Fats & Protein vs. Carbohyhdrates (Part 8)

[Guest guest]

THE OILING OF AMERICA (part 8)

90's SEE THE NATION WELL OILED

By the nineties the operators had succeeded, by slick manipulation

of the press and of scientific research, in transforming America

into a nation that was well and truly oiled. Consumption of butter

had bottomed out at about 5 grams per person per day, down from

almost 18 at the turn of the century. Use of lard and tallow had

been reduced by two-thirds. Margarine consumption had jumped from

less than 2 grams per person per day in 1909 to about 11 in 1960.

Since then consumption figures had changed little, remaining at

about 11 grams per person per day—perhaps because knowledge of

margarine's dangers had been slowly seeping out to the public.

However, most of the trans fats in the current American diet come

not from margarine but from shortening used in fried and fabricated

foods. American shortening consumption of 10 grams per person per

day held steady until the 1960's, although the content of that

shortening had changed from mostly lard, tallow and coconut

oil—all natural fats—to partially hydrogenated soybean oil.

Then shortening consumption shot up and by 1993 had tripled to over

30 grams per person per day.

But the most dramatic overall change in the American diet was the

huge increase in the consumption of liquid vegetable oils, from

slightly less than 2 grams per person per day in 1909 to over 30 in

1993—a fifteen fold increase.

DANGERS OF POLYUNSATURATES

The irony is that these trends have persisted concurrently with

revelations about the dangers of polyunsaturates. Because

polyunsaturates are highly subject to rancidity, they increase the

body's need for vitamin E and other antioxidants. Excess

consumption of vegetable oils is especially damaging to the

reproductive organs and the lungs—both of which are sites for

huge increases in cancer in the US. In test animals, diets high in

polyunsaturates from vegetable oils inhibit the ability to learn,

especially under conditions of stress; they are toxic to the liver;

they compromise the integrity of the immune system; they depress the

mental and physical growth of infants; they increase levels of uric

acid in the blood; they cause abnormal fatty acid profiles in the

adipose tissues; they have been linked to mental decline and

chromosomal damage; they accelerate aging. Excess consumption of

polyunsaturates is associated with increasing rates of cancer, heart

disease and weight gain; excess use of commercial vegetable oils

interferes with the production of prostaglandins leading to an array

of complaints ranging from autoimmune disease to PMS. Disruption of

prostaglandin production leads to an increased tendency to form

blood clots, and hence myocardial infarction, which has reached

epidemic levels in America.41

Vegetable oils are more toxic when heated. One study reported that

polyunsaturates turn to varnish in the intestines. A study by a

plastic surgeon found that women who consumed mostly vegetable oils

had far more wrinkles than those who used traditional animal fats. A

1994 study appearing in the Lancet showed that almost three quarters

of the fat in artery clogs is unsaturated. The " artery

clogging " fats are not animal fats but vegetable oils.42

Those who have most actively promoted the use of polyunsaturated

vegetable oils as part of a Prudent Diet are well aware of their

dangers. In 1971, B. Kannel, former director of the

Framingham study, warned against including too many polyunsaturates

in the diet. A year earlier, Dr. Connor of the American

Heart Association issued a similar warning, and Frederick Stare

reviewed an article which reported that the use of polyunsaturated

oils caused an increase in breast tumors. And Kritchevsky, way back

in 1969, discovered that the use of corn oil caused an increase in

atherosclerosis.43

As for the trans fats, produced in vegetable oils when they are

partially hydrogenated, the results that are now in the literature

more than justify concerns of early investigators about the relation

between trans fats and both heart disease and cancer. The research

group at the University of land found that trans fatty acids not

only alter enzymes that neutralize carcinogens, and increase enzymes

that potentiate carcinogens, but also depress milk fat production in

nursing mothers and decrease insulin binding.44 In other words,

trans fatty acids in the diet interfere with the ability of new

mothers to nurse successfully and increase the likelihood of

developing diabetes. Unpublished work indicates that trans fats

contribute to osteoporosis. Hanis, a Czechoslovakian researcher,

found that trans consumption decreased testosterone, caused the

production of abnormal sperm and altered gestation.45 Koletzko, a

German pediatric researcher found that excess trans consumption in

pregnant mothers predisposed them to low birth weight babies.46

Trans consumption interferes with the body's use of omega-3 fatty

acids found in fish oils, grains and green vegetables, leading to

impaired prostaglandin production.47 Mann confirmed that

trans consumption increases the incidence of heart disease.48 In

1995, European researchers found a positive correlation between

breast cancer rates and trans consumption.49

Until the 1995 study, only the disturbing revelations of Dutch

researchers Mensink and Katan, in 1990, received front page

coverage. Mensink and Katan found that margarine consumption

increased coronary heart disease risk factors.50 The industry—and

the press—responded by promoting tub spreads, which contain

reduced amounts of trans compared to stick margarine. For the

general population, these trans reductions have been more than

offset by changes in the types of fat used by the fast food

industry. In the early 1980's, Center for Science in the Public

Interest campaigned against the use of beef tallow for frying

potatoes. Before that they campaigned against the use of tallow for

frying chicken and fish. Most fast food concerns switched to

partially hydrogenated soybean oil for all fried foods. Some deep

fried foods have been tested at almost 50% trans.51

Epidemiologist Walter Willett at Harvard worked for many years with

flawed data bases which did not identify trans fats as a dietary

component. He found a correlation with dietary fat consumption and

both heart disease and cancer. After his researchers contacted Enig

about the trans data, they developed a more valid data base that was

used in the analysis of the massive Nurses Study. When Willett's

group separated out the trans component in their analyses, they were

able to confirm greater rates of cancer in those consuming margarine

and vegetable shortenings—not butter, eggs, cheese and meat.52

The correlation of trans fat consumption and cancer was never

published, but was reported at the Baltimore Data Bank Conference in

1992. In 1993 Willett's research group at Harvard found that

trans contributed to heart disease,53 and this study was not

ignored, but received much fanfare in the press. Willett's first

reference in his report was Enig's work on the trans content of

common foods. The industry continues to argue that American trans

consumption is a low six to eight grams per person per day, not

enough to contribute to today's epidemic of chronic disease.

Total per capita consumption of margarine and shortening hovers

around 40 grams per person per day. If these products contain 30%

trans (many shortenings contain more) then average consumption is

about 12 grams per person per day. In reality, consumption figures

can be dramatically higher for some individuals. A 1989 Washington

Post article documented the diet of a teenage girl who ate 12 donuts

and 24 cookies over a three day period. Total trans worked out to at

least 30 grams per day, and possibly much more. The fat in the chips

that teenagers consume in abundance may contain up to 48% trans

which translates into 45.6 grams of trans fat in a small ten-ounce

bag of snack chips—which a hungry teenager can gobble up in a few

minutes. High school sex education classes do not teach American

teenagers that the altered fats in their snack foods may severely

compromise their ability to have normal sex, conceive, give birth to

healthy babies and successfully nurse their infants.

BENEFITS OF ANIMAL FATS

Foods containing trans fat sell because the American public is

afraid of the alternative—saturated fats found in tallow, lard,

butter, palm and coconut oil, fats traditionally used for frying and

baking. Yet the scientific literature delineates a number of vital

roles for dietary saturated fats—they enhance the immune

system,54 are necessary for healthy bones,55 provide energy and

structural integrity to the cells,56 protect the liver57 and enhance

the body's use of essential fatty acids.58 Stearic acid, found in

beef tallow and butter, has cholesterol lowering properties and is a

preferred food for the heart.59 As saturated fats are stable, they

do not become rancid easily, do not call upon the body's reserves

of antioxidants, do not initiate cancer, do not irritate the artery

walls.

Your body makes saturated fats, and your body makes cholesterol—

about 2000 mg per day. In general, cholesterol that the average

American absorbs from food amounts to about 100 mg per day. So, in

theory, even reducing animal foods to zero will result in a mere 5%

decrease in the total amount of cholesterol available to the blood

and tissues. In practice, such a diet is likely to deprive the body

of the substrates it needs to manufacture enough of this vital

substance; for cholesterol, like saturated fats, stands unfairly

accused. It acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones

that help us deal with stress and protect the body against heart

disease and cancer; and to the sex hormones like androgen,

testosterone, estrogen and progesterone; it is a precursor to

vitamin D, a vital fat-soluble vitamin needed for healthy bones and

nervous system, proper growth, mineral metabolism, muscle tone,

insulin production, reproduction and immune system function; it is

the precursor to bile salts, which are vital for digestion and

assimilation of fats in the diet. Recent research shows that

cholesterol acts as an antioxidant.60 This is the likely explanation

for the fact that cholesterol levels go up with age. As an

antioxidant, cholesterol protects us against free radical damage

that leads to heart disease and cancer. Cholesterol is the body's

repair substance, manufactured in large amounts when the arteries

are irritated or weak. Blaming heart disease on high serum

cholesterol levels is like blaming firemen who have come to put out

a fire for starting the blaze.