328 THE (HINA STUDY
government report, the president of the American Medical Students As-
sociation, William Kassler, writes^8 :
Most nutrition in the formal curriculum is incorporated into
other courses. Biochemistry, physiology and pharmacology are the
courses most often alleged to contain some nutrition instruction.
Too often in such courses, nutrition is touched on briefly, with the
primary emphasis on the major discipline. It is quite possible to fin-
ish such a course and not even realize that nutrition was covered [my
emphasisl. Nutrition taught by those whose interest and expertise
lie elsewhere simply doesn't work.
It gets even worse! When nutrition education is provided in rela-
tion to public health problems, guess who is supplying the "educa-
tional" material? The Dannon Institute, Egg Nutrition Board, National
Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Dairy Council, Nestle Clinical
Nutrition, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company,
Baxter Healthcare Corporation and others have all joined forces to
produce a Nutrition in Medicine program and the Medical Nutrition
Curriculum Initiative.^9 • 1o Do you think that this all-star team of animal
foods and drug industries representatives is going to objectively judge
and promote optimal nutrition, which science has shown to be a whole
foods, plant-based diet that minimizes the need for drugs? Or might
they try to protect the meat-centered, Western diet where everyone
expects to pop a pill for every sickness? This organization is creating
nutrition curricula, involving CD-ROMS, and giving them away to
medical schools for free. As of late 2003, 112 medical schools were
using the curriculum.ll According to their Web site, "Plans are un-
derway for developing versions for undergraduate nutrition students,
continuing medical education and other health professions audiences."
(http://www.med.unc.eduinutr/nimlFAQ.htm#anchor197343)
The dairy industry has also funded research investigations into nu-
trition education in medical schools12 and has funded "prestigious"
awards. 13 , 14 These efforts show that industry is well prepared to promote
its monetary interests whenever the opportunity presents itself.
You should not assume that your doctor has any more knowledge
about food and its relation to health than your neighbors and cowork-
ers. It's a situation in which nutritionally untrained doctors prescribe
milk and sugar-based meal-replacement shakes for overweight diabet-
ics, high-meat, high-fat diets for patients who ask how to lose weight