Saturated fat does not clog the arteries

There are many people who blindly believe what others say simply because it goes against the accepted norm.

There are also people who believe the accepted norm because it is...the accepted norm.

This blog is all about analysis, about presenting different views, about THINKING before believing.

Please read this Journal article by Malhotra and others. Ask yourself whether these populists have books to sell, lectures to charge for, media exposure to welcome and encourage. Ask yourself also whether what they say is true.

Here is the paper

Also ask yourself what the effect might be on people who believe what they are saying:

a. If their analysis is correct

b. If their analysis is wrong

We are talking about quality of life on the one hand but life and death on the other.

Here is a reaction:

Prof. Alun Hughes, Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology and Pharmacology & Associate Director of the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, said:

“This editorial is muddled and adds to confusion on a contentious topic. The authors present no really new evidence, misrepresent some existing evidence, and fail to adequately acknowledge the limitations in the evidence that they use to support their point of view.

“I agree that there is only weak and inconclusive evidence that dietary saturated fats cause coronary heart disease, although the evidence is not as conclusively negative as they claim.1 Some other assertions made by the authors are specious.  For example they say that emphasis on lowering plasma cholesterol ‘by ‘low-fat’ foods and medication’ is ‘misguided’, but lumping low-fat foods together with medication is highly misleading – the evidence for benefit of cholesterol-lowering medication on cardiovascular disease and total mortality is very convincing2.

“Other statements are unsupported by evidence.  What is the evidence that ‘Childhood  trauma can lead to an average decrease in life expectancy of 20 years’?  This is unreferenced.  Some of their statements confuse correlation with causation – e.g. while observational studies demonstrate positive associations between more exercise and more life expectancy this has yet to be demonstrated in randomized clinical trials,3 and a recent randomized lifestyle intervention including physical activity showed no benefit on cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes4.”

1 Hooper L, Martin N, Abdelhamid A, Davey Smith G. Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015; (6): Cd011737.

2 Chou R, Dana T, Blazina I, Daeges M, Jeanne TL. Statins for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Adults: Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA 2016; 316(19): 2008-24.

3  Seron P, Lanas F, Pardo Hernandez H, Bonfill Cosp X. Exercise for people with high cardiovascular risk. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2014; (8): Cd009387.

4 Wing RR, Bolin P, Brancati FL, et al. Cardiovascular effects of intensive lifestyle intervention in type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med 2013; 369(2): 145-54.