Similar to the current "expert" climate/energy policies being pushed on the unsuspecting citizens of multiple countries, the expert health policies pushed on the masses for the last 50+ years have been based on a dogmatic, consensus belief in a questionable hypothesis.
More on that specific hypothesis later.
In the U.S., starting with the 1970s, the air and water quality has been dramatically improving; the number of people who smoke has dropped like a stone; the pharmaceutical/medical/health care research complex has produced wondrous solutions for communicable diseases; and yet, despite all that good news, the overall health of Americans and their lifespans have in some respects actually declined.
As the chart depicts, the U.S. growth trend of chronic diseases (cancers, diabetes, heart disease, brain dysfunctions, stroke, and etc.) is at unsustainable levels, and it's just as bad all across the globe:
"While international agencies have been spending their funds in controlling infectious diseases, evidence of non-communicable [chronic] diseases reveals an alarming global pandemic and associated fatalities" (Strong et al, 2005)
Now, combine that with the chronic obesity epidemic - here and across the world. Is it any wonder that health care expenses are causing havoc for even the stoutest of economies?
Where did this explosion in growth of global chronic diseases come from?
Well as the latest scientific evidence is revealing, this unstoppable growth of chronic diseases is most likely a direct result of U.S politicians and government bureaucrats - during the '70's decade - accepting and promoting a very weak speculative research hypothesis. A hypothesis that had not been validated by any rigorous scientific evidence*.
That hypothesis, in it's most simplest terms, was the notion that eating fat and cholesterol killed people.
This acceptance and promotion of an unproven hypothesis lead to a dogmatic, consensus belief by doctors and dietitians that everyone needs to replace fats with carbohydrates.
And that became the foundation of the well promulgated high-carb and low-fat food pyramid concept, resulting in "experts" actually believing a breakfast of Pop Tarts and orange juice was more "healthy" than eggs, bacon, and black coffee.
The unintended consequence of this highly speculative hypothesis is our global epidemic of poor health and overweight. This epidemic was first identified around 1980 and by 1988 the CDC started the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Yet the vast majority of doctors and dietitians still push on their patients the orthodox treatments and recommendations based on a bogus hypothesis, or if you prefer, junk science. (Go here to read about how wedded and malevolent the medical and dietitian establishments are in regards to protecting their consensus anti-science.)
The history, the politics, the narrative, and the lack of robust, proven scientific research supporting the entire consensus nutrition/diet framework is frankly eye-opening.
And surprise, it has an incredible amount of similarities with the consensus narrative, politics, advocacy, and policy tactics based on the unvalidated and unproven CO2 hypothesis of global warming and climate change.
Two recent excellent reads on the unscientific diet/nutrition science, and the biased politics involved, can be read about here and here.
Not to be forgotten, the consensus politics of climate science is also very vitriolic and intimidating.
*The recent recommendations of America's 'Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee', in regards to both dietary cholesterol and fat, substantiates that the original research behind the consensus health/nutrition policies was neither robust nor statistically/clinically significant.