UFFE RAVNSKOV
author of The Cholesterol Myths
UFFE RAVNSKOV is radical. He is so radical that, on a television show in Finland, his critics set his book on fire!
His website (or a website about him) says: If you think this is written by another internet crackpot, take a look at Dr Ravnskov's credentials and the reviews of his book.
The book in question is titled The Cholesterol Myths. Its main argument is that cholesterol is not harmful to health but, in fact, healthy. Its author is certainy no internet crackpot. His credentials are, indeed, impressive.
Uffe Ravnskov graduated with a medical degree in 1961 and, in 1973, obtained a PhD in Chemistry. Between 1975 and 1979, he was Assistant Professor at the Department of Nephrology, University Hospital, in Lund, Sweden. Ravnskov went into private practice in 1980 and, in 2000, retired to become a full-time independent researcher.
More significantly, Uffe Ravnskov has published over 80 scientific papers and letters in peer-reviewed journals criticizing what is commonly called the Lipid Hypothesis of heart disease – the belief that dietary saturated fats and cholesterol clog arteries and cause atherosclerosis and heart disease.
Uffe Ravnskov began studying cholesterol in 1989, the year Sweden launched an anti-cholesterol campaign.
“Very soon I realised that the scientific evidence behind the campaign was non-existing,” he writes.
Among the many research findings published in scientific journals, Uffe Ravnskov discovered that:
lowering cholesterol did not result in lower death rates from heart disease, but in HIGHER death rates from all causes.
drug trials with an allegedly positive outcome was cited almost only by the trial directors, although the numbers of trials with an allegedly positive and a negative outcome were identical.
the successful dissemination of the diet-heart idea is due to authors systematically ignoring or misquoting discordant studies.
Uffe Ravnskov also discovered that LDL, commonly called “bad cholesterol”, actually protects against infections. This led him to put forward the hypothesis that high cholesterol, rather than promoting atherosclerosis, in fact may protect against it.
Uffe Ravnskov first summarised his research findings in a book, first published in Sweden in 1991, whose title translates to The Cholesterol Myths.
In 1992, the book was published in Finland. That was when his critics burned the book during a television show about it.
In 2000, an updated and expanded English edition of The Cholesterol Myths was published in the United States.
In 2002, a German edition of The Cholesterol Myths was published.
In his book, Uffe Ravnskov critically analyzes and demolishes the nine main myths of the Lipid Hypothesis:
High-fat foods cause heart disease
High cholesterol causes heart disease
High fat foods raise blood cholesterol
Cholesterol blocks arteries
Animal studies prove the diet-heart idea that diet affects heart disease
Lowering your cholesterol will lengthen your life
Polyunsaturated oils are good for you
The cholesterol campaign (to have people reduce their cholesterol levels) is based on good science
All scientists support the diet-heart idea.
All the above statements, Uffe Ravnskov maintains, are NOT TRUE. And he backs his assertions with solid scientific research.
Ancel Keys' Seven Countries Study
Uffe Ravnskov starts off with a critical analysis of the original 1950s research that gave rise to the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease – Dr Ancel Keys Six Countries Study, which later became the more famous Seven Countries Study published in 1980.
The Seven Countries Study – which gathered data on heart disease of some 13,000 men in Greece, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Japan, Finland and the Netherlands over several decades – is widely considered to be one of the greatest epidemological studies ever undertaken.
Ancel Keys' Seven Countries Study showed that countries with the highest animal fat intake have the highest rates of heart disease. And this is frequently cited as “proof” that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease.
Uffe Ravnskov informs us, however, that Ancel Keys had deliberately hand-picked the countries he included in his studies. In other words, Ancel Keys chose to study only those countries that supported his hypothesis.
Yet there are many other countries where high consumption of animal fat DID NOT cause heart disease. But, Ufee Ravnskov points out, Ancel Keys ignored those countries.
Dangers of statins and other cholesterol lowering drugs
Uffe Ravnskov is also highly critical of statins, the cholesterol-loweing drugs that are widely hailed as miracle “wonder drugs”.
He presents scientific evidence that show:
drug trials involving statins produced only neglible reductions in the rates of heart disease
lowering cholesterol did not reduce the death rate from heart disease but INCREASED the overall death rate from all causes
whatever positive benefits associated with the use of statins are due to factors other than cholesterol-lowering.
statins are probable carcinogens and women on statins have reported higher rates of breast cancer.
Uffe Ravnskov warns that exposure to carcinogens may result in cancer only after 20 or more years. And since there has not been controlled studies on statins over such long periods, we do not know whether the use of statins will lead to increased rates of cancer in the coming decades.
"“Millions of people are being treated with medications the ultimate effects of which are not yet known.”
– Uffe Ravnskov
Of course, it is not just Uffe Ravnskov saying all this and more. What he tells us about saturated fats and high cholesterol foods comes mainly from studying the reports of other scientists. He further tells us that…
The reason why laymen, doctors and most scientists have been misled is because opposing and disagreeing results are systematically ignored or misquoted in the scientific press.
Cholesterol sceptics
Myth Number 9 in Uffe Ravnskov's book is that “All scientists support the diet-heart idea.”
This certainly is not true and Uffe Ravnskov has gathered a large – and growing – group of doctors, scientists, academics and science writers in The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS).
Members of the group may disagree about what causes heart disease. But they share one thing in common.
The website of THINCS state:
"For decades, enormous human and financial resources have been wasted on the cholesterol campaign, more promising research areas have been neglected, producers and manufacturers of animal food all over the world have suffered economically, and millions of healthy people have been frightened and badgered into eating a tedious and flavorless diet or into taking potentially dangerous drugs for the rest of their lives.
As the scientific evidence in support of the cholesterol campaign is non-existent, we consider it important to stop it as soon as possible."
http://www.stop-trans-fat.com/uffe-ravnskov.html
Showing posts with label Stroke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stroke. Show all posts
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Saturated Fat - The misunderstood nutrient
by by Vreni Gurd | Fri, 04/06/2007 - 11:15pm
We are told that saturated fat and trans fat are terrible for us. The distinction must be made. Saturated fats are healthy, trans fats are not.
Saturated fats have been vilified as being the cause of heart disease, some cancers, and the obesity epidemic. Although heart disease and cancer were rare before 1920, the incidences of these diseases have increased dramatically since then. By as early as 1950, heart disease was the leading killer of Americans. However, contrary to what one would expect if the saturated fat/heart disease hypothesis were true, the consumption of animal fat between 1910 and 1970 DECREASED by 21% and the consumption of butter DECREASED from eighteen pounds per person per year to only four, according to the research of Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. Furthermore, over that same time span the consumption of refined vegetable oils much of it consumed as partially hydrogenated or trans fat, INCREASED by 400%, and the consumption of sugar and processed foods INCREASED by 60%. Current Canadian 2006 data (thank you Chris Williams!) suggest that those trends are continuing, with a continued decrease in the consumption of high saturated- fat foods like full-fat milks, eggs and red meat between 1970 and 2006. Since 1981, butter consumption (a saturated fat) has decreased by a third, while the consumption of salad oil (refined and therefore rancid polyunsaturated vegetable oils) has more than tripled. Shortening consumption (a trans fat) has remained relatively constant. So considering the continued decline in saturated fat consumption, blaming heart disease on saturated fat makes no sense (see this study published in the Lancet). To fully understand how it is possible that we find ourselves in this position where we are being told to eat refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils which are disease-causing and avoid saturated fats which are health promoting, read The Oiling of America by Mary Enig, PhD, fats and oils researcher, and Sally Fallon. The insight into the politics of food is scary.
All fats and oils are made up of a mixture of saturated, mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Calling animal fats "saturated fats" is very misleading, as many animal fats are actually more than 50% unsaturated, and chicken fat is actually 70% unsaturated. If a fat were completely saturated it would be very solid with the consistency of hard wax. For example, beef fat or tallow is made up of about 50% saturated fatty acids (25% palmitic acid, 22% stearic acid and others), 40% monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, the main fatty acid in olive oil), and the balance polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic, the ratio depending on the diet of the cattle).
Saturated fatty acids are critical to maintaining the structure and rigidity of our cells by making cell membranes out of phospholipids and cholesterol, and they act as enzyme and hormone regulators thereby playing an integral role in cell messaging. When the body is fooled and incorporates trans fats into the cell membrane instead of saturated fats, cell messaging no longer works, which is one of the reasons trans fats are so dangerous.
Saturated fats are necessary for calcium to be incorporated into our bones, so no-fat or skim milk won't work as a calcium source, unless you eat some saturated fat in your meal. Saturated fats are needed to boost immune function, and to build a healthy nervous system and digestive tract. Saturated fats are the base material out of which the body makes cholesterol, which is the precursor to such critical hormones as vitamin D, cortisol, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone, as well as bile acids which are necessary for the digestion of fats. Fats also are needed as carriers for the fat soluble vitamins (the antioxidant vitamins), like vitamin A, E, D, K, and a low fat diet can lead to deficiencies in these nutrients. Saturated fats are also needed to be able to utilize omega 3 fatty acids easily. Breast milk is high in saturated fat for a reason - it is vital for the healthy development of the baby! Does it make sense that saturated fats which are vital for a baby are suddenly poison for an adult?
Fat is also needed to feel satisfied after a meal. Mary Enig says in her book Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol that "as a result of the presence of fat in the small intestine, special hormones are produced that prevent hunger contractions. ... Too much fat in the diet and the loss of weight is thwarted; too little and the hunger pangs play havoc with good intentions and usually lead to overeating carbohydrates."
Saturated fatty acids can be broken down into three groups - short chain, medium chain and long chain. The short and medium chain saturated fatty acids don't turn into body fat unless consumed in very large quantities, but rather are utilized immediately by the body for energy. Therefore fats that contain more short to medium chain fatty acids have less calories than the same amount of longer chain fatty acids. According to Mary Enig, in her book Know Your Fats: the Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol, a pound of coconut oil has 100 kilocalories less than a pound of soybean oil. And yes, butter has less calories than margarine, although not much less.
If you are eating high quality fats, such as pasture fed, non-medicated, organic eggs, dairy, poultry, and meat, you are doing your body good. If you are eating conventionally raised poultry and meat, it is a good idea to cut off the fat, as the medications, hormones and pesticides consumed by the animal will be concentrated in the fat, which will in turn be concentrated in your fat. Cook only with pasture-fed organic butter, ghee, tallow or chicken fat, or organic coconut oil, or unrefined or cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (low to medium temperatures only), as these fats are stable and won't oxidize and go rancid when heated. To find out what ratio of fat, protein and carbohydrates are appropriate for you according to your own personal biochemistry, get yourself metabolically typed at Healthexcel, and receive a food list of appropriate foods for you. Some people require more quality fats to be healthy than others.
We are told that saturated fat and trans fat are terrible for us. The distinction must be made. Saturated fats are healthy, trans fats are not.
Saturated fats have been vilified as being the cause of heart disease, some cancers, and the obesity epidemic. Although heart disease and cancer were rare before 1920, the incidences of these diseases have increased dramatically since then. By as early as 1950, heart disease was the leading killer of Americans. However, contrary to what one would expect if the saturated fat/heart disease hypothesis were true, the consumption of animal fat between 1910 and 1970 DECREASED by 21% and the consumption of butter DECREASED from eighteen pounds per person per year to only four, according to the research of Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. Furthermore, over that same time span the consumption of refined vegetable oils much of it consumed as partially hydrogenated or trans fat, INCREASED by 400%, and the consumption of sugar and processed foods INCREASED by 60%. Current Canadian 2006 data (thank you Chris Williams!) suggest that those trends are continuing, with a continued decrease in the consumption of high saturated- fat foods like full-fat milks, eggs and red meat between 1970 and 2006. Since 1981, butter consumption (a saturated fat) has decreased by a third, while the consumption of salad oil (refined and therefore rancid polyunsaturated vegetable oils) has more than tripled. Shortening consumption (a trans fat) has remained relatively constant. So considering the continued decline in saturated fat consumption, blaming heart disease on saturated fat makes no sense (see this study published in the Lancet). To fully understand how it is possible that we find ourselves in this position where we are being told to eat refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils which are disease-causing and avoid saturated fats which are health promoting, read The Oiling of America by Mary Enig, PhD, fats and oils researcher, and Sally Fallon. The insight into the politics of food is scary.
All fats and oils are made up of a mixture of saturated, mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Calling animal fats "saturated fats" is very misleading, as many animal fats are actually more than 50% unsaturated, and chicken fat is actually 70% unsaturated. If a fat were completely saturated it would be very solid with the consistency of hard wax. For example, beef fat or tallow is made up of about 50% saturated fatty acids (25% palmitic acid, 22% stearic acid and others), 40% monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, the main fatty acid in olive oil), and the balance polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic, the ratio depending on the diet of the cattle).
Saturated fatty acids are critical to maintaining the structure and rigidity of our cells by making cell membranes out of phospholipids and cholesterol, and they act as enzyme and hormone regulators thereby playing an integral role in cell messaging. When the body is fooled and incorporates trans fats into the cell membrane instead of saturated fats, cell messaging no longer works, which is one of the reasons trans fats are so dangerous.
Saturated fats are necessary for calcium to be incorporated into our bones, so no-fat or skim milk won't work as a calcium source, unless you eat some saturated fat in your meal. Saturated fats are needed to boost immune function, and to build a healthy nervous system and digestive tract. Saturated fats are the base material out of which the body makes cholesterol, which is the precursor to such critical hormones as vitamin D, cortisol, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone, as well as bile acids which are necessary for the digestion of fats. Fats also are needed as carriers for the fat soluble vitamins (the antioxidant vitamins), like vitamin A, E, D, K, and a low fat diet can lead to deficiencies in these nutrients. Saturated fats are also needed to be able to utilize omega 3 fatty acids easily. Breast milk is high in saturated fat for a reason - it is vital for the healthy development of the baby! Does it make sense that saturated fats which are vital for a baby are suddenly poison for an adult?
Fat is also needed to feel satisfied after a meal. Mary Enig says in her book Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol that "as a result of the presence of fat in the small intestine, special hormones are produced that prevent hunger contractions. ... Too much fat in the diet and the loss of weight is thwarted; too little and the hunger pangs play havoc with good intentions and usually lead to overeating carbohydrates."
Saturated fatty acids can be broken down into three groups - short chain, medium chain and long chain. The short and medium chain saturated fatty acids don't turn into body fat unless consumed in very large quantities, but rather are utilized immediately by the body for energy. Therefore fats that contain more short to medium chain fatty acids have less calories than the same amount of longer chain fatty acids. According to Mary Enig, in her book Know Your Fats: the Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol, a pound of coconut oil has 100 kilocalories less than a pound of soybean oil. And yes, butter has less calories than margarine, although not much less.
If you are eating high quality fats, such as pasture fed, non-medicated, organic eggs, dairy, poultry, and meat, you are doing your body good. If you are eating conventionally raised poultry and meat, it is a good idea to cut off the fat, as the medications, hormones and pesticides consumed by the animal will be concentrated in the fat, which will in turn be concentrated in your fat. Cook only with pasture-fed organic butter, ghee, tallow or chicken fat, or organic coconut oil, or unrefined or cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (low to medium temperatures only), as these fats are stable and won't oxidize and go rancid when heated. To find out what ratio of fat, protein and carbohydrates are appropriate for you according to your own personal biochemistry, get yourself metabolically typed at Healthexcel, and receive a food list of appropriate foods for you. Some people require more quality fats to be healthy than others.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Vitamin D protects against stroke
Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death (140,000 per year in the US) in the US and Canada. Adverse drug reactions are the third leading cause of death (180,000 deaths per year in the US) in the US and Canada. Everyone is very concerned about having a stroke because of the major disability it can cause.
A study published in September 2008, revealed that for every small decrease in blood levels of vitamin D there was a startling 86% increase in fatal strokes. The researchers concluded that low levels of 25 hydorxyvitamin D levels are independently predictive of fatal strokes and they suggest that vitamin D supplementation is a promising approach in the prevention of strokes.
Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)
A study published in September 2008, revealed that for every small decrease in blood levels of vitamin D there was a startling 86% increase in fatal strokes. The researchers concluded that low levels of 25 hydorxyvitamin D levels are independently predictive of fatal strokes and they suggest that vitamin D supplementation is a promising approach in the prevention of strokes.
Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)
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