE)
Beef
• Well-done ribeye
• Med-well ribeye
• Rare ribeye
• Raw ground beef
• Cooked ground beef
• Bologna (beef, pork)
• Salami (beef, pork)
• (hopefully) Jerky