Dr Livingstone vs the Heart Foundation: "Why are Margarine products given Heart Health tick"

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Gary:
The following is correspondence between the Australian Heart Foundation and Dr Keith Livingstone about the Foundation's awarding their "Heart Tick" to Goodman Fielder's margarine.

Regardless of who is right is wrong here, the problem I have with commercial schemes like the Heart Tick and the Cancer Society "Sun Smart" sunscreen sales is these consumer/patient advocacy agencies have consequently undermined their position of independence of commercial interests.

Because health knowledge is dynamic, the risk to these agencies is their substantial reliance on income from commercial product sales that may have once been regarded as "healthy" may bring about a reluctance to change, should it later arise that this once "healthy" product is no longer regarded as being healthy and possibly even harmful.

In my opinion the Heart Foundation's response to Dr Livingstone's letter is an attempt to defend what is now the indefensible.  While deaths from heart attack and stroke appear to have stabilised over the last 30-40 years, we have had a concurrent explosion in many other health conditions including chronic fatigue, arthritis, cancer, fibromyalgia, asthma, diabetes, obesity and depression.  I believe there is a link between these and many other ailments and the shift to low fat, heart healthy foods.

If we switch unwell people, who have been on heart healthy foods, to diets with a balance of proteins, saturated fats, vitamins and minerals, while cutting out the refined carbohydrates (The ones with the Heart Tick) and then lay them out in the midday sun, health gradually improves.

As you well know, both the Heart Foundation and the Cancer Society oppose these health measures, despite the growing body of evidence that these actually work to improve population health, while their measures do not.

Please read the letters below and enjoy the dabate.........

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Dr Livingstone:

To whom it concerns:

I find it amazing that an international margarine company advertising on Victorian TV tonight has been given the Heart Health “tick” when it is very clear that the hydrogenated vegetable oils turn normal plant oils into an unpredictable source of trans-fats, which are becoming notorious for

How Lowering your Cholesterol Destroys your Health

Prior to turning 50 I actively worked to reduce my cholesterol levels by reducing my animal fat intake and generally following a modern "Heart Healthy" diet as promoted by medical authorities including the Heart Foundation.

In hindsight, this was a bad move: My cholesterol levels continued to rise, I started having to get up in the middle of the night to pee, my running became laboured and painful and I was increasingly depressed about my work! I suffered cold hands and feet even in summer. Most disturbing of all; I was getting skin cancers all over the place.

The last couple of years have seen a dramatic reversal of this pathetic and disturbing decline which I depressingly assumed was signaling the onset of old age! I switched back to animal fats, including full fat dairy, eggs and meat. For the last year or so we have been drinking raw full fat milk (predominantly Type A-2).

The last four years has seen a steady and delightful improvement in my health. My cholesterol levels have dropped a little for the first time in 20 years.

Astonishing! My skin cancers have all disappeared, I no longer get up to pee in the middle of the night. I am running and cycling as fast and as long as I did 20 years ago. Oh - and libido is cranking along on all 8 cylinders!

For a good rundown about the biochemistry of cholesterol and its role in the body for the production of hormones like estrogen and testosterone and also how to combat inflammation, please click on the presentation in the upper left of this article. You may need to pause the presentation in places to read the slides properly.

I do not advocate a high fat, high meat diet
When reading these slides, please bear in mind that I am not advocating a high meat diet like the Atkins Diet or anything near that. while we eat a wide variety of meat, fish, eggs and dairy these are not in excess by any measures. Our family diet is rich in vegetables nuts, berries and fruit. Grains tend to be whole and little sugar is consumed other than that found in juices and honey.

The most important point to take from this presentation is the importance of adequate cholesterol for health, including the production of hormones that drive the body's processes.

In my opinion a total cholesterol level of between 4-5.5 4 mmol/L is just fine. Higher or lower and health may be at risk. If your levels are creeping up despite a low cholesterol diet, the reason may be partly due to lack of sunshine on your body! UVB radiation convert cholesterol into cholecalciferol. And cholecalciferol (vitamin d) combines with LDL cholesterol to form steroidal hormones. Gun this process up and cholesterol is put to good use!

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Here are just a few LIES about fat that you need to be aware of

We are being lied to (perhaps explicably!) by doctors and dieticians concerning FAT. This is unfortunate because in this country we have an essential fatty acid deficiency which is epidemic in proportion. Because essential fatty acid (EFAs) deficiencies can result in virtually every disease afflicting a person, it is easy to hide the true root of a disease's problem... and doctors can continue to sell the hapless individual expensive, dangerous, and ineffective pharmaceuticals a person doesn’t want or shouldn't need!

-You- must become semi-knowledgeable about fats because what you don't know can provoke illness, even kill you... or, at best (!) make you stupid. Here are just a few of the lies about FAT addressed in this paper:

1. Saturated fat is bad.
2. Unsaturated vegetable oil is good.
3. Margarine is more healthful than butter.
4. Coconut oil is bad.
5. Canola oil is better than olive oil.
6. One can meet EFA requirements through diet alone.
7. (Recent lie) Trans-fatty acids are now considered as bad as saturated fat.
8. (Another recent lie) The American Heart Association is concerned about your heart!

The following will answer the above misstatements of fact and provide the reasons why we're being lied too...

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More about bad fats

Eating just one meal high in saturated fat, in this case, carrot cake and a milkshake, can quickly prevent "good" cholesterol from protecting the body against clogged arteries, a small study shows........Saturated fat has long been linked to the buildup of plaque that can lead to heart attacks and strokes. HDL, the "good" cholesterol, protects arteries from the inflammation that leads to artery-clogging plaques. And plaque hurts the ability of arteries to expand to carry blood to tissues and organs.

The researchers, led by Dr. Stephen Nicholls, a cardiologist now at the Cleveland Clinic, found that three hours after eating the saturated-fat cake and shake, the lining of the arteries was hindered from expanding to increase blood flow. And after six hours, the anti-inflammatory qualities of the good cholesterol were reduced.

But the polyunsaturated meal seemed to improve those anti-inflammatory qualities. Also, fewer inflammatory agents were found in the arteries than before the meal.

Source: http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=1991b108-64bf-447f-a5fa-7ae13b55d029&k=49706

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Gary Moller comments:
This further cements the case for adding more of the healthy fats to your diet while reducing the less healthy fats mostly animal fats and I would add hydrogenated fats to the list: Oils that have been produced by industrial means - margarines and many of the cheaper cooking oils.

Fish oils, flaxseed oil, olive oil, walnut oil and many others can be added to the diet to provide a healthy balance.