The story of saturated fats and their proposed association with coronary heart disease is bewildering. Although it illustrates the great power of public health authorities and the food industry, it tragically exposes the frailty of governmental handling of health issues. When dietary and lifestyle recommendations don’t rely on solid scientific evidence, the outcome may be disastrous. Further damage may result from […]
HDL Cholesterol – The “Good” Cholesterol Explained
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL cholesterol) is commonly measured to assess the risk of heart disease. If you’ve had a blood sample drawn for assessment of lipid panel you probably already know if your cholesterol level is acceptable or not. You might also recall something about good and bad cholesterol and the ratio between these two. Of course, […]
Dietary Fat, Carbohydrates and Metabolic Syndrome
Time makes us fat. It’s not a myth, it’s a biologic fact. When we get old we get fat. In December 1863, William Banting, an English undertaker who went to great lengths to treat his own obesity, wrote in his now famous Letter on Corpulence: … For I have been generally informed that corpulence is one of the natural results of […]
Dietary Fat and Heart Disease – The Changing Landscape
Most of us know that the risk of heart disease can be modified by lifestyle. For more than fifty years, that’s what we’ve been taught by the people we trust, scientists, medical professionals and public health officials. But the doubters have always been out there, and they ask questions. How do these people know what’s […]
Will the Popularity of LCHF Trigger a New Epidemic of Heart Disease?
Diets low in carbohydrate and high in fat (LCHF) have become increasingly popular lately. Many experts in the field of epidemiology and cardiovascular disease have expressed grave concern and warned that this change in dietary pattern may increase the risk of heart disease. Some have argued that LCHF poses a threat to public health in […]