Until yesterday, we felt like strangers in a strange land, unprocessed in an ultraprocessed world.
Yet we persisted to follow our lifestyle. Why? Because, for us, Lotus & Michael, as people, it was and is the only way to live. This lifestyle manifested itself not just in our cooking and food, but in our clothing, art and gardening, which all connects.
Now we are no longer the weirdos, the creeps (as in the Radiohead song) that sometimes left us wondering what the hell are we doing there.
Yesterday, RFK Jr. Brooke Rollins and the US Government published new dietary guidelines which match exactly with how we have been living, which we have documented on our YouTube channel.
Before we look at those guidelines (which also explain the rationale), let’s look at where we were and what we were fed by Government before and brainwashed by business driven by greed and profit, not public health.
The Smithsonian Magazine has a cool article entitled “Grab Your Fork and Travel Back in Time with These Old USDA Dietary Guidelines” published in 2016. It traces the history of government involvement in citizens’ food consumption since 1894.
This is the 1992 pyramid that we all knew well:
We can see clearly that we were told that the main component of our diet was the bread and pasta group, while meat, milk, yogurt and cheese were, taken together, less of our diet than the bread group. Also, “fats, oils and sweets” are all lumped together and clearly to be avoided, if possible, since the advice says, “use sparingly.”
So fat was the enemy, and oil was open season for any kind of oil that promised less saturated fat.
Nothing in the guidelines distinguishes canned, frozen or prepared foods from whole foods. This is why, if you go into any major supermarket today, that 80-90% of the shelf space in the center is devoted to packaged food, with fresh or whole food on the outside.
So, no matter if you purchased canned, frozen or other food with processed ingredients, as long as you followed the pyramid you were going to be ok?
What is worse, the pyramid and the direction of the US government portrays fat as the enemy of health, which influences all of America’s other food decisions: lowfat yogurt and milk, margarine instead of butter, vegetable oils instead of natural fats and oils, and puts you on notice that the enemies of your health are foods that our ancestors, especially before WWII enriched us as a country, subsisted on and grew healthy enough on to give birth to us.
Even worse, we were told that foods that were convenient to prepare were our birthright as civilized, modern Americans. This has been sold to us for years. I am old enough to remember TV dinners, which were processed crap, being fed to me because “they” said it was healthy and nutritious (I especially remember Salisbury Steak, which was an excuse for minced meat, with who knows what inside. OMG). What about Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup? I remember my mother using that as a sauce for lamb chops—what a way to ruin meat! Checking their labels with today’s knowledge should scare the snot out of you.
Here’s the ingredient label from today’s version of the Swanson dinner, which is apparently still being sold because you can order it online for $5.29:
Check out the sodium and cholesterol content. So here’s the point: If I wanted to cook a dinner of minced meat, mashed potatoes and corn , I would need about half dozen ingredients, starting with meat, potatoes and corn. Not all the other crap.
You can find Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup online or in your local supermarket to see ingredients. Suffice it to say that the sodium content is 850mg, and mushrooms are one of about a dozen ingredients. ‘Nuf said.
The FDA’s current maximum intake of sodium is 2300mg/day with a target of <2000. So the TV dinner is more than half of what I should have/day. Should I be angry at my mother? No, because she was naively following “their” direction. Should I be angry at the companies that did and still do produce this toxic crap? Mostly. Should I be angry at the FDA for telling you that you were eating a time bomb (see this article), but not taking any aggressive action to protect Americans’ health? Yes. Until now.
“They” were more than likely companies like P&G, Kraft, Unilever, Nabisco etc. who had the attention and trust of Americans and exploited it for their own profit by capitalizing on the ignorance of Americans as to why foods on the pyramid could be harmful and why foods in their original versions were better for your health. In fact, this was knowledge they probably didn’t want you to have, and they had the money to convince you that their crap was better for you because it saved you time. The sugar and sodium that it took to make the food addictive? All the other ingredients you don’t need and which, taken together and separately, may harm you? Oh, never mind about that.
Then the logical outgrowth of this pyramid is that any fat was bad for you, so you should avoid it at all costs. A huge industry was born: the low-fat world. Rather than just sell milk, companies had three or more skus they could market. Reduced or low fat and No fat or fat free (have you tasted skim milk?). So the less fat the better, right? RFK Jr. and the DGA debunked that myth.
If you are an older adult, the goal is to strike fear of mortality in your head so that you don’t dare contradict what the government and the companies are telling you. Check out this pyramid called “My Pyramid for Older Adults:”
Let’s look closer at the graphic. Notice that a significant percentage of the items are frozen, packaged or canned, that the dairy is non-fat or low-fat and that the oil is soft spread (check that for yourself next time in the supermarket and check out the trans fat content). Vegetable oil has been reported to attach itself to your body, and not in a good way. Packaged whole wheat bread is rarely 100% whole wheat, and if it is, it is doctored with other things like sugar to make it palatable.
Now maybe you are thinking, “what’s wrong with that?” What’s wrong, as RFK Jr. has pointed out, is that instead of improving Americans’ health over the years, there has been a significant decline and that our diets at least partially may be causing that. Don’t take my word for it. To get a great picture, or refresher, on where we were and where we are now foodwise, read this 2024 article from the American Heart Association: Too much of a food thing: A century of change in how we eat
The HHS has summed up those statistics in relation to the American health situation as it relates to health care costs:
• According to a recent analysis by Johns Hopkins, 48% of all federal tax dollars are spent on health care – and 90% of U.S. health care spending is on people with chronic diseases. Many of these conditions are preventable, often reversible, and often tied to the food we eat.
• The United States faces the highest obesity and Type 2 Diabetes rates (OECD) in the developed world.
• The United States spend 2.5 times more per capita than the average of developed countries (OECD) on health care – and our life expectancy is 4 years lower. Chronic conditions tied to food are major contributors to this.
• The US childhood obesity rate is nearly five times higher than some other developed countries like France.
• In the United States, one-third of teens suffer from pre-diabetes, 20% of children and adolescents have obesity, and 18.5% of young adults have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
• 77% of military-aged youth aren’t eligible to join the military – primarily due to chronic diseases tied to food.
• A recent study of Medicare beneficiaries found that a 15% weight loss reduction resulted in nearly $1,000 per year in lower Medicare spending.
So what do Americans do now? The answer in a nutshell is do what your grandma did—eat whole, real food; buy fresh produce; bake your own bread or buy from a bakery that is making the real stuff, eat good quality meat and fresh fruits and vegetables in season.
But the caveat to all this is: Don’t eat too much. With all this low- or no-fat shit on offer, why are an overwhelming majority of Americans obese?
Now comes RFK Jr. After years of the FDA allowing the big companies to prey on Americans, he and Brooke Rollins turned everything upside down. They call the result Dietary Guidelines for Americans; it can also be called the Grandma Diet. No mysteries or tricks. Just going back to real, whole food and recognizing the benefits of that for health of all Americans. Here, if you have been in Antartica and haven’t seen this yet, is the new food “pyramid.”
Now take a good look at this graphic. It is turned on its head, based on the realization that protein and fat is NOT bad for you, it is the staff of life that generations before lived on, and why they were healthier than us. See the meat, cheese and whole milk on top? Take a look at the butter and look at butter’s ingredients next time you are in the supermarket. Normally, it has ONE ingredient: Butter. And the eggs—this is also a travesty of industry that has been preyed upon us. The $1.99 eggs you buy in the supermarket are, well—you get what you pay for—chickens raised in deplorable conditions, rather than the barnyard chickens your grandma used (and maybe even raised) which are healthier for you.
For the most part, this graphic is whole, fresh food.
Along with this picture, are the comments and the rationale for this change. I didn’t want to omit anything important, so I copied most of it:
“The message is simple: eat real food.
To Make America Healthy Again, we must return to the basics. American households must prioritize diets built on whole, nutrient-dense foods—protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and whole grains. Paired with a dramatic reduction in highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives, this approach can change the health trajectory for so many Americans.
The United States is amid a health emergency. Nearly 90% of health care spending goes to treating people who have chronic diseases. Many of these illnesses are not genetic destiny; they are the predictable result of the Standard American Diet—a diet which, over time, has become reliant on highly processed foods and coupled with a sedentary lifestyle.
The consequences have been devastating. More than 70% of American adults are overweight or obese. Nearly one in three American adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 has prediabetes. Diet-driven chronic disease now disqualifies large numbers of young Americans from military service, undermining national readiness and cutting off a historic pathway to opportunity and upward mobility.
For decades, federal incentives have promoted low-quality, highly processed foods and pharmaceutical intervention instead of prevention. This crisis is the result of poor policy choices; inadequate nutrition research; and a lack of coordination acrossfederal, state, local, and private partners.
This changes today.
We are realigning our food system to support American farmers, ranchers, and companies who grow and produce real food—and the Trump administration is working to ensure all families can afford it.
We are putting real food back at the center of the American diet. Real food that nourishes the body. Real food that restores health. Real food that fuels energy and encourages movement and exercise. Real food that builds strength.”
Are they f**king crazy? Turning everything we have been told upside down? Are they a bunch of Trumpian cranks? Is my cholesterol going to go through the roof with this diet?
Apparently not. The Wall Street Journal reports:
“The American Heart Association in a statement said it welcomed the new guidelines, praising their endorsement of whole grains and warning against sugary drinks, though said it was “concerned” that the recommended salt seasoning and red meat would lead people to eat too much sodium and saturated fat.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also commended the guidelines, despite having two active lawsuits against Kennedy over his cancellation of grants to the organization and over some of his vaccine moves.
American Medical Association president Dr. Bobby Mukkamala attended the White House unveiling of the guidelines and praised them without reservation in a statement. Kennedy said he received a letter from the doctor when he first entered office and has a good relationship with him.”
Some doctors, on the wrong hand, would rather keep their patients marinating in medicine and visiting often, so they are in a lose-lose position if their patients start believing and improving their health.
There is no room for skepticism, given the decline of Americans’ health.
So what does this have to do with Lotus & Michael?
To begin with, this is the best validation we could get for what we have been doing and living on our own. Our brand and all its products, as we explain on our website, is the connection of the elements that have defined and do define our lifestyle. Natural fabrics, many of which are plant dyed, and art that celebrates nature, whole food that we grow and buy what we can’t. This is us, and what we have been sharing.
We have practiced a virtual copy of these guidelines for years. Our grocery bill contains no packaged foods beyond milk, cheese, butter etc. and every meal is derived from fresh food. We only use three sources of fat: butter, pure olive oil and fat we render from the duck or chicken that we butcher. OMG your cholesterol must be through the roof! Not at all. We have no prescription medicine, and our doctors are not pillheads.
We cook at home, very rarely eat outside food. What is the US trend in this area? I found one graphic which clearly shows why we felt like weirdos:
The graphic just tracks the difference between 1977-1978 and 2017-2018, so it would be a lot more dramatic if it started at, sat 1950 and tracked through 2025. Be that as it may, you can clearly see the decline in home cooking and the dramatic rise of outside food, especially fast food (where you don’t get to see a list of ingredients).
What about RFK Jr.’s diet? The WSJ reports:
“Kennedy now follows what he calls a “carnivore diet.” He eats grass-fed steak, eggs, kimchi and sauerkraut, and says he has a freezer full of 900 pounds of meat, some of it hunted by his children. He has been known to down a tub of yogurt in meetings at HHS headquarters—he said he favors the Maple Hill brand, which advertises itself as grass-fed and organic.”
First, the keys to RFK Jr’s diet—The “carnivore” is balanced by kimchi, sauerkraut and yogurt, all of which are the enemy of inflammation. Just how good this diet is, is based on your blood test results, but the basic theory is what we follow. We eat lamb, duck, and pork belly, but we don’t eat it every day. The basics of our diet are: 1. Protein—can be beans, tofu etc. 2. “Main food”- this is what fills your belly. We choose rice (regular and sticky); Pasta (from Italy, single source), noodles (Lotus handmakes) or bread (I bake); 3. The green. Every dinner must have it. But we don’t eat meat every day.
Here’s a secret most Americans don’t know or cannot fulfill. In addition to how much you eat (you think all those pot bellies you see are from eating a disciplined diet), a key I learned over time is WHEN you eat. Those of us (and God knows life doesn’t make it easy) that eat because we are hungry at midnight or later are shooting ourselves in the (more than foot); Our dinner is served at 16:30 and breakfast is next day at 10:30 with a coffee break plus homemade butter shortbread cookies in between. BTW, taking a GLP-1injection does not solve the problem. Eating healthier is the best way to keep your weight and your health under control.
What can you do if you are trapped in an office? Prepare in advance and don’t give up your principles.
Most of this is easy, IF you are willing to make the effort and not depend on outsiders to put your food together and then deliver it to you.
I hear your F**k you, but we were part of the 9-5 (or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9) crowd for years, so we know what you are going through.
You can see lots more by visiting our Youtube channel, where we have documented a lot of it in more than 60 lifestyle videos, all wearing our garments.
Oh, then this lifestyle shit is just an excuse to sell clothes, right? No, it is part of our commitment to ourselves and our planet that aligns with our government’s current policy . Would be a little stupid to start all this if we were addicted to ultraprocessed foods; well, even if not stupid, it would not be authentic. That’s not us and it resembles the greenwashing that we all are exposed to daily.
No, seriously, what does RFK Jr. and DGA and Lotus & Michael have to do with each other?
Authenticity. The real truth. What is and has been lacking in the crap we all have been served. (Go ahead- Defend Swanson’s TV dinners or your diet nutritionally)
Our clothing, art, gardening and food all stem from the same vision. Buy less, buy better, buy quality, buy multifunctional that will, in our own small way, help with the huge textile waste problem and our environment. Our clothes do not debilitate the health of our planet, and we don’t wear them for narcissistic purposes. They make us feel good, because they are of excellent quality and, with their embroidery, make a distinctive fashion statement. Our closets are not full, and it takes years for something to wear out so we need to replace it. Our styles are classic with a touch of embroidery elegance, and will never be out of, always in, style, yet individual to reflect the individual in our customers, not to brand them as cookie cutter copiers.
We have worked for a long time to build our brand story, in which we try to take a leadership position and hope to inspire others to follow us.
Now that the the US Government has validated a big part of our lifestyle which we have practiced for years, we hope that our clothing can inspire you to follow us and reboot your philosophy and actions about food, clothing, art, gardening and more.
Visit our website and our Youtube channel, then tell us if we are real or full of shit. Talk to us about your food practices, and what if anything you will change in the future. We can exchange information, gardening tips, maybe recipes.
This is not AI talking, this is us. Come, look good, maintain your weight and health, and enjoy nature’s gifts with us.
More than talk together and exchange fashion, art, gardening and lifestyle experiences, you can write to us and tell us what you think of life in the slow lane 😀 What secrets and tips do you have for us and our customers? Write to me, michael@lotusandmichael.com
Happy New Year!
Love, Lotus & Michael
