D. Mark Hegsted

David Mark Hegsted (March 25, 1914 – June 16, 2009) was an American

Where ${\displaystyle {\text{S}}}$ = saturated fatty acids (% of total calories), ${\displaystyle {\text{P}}}$ = polyunsaturated fatty acids (% of total calories), and ${\displaystyle {\text{C}}}$ = dietary cholesterol.[4]

Later career

In 1978, he was hired by the United States Department of Agriculture as Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service, serving until 1982. He was hired by Harvard Medical School in 1982 as Associate Director for Research at the New England Regional Primate Research Center.^[1]

After his death, researchers uncovered connections to research funded by the sugar industry in which Hegsted was critical of connections between sugar consumption and heart disease.^[5][6] The significance of this work in shaping future nutrition policy is disputed,^[7] and the Dietary Goals for the United States asks Americans to, "Reduce the consumption of refined and other processed sugars by about 45 percent to account for about 10 percent of total energy intake".^[8]

Hegsted's efforts to encourage the United States Department of Agriculture to inform the public about changes in diet included his involvement in drafting Dietary Goals for the United States, a 1977 report from the United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs that suggested that increased consumption of fruits, grains and vegetables could help cut the risk of heart attacks and other diseases. It was the predecessor of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans updated twice each decade by the federal government.^[1]

Hegsted was elected as a member of the

A resident of Westwood, Massachusetts, Hegsted died there at age 95 on June 16, 2009. Hegsted and his wife, Maxine Scow Hegsted, had one son.

References