“In praise of….butter” is the title of a recent editorial in The Guardian (21 April 2014). Butter has been condemned by health professionals ever since the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) made the recommendation in 1984 to reduce the saturated fat (SFA) in the habitual British diet from 20% energy to 15% […]
Currently there are proposals to extend the range of people who will be offered statins on the grounds that this will reduce the risks of developing heart disease. There are serious doubts about the justification of this strategy. Many of the researchers who have evaluated the evidence have concluded that treatment of those who do
In the UK about 1 in 100 people suffer from epilepsy. Therefore there is considerable interest in using diet as a means of controlling the condition. Despite the fact that national policy continues to recommend that people should reduce the intake of fat, especially saturated fat (SFA), there are growing doubts about the reliability of
According to The Guardian to-day (15th April 2014)(1) the reduction in salt in recent years has been a key factor in the large fall in the number of people dying from heart attack or stroke. This is the conclusion of research which has just been published in BMJ Open (2). The article pointed out that
There is absolutely no doubt that diabetes is one of the major public health issues throughout the world at the present time. Here in Great Britain, the incidence in both men and women has more than doubled in the last 15 years. If current trends continue then it is likely that there will be 5
“The Truth About Low Fat Food” is the title of a programme broadcast by Channel 4 on 7th April 2014. This confirms that many “low fat” foods contain more sugar than the corresponding full fat version. Furthermore some of them are surprisingly high in fat and in calories. What I found especially fascinating is that
There is no doubt that the results of the study on fruit and vegetables which I discussed in my last blog have made quite an impact. In this blog I have picked out some of the headlines and a selection of the initial paragraphs of each report. INDEPENDENT (1) Forget five a day: You
“Fruit and vegetable intake: five a day may not be enough, scientists say” is one of the headlines in the Guardian to-day 1st April 2014(1). In the article it is stated that: “The clear finding was that eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, including salads, was linked to living a longer life generally and in
Statins are certainly in the news these days. NICE has put forward proposals that all those with a 10% risk of developing heart disease should be treated with statins. Effectively this means that everyone over the age of 50 years, including those who are fit and healthy, would be expected to have the treatment. On
According to the latest report prepared for the British Heart Foundation there is not enough evidence to support the current dietary recommendations to reduce saturated fat(SFA) and increase polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) in order to reduce the risk of heart disease(1). This finding should come as no surprise to anyone who has bothered to keep up
66. BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION REPORT ON SATURATED FAT Read More »