High fat diets lower heart disease risk by 61%

This study was published in the International journal of environmental research and public health 2009 Oct;6(10):2626-38

Study title and authors:
Food choices and coronary heart disease: a population based cohort study of rural Swedish men with 12 years of follow-up.
Holmberg S, Thelin A, Stiernström EL.
Research and Development Centre, Kronoberg County Council, Box 1223, SE-351 12 Växjö, Sweden. sara.holmberg@ltkronoberg.se

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20054459

This study involved 1,752 men over 12 years and investigated the association of various food items with heart disease.

The study found:
(a) Daily intake of fruit and vegetables was associated with a 61% lower risk of coronary heart disease when combined with a high dairy fat consumption.
(b) Daily intake of fruit and vegetables was associated with a 70% higher risk of coronary heart disease when combined with a low dairy fat consumption.
(c) Choosing wholemeal bread or eating fish at least twice a week showed no association with the outcome.

We are always been advised by the 'experts' that fruit and vegetables are good for our health. This study finds this is only true if they are consumed with a high fat diet. Eating them with a low fat diet leads to a higher risk of heart disease.

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Artificial food colourings and preservatives lead to behavioural problems in children

This study was published in the Archives of  Disease in Childhood 2004 Jun;89(6):506-11

Study title and authors:
The effects of a double blind, placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative challenge on hyperactivity in a general population sample of preschool children.
Bateman B, Warner JO, Hutchinson E, Dean T, Rowlandson P, Gant C, Grundy J, Fitzgerald C, Stevenson J.
Infection, Inflammation and Repair Division, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15155391

The aim of the study was to determine whether artificial food colourings and a preservative in the diet of 3 year old children in the general population influence hyperactive behaviour.

A total of 1,873 children were included in the study, of which some showed signs of hyperactivity and/or atopy (allergies).

For the first week all children were subjected to a diet eliminating artificial colourings and benzoate preservatives (withdrawal phase). They then received, in random order, periods of dietary challenge with a drink containing artificial colourings (20 mg daily) and sodium benzoate (45 mg daily) (active period), or a placebo mixture, supplementary to their diet.

The study found:
(a) There were significant reductions in hyperactive behaviour during the withdrawal phase.
(b) There were significantly greater increases in hyperactive behaviour during the active than the placebo period based on parental reports.
(c) These effects were not influenced by the presence or absence of hyperactivity, nor by the presence or absence of atopy.

To conclude: There is a general adverse effect of artificial food colouring and benzoate preservatives on the behaviour of 3 year old children.

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The higher your cholesterol levels - the longer you live!

This study was published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 25 Sept 2011

Study title and authors:
Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study
Halfdan Petursson MD, Johann A. Sigurdsson MD Dr med, Calle Bengtsson MD Dr med, Tom I. L. Nilsen Dr Philos, Linn Getz MD PhD

Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

This study can be accessed at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01767.x/pdf

The study (ten years of duration) investigated if cholesterol levels are a risk factor for mortality in 52,087 individuals (24,235 men and 27,852 women) aged 20–74 years and free from known cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.

The study found:

(a) Compared with women whose cholesterol was under 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), those with a reading over 7.0 mmol/l (270 mg/dl) enjoyed a 28% reduction of death.

(b) Compared with men whose cholesterol was under 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), those with a reading over 7.0 mmol/l (270 mg/dl) enjoyed a 11% reduction of death.

(c) Compared with women whose cholesterol was under 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), those with a reading over 7.0 mmol/l (270 mg/dl) enjoyed a 26% reduction of cardiovascular diseases.

(d) Compared with men whose cholesterol was under 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), those with a reading up to 5.9 mmol/l (228 mg/dl) enjoyed a 20% reduction of cardiovascular diseases.

The study shows if you have cholesterol levels above 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), you will live longer.

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The "bad" low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels have NO association with heart disease rates

This study was published in Clinical Cardiology 2011 Sep;34(9):572-6

Study title and authors:

HDL-C Levels and Revascularization Procedures in Coronary Heart Disease Patients Treated With Statins to Target LDL-C Levels.
Elis A, Pereg D, Froom P, Lishner M, Segev D, Hermoni D.
Department of Medicine, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. avishayel@clalit.org.il.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21887688

This study of 909 male patients investigated the relationship of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels with revascularization procedures in men whose LDL levels had been reduced to under 100 mg/dL by statin use.

The study found the men who had the lowest HDL cholesterol had 24.2% more revascularization procedures than the men who had the highest HDL cholesterol.

All the men had been receiving statins to lower their LDL cholesterol. The statins had been successful in lowering their LDL-C to under 100mg/dL. This did not make a blind bit of difference to whether they had cardiovascular problems or not.

What did make a difference was the HDL-C levels. The higher the HDL-C, the less cardiovascular problems occurred. Guess what is the best diet to higher your HDL-C levels? A diet high in saturated fat. See here.

This study shows that it is worthless to take statins to lower your LDL cholesterol, as it makes not a jot of difference to cardiovascular problems. However it does show that high HDL cholesterol levels offer protection from cardiovascular diseases, and we have seen that a high saturated fat diet increase HDL cholesterol more than any other type of food.

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