Low Fat, Low-Cholesterol Diets
Not so Healthy

Robert, a British man who retired and built a home near me in Turkey, wanted my nutrition advice after going through a triple heart bypass operation.  Robert has always been lean, active, a non-smoker and followed a low-fat diet, yet at age 65, he began experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath.  Strangely, his blood cholesterol was a dangerously low 120 mg/dl.  Stranger still, after the bypass, his doctor prescribed a statin, a drug known for reducing blood cholesterol levels.  Robert’s doctor, like many physicians, believes the lower the blood cholesterol level, the better.  Current research suggests the opposite and may explain Robert’s heart problems.

Elderly people with low cholesterol die twice as often from a heart attack than did those with high cholesterol.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 1990; 272:1335-1340

Most Americans believe dietary cholesterol to be a poison, despite there being no research showing dietary saturated fat or cholesterol cause heart attacks, obesity or any other health problem.  In fact, many large studies show these natural substances protect against heart disease and certain kinds of stroke, cancer, depression, mental decline, and obesity.

Drug companies rely on our continued belief  that elevated blood cholesterol causes heart attacks. This keeps statins the top selling drug in the world.  Good for drug companies, not so good for you.  Statins come with side effects such as muscle weakness, and impaired liver function.  Additionally, new research on Zetia and Vytorin suggests they may be ineffective and may even increase artery plaque.

Although everyone has different nutritional needs and we all respond differently to changes in diet, most studies show a low-fat, low-saturated fat and low-cholesterol diet to be associated with increased risk of disease, obesity and early death.  This is particularly true in women, but in all of us as we age.

Take a look at the research:

Increasing butter, cheese and beef intake may improve your health.
A Harvard researcher team found that in 235 postmenopausal women with existing coronary heart disease, those who consumed the most saturated fat had the least narrowing of the arteries and least progression of coronary atherosclerosis.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004; 80:1175-1184  

A review of 21 studies on diet and heart disease reports not a single death has been prevented by low-fat diets. British Medical Journal, 2002;324:238.  

Early studies, including the 1998 Second International Conference on Fats and Oil Consumption in Health and Disease reported low-fat diets actually induced arteriosclerosis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,1998; 67(suppl);497S-499S; American Journal of Medicine, 1998;105:58S-62S. 

In 1997 the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research released a 700 page report entitled “Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer.”  Experts reported there was neither convincing nor probable reason to believe fat-rich diets increased cancer risk. Good Calories, Bad Calories, Taubes pg. 74

Reaching for Butter, Not Vegetable Oil, May Keep You Alive Longer
Men fed three tablespoons of butter showed lower cholesterol and harmful low density fat particles in the hours after eating the butter than when fed the same amount of soybean oil or olive oil. Journal of Nutrition, 2002;132:3642-3649

In a British study, 80 patients with heart disease were divided into three groups: one group restricted in animal fat and given four tablespoons corn oil; another group also restricted in animal fat group but given four tablespoons olive oil; and a third control group told to eat all the butter and other animal fats they wished.  After two years the corn oil folks had 30 percent lower cholesterol levels but only about half of them were still alive.  In contrast 75 percent of the animal-fat eating group was still alive.  The olive oil eaters fared slightly better than the corn oil eaters, at 57 percent living, worse than the animal fat eating group.  British Medical Journal, 1965;1:1531-1533.

Don’t be Afraid to Enjoy Steak and Bacon
Harvard School of Public Health researcher Walter Willet takes trans fats out of the saturated fat studies and finds saturated fat from animal sources does not cause cancer and heart disease as originally thought but rather it was the margarine that skewed the data. Society for Epidemiology Research, June 1992, Annual Meeting, Abstract 249.



Eat Your Eggs
 
 

In looking at the residents of Framingham, Massachusetts, a large study found no difference in heart disease rates between those eating the most eggs and those eating the least.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1982;36:617-625.   

In looking at 24 countries, the World Health Organization found the higher the egg intake, the lower the rate of heart disease.  The top egg consumers, France, Japan and Spain, have the world’s lowest cardiovascular disease death rates. New England Journal of Med, 1997,337:1491-1499.

Harvard researchers looked at 117,000 health professionals and found no difference in heart disease risk between those eating less than one egg per week or those eating two or more eggs per week.  Journal of the American Medical Association, 1999;281:1387-1394.

Use Fat or Oil on Your Vegetables
When subjects consume lutein, a carotenoid (an antioxidant) from dark leafy greens that protects against macular degeneration, cataracts and cancer, they absorb more when their vegetables are combined with a fat such as butter, olive oil or duck fat. Journal of Nutrition, 2004;134:1887-1893.

Subjects consuming salad with the most oil or avocado, enjoy the greatest increase in blood carotenoids (an antioxidant) concentrations while those using fat-free dressings had the least carotenoid absorption. Adding avocado to salad increases lycopene and beta-carotene absorption by 4.4 and 2.6 fold respectively.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004;80:396-403; Journal of Nutrition, 2005;135:431-436

Eat Fatty Fish 
A Chicago epidemiological study found Alzheimer’s disease is 60% lower in people who consume fatty fish at least once a week. Archives of Neurology, 2003;60:940-946.

Eating fatty fish regularly reduces risk of sudden cardiac death, improves blood pressure and benefits those at risk of ischemic heart disease.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2002;76:326-30.

In summary, don’t risk a heart attack, dementia, depression, cancer, obesity, vision-loss or early death by starving yourself of traditional, healing fats.   Include real grass-fed butter, finish grass fed meats, free range eggs and fatty fish.  Be generous with the olive oil and avocado on salads, and avoid common vegetable oils.

A Nutrition Therapy Program can guide you to the right fats for your constitution and health issues.

Learn more about preventing disease and burning fat when you Sign Up for my Top Nutrition Tips a monthly newsletter, see above in sidebar.

Links:
http://www.westonaprice.org/index.html
http://www.thincs.org/index.htm
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/index.html

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