It is becoming increasingly obvious to anyone who examines the scientific literature with an open mind that the justification for cholesterol-lowering simply does not exist. So I have been digging into the background to try to find out how it all originated. Although the work of Ancel Keys stimuated interest in cholesterol, it was a […]
222. More about the History of the “Cholesterol” Issue. Read More »
I have lost count of the number of people who have been recommended to use statins but subsequently decided to stop taking them. There are two reasons normally used to justify these regimes, namely: You are at high risk of having a heart disease, which may well be fatal. You have survived a heart attack,
Currently there is widespread use of statins which is justified on the grounds that those who receive regular treatment will have a reduced risk of developing heart disease. Ideally there should be thorough evaluations which demonstrate the extent of the benefits as well as comprehensive knowledge of the adverse side effects which may arise. However
215.The Shaky Foundations of the Case for Statins Read More »
Public Health England (PHE) has just launched the latest version of the Eatwell Guide (1). In the related PR the following points were made: There is greater prominence for fruit, vegetables and starchy carbohydrates, preferably wholegrain, in the new guide. PHE recommends consuming 30 grams of fibre a day, the same as eating 5 portions
There is growing awareness that coconut oil has a number of attributes which make it a very valuable nutrient. The contents of the individual fatty acids present in coconut oil are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Typical Composition of Coconut oil Fatty acid % Caprylic, C8 5.0-9.0 Capric C10 6.0-10.0 Lauric C12 44.0-52.0 Myristic
The cornerstone of the original dietary guidelines was the recommendation to reduce the intake of saturated fat (SFA). This in turn led to the advice to increase the consumption of complex carbohydrates and the polyunsaturated fat (PUFA). The fundamental basis was the so-called “cholesterol theory” which was that the risk of developing heart disease was
203. Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Another Fine Mess! Read More »
An extremely valuable contribution to our understanding of contemporary nutrition has just been released. This is a review of research which has been conducted by a team from the Credit Suisse Bank. The primary purpose is to understand the basic concepts which should be used to devise a diet consistent with good health. In my
188. Report by Credit Suisse Research on Nutrition Read More »
The main thrust of the healthy eating recommendations which have been promulgated as official policy for the past 40 years or so has been to reduce the intake of total fat, especially the saturated fats (SFAs). Numerous evaluations of the rationale to support this advice have concluded that it was fundamentally flawed. What is more,
There is no absolutely no doubt that the dietary recommendations which were formulated by the US Senate Committee chaired by George McGovern have proved to be disastrous. Effectively this resulted in public health policies all over the world advising that total fat, especially the saturated fats (SFAs) should be reduced and that there should be
183. The Significance of the Low Carb Summit in Cape Town, February 2015 Read More »
A comprehensive review on the role of cholesterol in health and a critique of the use of statins has recently been published by a team of Japanese researchers (1). This pulls together information from a range of different sources. The focus is on all-cause mortality because fundamentally that is the key parameter most people understand