Cardiologist Speaks Out On The Myth of Bad Saturated Fat, Stating Carbs Are More Damaging Than Butter
Oct 24, 2013 | Prevent Disease | Natasha Longo
A false interpretation of scientific studies has led to millions being "over-medicated" with statin drugs due to the
proliferation of myths in the medical community regarding the role of
saturated fat in heart disease. A Cardiologist is speaking out stating
that almost four decades of advice to cut back on saturated fats
found in foods such as butter and meat has paradoxically increased
our cardiovascular risks.
More physicians and medical specialists are speaking out on what
really causes disease. Just last year, world renown heart surgeon Dr.
Dwight Lundell, made headlines when he
stated the facts on the actual causes of heart disease.
"As a heart surgeon with 25 years experience, having performed over
5,000 open-heart surgeries,today is my day to right the wrong with
medical and scientific fact," he was quoted in a statement.
Experts such as Dr. Ron Rosedale have been exposing the facts
on cholesterol myths for years. Perhaps one of
the biggest health myths propagated in western culture
and certainly in the United States, is the correlation between
elevated cholesterol and cardiovascular
disease (CVD). Unfortunately, despite dozens of studies,
cholesterol has not been shown to actually cause CVD. To the
contrary,
cholesterol is vital to our survival, and
trying to artificially lower it can have detrimental
effects, particularly as we age. What we have found
after years of being told the opposite, is that
there is no such thing as bad cholesterol.
Cutting back on butter and fatty meats may have done more harm to heart health than good.
Governments here and abroad have been cautioning the public for decades on the dangers of high
fat diets. The low-fat mantra has been questioned for years by
clinicians and nutritional scientists - not least because it has
failed to halt the obesity epidemic. The fact is,
low-fat diets make you fat,
and contrary to official advice by our diet dictocrats,
high-fat
diets lower blood sugar, improve blood lipids, and reduce obesity.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra - Saturated Fat Is Not The Problem
Experts say the belief that high-fat diets are bad for
arteries is based on faulty interpretation of scientific studies and
has led to millions being 'over-medicated' with statin drugs.
Doctors insist it is time to bust the myth of the role of saturated fat in heart disease.
Some western nations, such as Sweden, are now adopting dietary guidelines that
encourage foods high in fat but low in carbs.
Cardiologist Aseem Malhotra says almost four decades of
advice to cut back on saturated fats found in cream, butter and less
lean meat has 'paradoxically increased our cardiovascular risks'.
He leads a debate online in the British Medical Journal website bmj.com that challenges the demonisation of saturated fat.
Earlier this summer, Dr. Malhorta
stated in a
BMJ publication,
that a fundamental misunderstanding exists in the scientific community
and among the lay public that has interfered with our collective
ability to curb the obesity epidemic. The belief that we make our food
choices deliberately and that they reflect our true desires sustains
the status quo and obscures the reality that decisions about the food
we buy and consume are often automatic and made without full
awareness.
"Progress in reversing what now poses to be the greatest
threat to our health worldwide can be made only once we take seriously
the root cause of diet related disease: the food environment. An
oversupply of nutritionally poor and energy dense foods loaded with
sugar, salt, and trans fats--fuelled by the junk food industry's
aggressive and irresponsible marketing--has even been allowed to
hijack the very institutions that are supposed to set an example."
A landmark study in the 1970s concluded there was a link
between heart disease and blood cholesterol, which correlated with the
calories provided by saturated fat.
"But correlation is not causation," said Dr Malhotra,
interventional cardiology specialist registrar at Croydon University
Hospital, London.
Nevertheless, people were advised to reduce fat intake to 30
percent of total energy and a fall in saturated fat intake to 10
percent.
Recent studies fail to show a link between saturated fat
intake and risk of cardiovascular disease,
with saturated fat actually
found to be protective, he said.
One of the earliest obesity experiments, published in the
Lancet in 1956, comparing groups on diets of 90 percent fat versus 90
percent protein versus 90 percent carbohydrate revealed the greatest
weight loss was among those eating the most fat.
Professor David Haslam, of the National Obesity Forum, said:
"The assumption has been made that increased fat in the bloodstream is
caused by increased saturated fat in the diet...modern scientific
evidence is proving that refined carbohydrates and sugar in particular
are actually the culprits."
Another US study showed a "low fat" diet was worse for health
than one which was low in carbohydrates, such as potatoes, pasta,
bread.
Dr Malhotra said obesity has 'rocketed' in the US despite a big drop in calories consumed from fat.
"One reason" he said "when you take the fat out, the food tastes worse."
The confusion has led to people being 'over-medicated' with statin drugs, such as Rosuvastatin.
The food industry compensated by replacing saturated fat with added
sugar but evidence is mounting that sugar is a "possible independent
risk factor" for metabolic syndrome which can lead to diabetes.
The added sugar has also been replaced by toxic artificial sweeteners such as
aspartame,
high fructose corn syrup and
neotame.
Dr Malhotra said the government's obsession with cholesterol
"has led to the over-medication of millions of people with statins".
But why has there been no demonstrable effect on heart
disease trends when millions are being prescribed
cholesterol-lowering drugs, he asked.
Mediterranean Diet 3 Times More Powerful Than Statins At Reducing Death Rates
Adopting a Mediterranean diet after a heart attack is almost
three times as powerful in reducing death rates as taking a statin,
which have been linked to unacceptable side effects in real-world use,
he added.
Dr Malhrotra said "the greatest improvements in morbidity and
mortality have been due not to personal responsibility but rather to
public health."
"It is time to bust the myth of the role of saturated in
heart disease and wind back the harms of dietary advice that has
contributed to obesity."
Sweden - The First Nation To Develop Guidelines Rejecting Low-Fat Myth
Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a GP and author of The Great Cholesterol
Con, said Sweden had become the first western nation to develop
national dietary guidelines that rejected the low-fat myth, in favour
of low-carb high-fat nutrition advice.
He said "around the world, the tide is turning, and science is overturning anti-fat dogma. Recently, the
Swedish Council on Health Technology assessment
has admitted that a high fat diet improves blood sugar levels,
reduces triglycerides improves 'good' cholesterol - all signs of
insulin resistance, the underlying cause of diabetes - and has nothing
but beneficial effects, including assisting in weight loss."
Aseem Malhotra is to be congratulated for stating the truth that has been suppressed for the last forty years.
Professor Robert Lustig, Paediatric Endocrinologist,
University of San Francisco said "Food should confer wellness, not
illness. And real food does just that, including saturated fat."
But when saturated fat got mixed up with the high sugar added
to processed food in the second half of the 20th century, it got a
bad name. Which is worse, the saturated fat or the added sugar?
The American Heart Association has weighed in - the sugar
many times over. Instead of lowering serum cholesterol with statins,
which is dubious at best, how about serving up some real food?
Timothy Noakes, Professor of Exercise and Sports Science,
University of Cape Town, South Africa said "focusing on an elevated
blood cholesterol concentration as the exclusive cause of coronary
heart disease is unquestionably the worst medical error of our time.
After reviewing all the scientific evidence I draw just one conclusion -
Never prescribe a statin drug for a loved one."
Natasha Longo
has a master's degree in nutrition and is a certified
fitness and nutritional counselor. She has consulted
on public health policy and
procurement in Canada, Australia, Spain, Ireland,
England and Germany.
