In the USA the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just announced that it intends to take action that would reduce the amount of Trans Fatty Acids (TFAs) in foods to a minimum (1). It has been estimated that this would prevent 7,000 deaths from heart disease and as many as 20,000 heart attacks every […]
60. A Public Health Catastrophe The UK government is currently gung ho about the “Responsibility Deal” in which various food companies have agreed to reduce saturated fat levels in a range of products in order to comply with the following pledge: “Recognising the role of over-consumption of saturated fat in the risk of premature avoidable mortality from
In a recent paper a research project based at the University of Utah has shown that comparatively low levels of sugar added to the diet can have substantial negative effects on mouse survival, competitive ability, and reproduction. In particular it was found that when mice ate a diet of 25% extra sugar – the mouse
Epidemiological studies into changing patterns of food consumption and disease statistics can provide valuable insights into the relationships between diet and health. In Great Britain data from national statistics show that amount of fat consumed has fallen from 120gm/day in 1969 to 74gm/day in 2000. When expressed as a proportion of energy consumed the fat
In my last post (Blog 51) I explained how the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has been re-evaluating the evidence on the relationship between salt and health. This was initiated because of growing doubts about the current recommendations to reduce the intake of salt and emerging concerns that a low salt intake may actually be damaging
In the UK the relationship between salt and health was considered by the official Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition in 2003 (1). This report confirmed earlier recommendations that the average intake for the adult population should be 6 gm/day of salt (sodium chloride) which is equivalent to 2.4 gm/day of sodium. This means men should
The most up-to-date information on Vitamin D provides convincing evidence that most people suffer from an inadequate supply which is linked to increased risk of a wide range of common diseases. The role of Vitamin D in diseases other than rickets can be attributed to the work of 2 brothers Cedric and Frank Garland. In
On 23 September 2004 a number of distinguished medical and health professionals wrote a detailed letter to the officials in the US National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) requesting an independent review of the cholesterol guidelines(1). Although this was some years ago the key points raised are just as pertinent to-day as they were when the
There is now overwhelming evidence that the total cholesterol in the blood (TC) is not a reliable risk factor for heart disease. In Blog 38 I pointed out that the death rate due to heart disease in Belfast is 4 times that of Toulouse even though the TC levels are almost the same. In Blog
The Lyon Heart Study is one of the most successful investigations which demonstrate that a change in diet results in a significant improvement in the survival rates of men and women aged <70 years old who have experienced a heart attack. Volunteers who had survived a heart attack were allocated to either a control group