How many times have you been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day because skipping it will make you gain weight? New research shows that this recommendation from the previous U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) is simply wrong - again. In the past, Americans have been told to stay away from fat, cholesterol and salt only to be told that those recommendations also failed to be based on sound scientific evidence. So is this really a surprise?

In an article in The Washington Post, Peter Whoriskey questions how previous DGACs relied mainly on observational studies which are “generally cheaper and easier to conduct. But they can suffer from weaknesses that can lead scientists astray.”

So what did the previous DGAC miss - or perhaps overlook?

According to nutrition scientist Dr. David Allison, professor of public health and associate dean at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, the researchers “read too much into observational studies, and wrongly ignore the stronger evidence from the randomized controlled trials.”

We agree. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are often considered the “gold standard” in scientific evidence. We at Sip & Savor believe that the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans should be based on sound science – and that they should provide recommendations that can be achievable in the real world for the majority of Americans.