According to the New Zealand Ministry of Health "Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment - Updated 2013" adjunct to the New Zealand Primary Care Handbook 2012. We are expected to comply with some form of lipid-lowering strategy to achieve "moderate reduction in LDL-C"
But this month the president of the American College of Cardiologists has come out with the following:
Later the handbook urges a diet largely free of saturated fat.
But the most recent meta-analyses of studies on the subject appearing in the BMJ says that saturated fats are not associated with CVD.
Furthermore, in the UK, where consumption of saturated fat has reduced by half in the period 1969-2000, incidence of obesity has almost doubled since 1993, lifetime risk of developing bowel cancer has doubled from 1975 to 2008, breast cancer rates have not quite doubled, while diabetes has more than doubled in the period 1994-2010. In contrast, Spain which has cut carbohydrate intake dramatically, while equally dramatically increasing meat consumption, have experienced decreased mortality in coronary heart disease and strokes. [3] Lastly, the urgings to minimise salt in our diet is counter-productive to our good health. Sodium is essential for correct functioning of our bodies and unless we have a minimum of 2500mg per day we increase our risk of heart attack. Current maximum recommended by health authorities is 2, 300. A summary of 23 studies, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, less than 2,500mg of sodium will deregulate aldosterone, raise plasma renin activity, increase insulin resistance, activate sympathetic nerve activity (fight or flight response), increases serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels - all of which are increased risk factors for CVD. On the other hand, another study shows increases in dietary sodium to be beneficial in decreasing plasma apolipoprotein B. More recent analysis of multiple studies shows a 'J' curve with regard to dietary sodium and mortality - too little and mortality increases and too much causes the same result. The current maximum puts us on the 'too little' part of the curve. REFERENCES
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Gregg SheehanProblem solver from way back. Currently working on the challenge of weight and health. Hence this website. Archives
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