SYRACUSE, N.Y. – American Dairy Association North East hosted celebrity journalist and author Nina Teicholz at the 2018 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Teicholz’s book, “The Big Fat Surprise, Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet,” delves into her decade-long investigation that debunks the idea that eliminating fats from the human diet is healthy. Her research shows that more, not less, dietary fat – including saturated fat – is what leads to better health, wellness and fitness.
“We were pleased to host Ms. Teicholz who shared her research on the importance of incorporating fat into the diet – specifically meat, cheese and whole milk – based on sound science,” said Rick Naczi, CEO of American Dairy Association North East. “This groundbreaking information will definitely boost consumption of our products, which in turn helps our dairy farmers’ bottom lines.”
Additionally, as part of dairy checkoff’s strategy to convey dairy nutrition research to health influencers, ADA North East previously hosted Teicholz to address health professionals – at the Great Saturated Fat Debate in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2015, and at the New York Academy of Medicine in Manhattan, N.Y., in 2016.
Much of Teicholz’s research points to the USDA Dietary Guidelines as not being evidence-based, but considered the “gold standard” for human nutrition. She is actively involved in addressing the 2020 guidelines, and encouraged the Dairy Summit audience to work with influential trade organizations to ensure the dairy industry has a voice in the conversations. She believes the paradigm shift from a no- and low-fat diet to a whole fat diet will be met with opposition.
"Nina's presentation was certainly an eye-opener for me,” said Reid Hoover, Lebanon County dairy farmer and chair of the Center for Dairy Excellence and the Dairy Summit. “The fact that the government food guidelines seem to be based more on politics than science is alarming."
Teicholz stressed that her research is not funded by any industry or special-interest groups, which resonated with the dairy farmers.
ADA North East hosted a small listening session with Teicholz that included three registered dietitians that serve as spokespersons for dairy in the health professional community.
Blair County dairy farmer, Yvette Longenecker also attended the listening session with Teicholz.
“I appreciated talking to Nina one-on-one and learning about her research,” said Longenecker. “As a dairy farmer, it’s good to know there are unbiased people who support the nutritional benefits of our product. She was also very interested in the dairy industry as a whole, so it was a great opportunity to share some of our story with her.”
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About American Dairy Association North East
American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is the dairy farmer-funded organization funded by participating dairy farmer’s checkoff investment to build demand and sales for milk and dairy foods throughout the local region. Representing more than 12,000 dairy farm families in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New Jersey and northern Virginia, ADA North East develops and implements local programs to drive milk and dairy sales at retail outlets and in schools. The organization also conducts consumer education about dairy through events, traditional and social media, and in collaboration with health professionals through National Dairy Council®. ADA North East works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™, the national dairy checkoff organization, to support nutrition research, national partnerships and developing export markets for dairy to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the region. For more information, visit www.americandairy.com.
Source: American Dairy Association North East
