Fats are not the enemy

Allison Aubrey presented a case for adding some fat to our diets on  NPR's Morning Edition as few weeks back.

Fats have been the target of most of the popular dietary plans. They are looked upon as the enemy to any healthy lifestyle. But is that justifiable and right?

It is well documented that saturated fats can raise the LDL ( Low-density lipoprotein)in the blood, which is the so-called bad cholesterol. Whereas on the other end, plant-based fats such as those found in nuts and olive oil are actually beneficial to our heart health and can help reduce the risk of heart disease. Yet it seems the risks might be more then the benefits, leading most of us to minimize fats intake whenever trying to eat healthy.

Thus the task of  convincing most of us to bring some ats back into our diets is a tough one.
Here is an excerpts of what experts had to say to Allison Aubrey on the subject;

"Fat was really the villain," says , who is chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. And, by default, people "had to load up on carbohydrates."
But, by the mid-1990s, Willett says, there were already signs that the high-carb, low-fat approach might not lead to fewer heart attacks and strokes. He had a long-term study underway that was aimed at evaluating the effects of diet and lifestyle on health.
"We were finding that if people seemed to replace saturated fat — the kind of fat found in cheese, eggs, meat, butter — with carbohydrate, there was no reduction in heart disease," Willett says.
Willett submitted his data to a top medical journal, but he says the editors would not publish his findings. His paper was turned down.
"There was a lot of resistance to anything that would question the low-fat guidelines," Willett says, especially the guidelines on saturated fat.
Willett's was eventually published by a British medical journal, the BMJ, in 1996.

But here's where it gets interesting: "We've learned that carbohydrates aren't neutral," explains , an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School.
"[Carbs] were the base of the pyramid," says Mozaffarian. The message was "eat all carbohydrates you want."
Americans took this as a green light to eat more refined grains such as breads, processed snack foods and white pasta.
"But carbohydrates worsen glucose and insulin — they have negative effects on blood cholesterol levels," he says. The thinking that it's OK to swap saturated fats for these refined carbs "has not been useful advice."
He says it's clear that saturated fats can raise LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol. But that's only one risk factor for heart disease.
There's now evidence that — compared with carbs — saturated fat can raise HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) and lower trigylcerides in the blood, which are both countering effects to heart disease, he says.
"When you put all of this together," says Mozaffarian, what you see is that saturated fat has a relatively neutral effect compared with carbs. He says it's "not a beneficial effect but not a harmful effect. And I think that's what the recent studies show." He points to a of studies published in 2010.
He also points to a highly publicized that concludes there's no convincing evidence to support the dietary recommendations to limit saturated fat.
The in that paper have created quite a bit of controversy. For instance, the American Heart Association it stands by its recommendations to limit saturated fat.


Although these new points of view don't say 'Go ahead and load up on fats' they do make it clear that fats should not be excluded from our diets completely. Maybe moderation is a good way to go with all diets. 

 
References:
Rethinking Fat: The Case For Adding Some Into Your Diet (NPR)

 

Reduce all animal proteins in our diet to live longer

It has been well documented that consumption of too much red meat as an adult can lead increased risk for type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.

Now researchers in the US and Italy have gathered enough data, over a period of two decades, to conclude that individuals who have diets high in animal proteins during their middle age are four times more likely to die of cancer then their counterparts who had diets low in animal proteins. A risk some have compared with smoking. An increased risk of developing Diabetes Type 2 was also observed.

Valter Longo, a University of Southern California gerontology professor and director of the school’s Longevity Institute, who co-authored the study pointed out "The great majority of Americans could reduce their protein intake," and added "The best change would be to lower the daily intake of all proteins, but especially animal-derived proteins."

The interesting finding though was the fact that if you started eating more animal proteins after the age of 66 years, it is actually good for your health.


Here are two articles on the subject:

Too much animal-based proteins could lead to early death, study says ( Brady Dennis for The Washington Post)

It's time to kick the high-protein diet habit – before it kills you (Holly Baxter for The Guardian)


Reference:

Low Protein Intake Is Associated with a Major Reduction in IGF-1, Cancer, and Overall Mortality in the 65 and Younger but Not Older Population

Shift work clearly detrimental to health

It is a fact that doing the night shift at work is terribly hard. It not only affect our personal and social lives it also throws our whole sleep cycle into chaos. Now scientists at the Sleep Research Center Surrey have found definite proof that night work can lead to long term damage starting at molecular level. Night shift work has been linked to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart attacks and cancer.

According to an article in BBC World News by James Gallagher;
'Experts said the scale, speed and severity of damage caused by being awake at night was a surprise.

The human body has its own natural rhythm or body clock tuned to sleep at night and be active during the day.
It has profound effects on the body, altering everything from hormones and body temperature to athletic ability, mood and brain function.'

Scientists observed 22 individuals as their bodies adjusted from their normal patterns to working the night shift. Preliminary blood test showed that 6% genes had precise daily activity cycles. As the individuals got into a night work routine, these cycles were thrown off. 
The researchers call this 'Chrono-Chaos', here the scientists on the team explain it;

"Over 97% of rhythmic genes become out of sync with mistimed sleep and this really explains why we feel so bad during jet lag, or if we have to work irregular shifts," said Dr Simon Archer, one of the researchers at the University of Surrey.
Fellow researcher Prof Derk-Jan Dijk said every tissue in the body had its own daily rhythm, but with shifts that was lost with the heart running to a different time to the kidneys running to a different time to the brain.
He told the BBC: "It's chrono-chaos. It's like living in a house. There's a clock in every room in the house and in all of those rooms those clocks are now disrupted, which of course leads to chaos in the household."
Prof Dijk added: "We of course know that shift work and jet lag is associated with negative side effects and health consequences.
"They show up after several years of shift work. We believe these changes in rhythmic patterns of gene expression are likely to be related to some of those long-term health consequences."

According to Web MD about 8.6 million people do shift work, meaning either they work the night shift or they rotate shifts during the week.  These include police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, pilots, waitresses, truck drivers, and many more professionals. Even a personal trainer who works out at the gym with clients in the early mornings and evenings is a shift worker.
Some of the short term health problems seen more commonly in shift workers are; 

• Gastrointestinal symptoms like upset stomach, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and heartburn
• Increased risk of injuries and accidents
• Insomnia
• Decreased quality of life
• General feeling of being unwell

Whereas the long term effects on health are harder to measure but there has been compelling proof that shift workers might be more prone to these long term medical problems;

• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes and Metabolic Disorder
• Depression and Mood Disorders
• Serious Gastrointestinal Problems
• Obesity
• Problems with Fertility and Pregnancy
• Cancer

 Although most of these long term effects may occur only after decades of disruptive shift work, but some health problems might develop much faster. For many professions shift work is inevitable, hence can not be completely avoided. In those cases, here are some suggestions on the Web MD to help minimize the damage:

• Eat Well and Exercise
• Get enough Sleep
• Change your Schedule
• See your Doctor

P.S:
References

Night work 'throws body into chaos' (BBC World News)

The Health Risks of Shift Work (Web MD)

Reduce risk of diabetes by making small lifestyle changes...

A recent trial by researchers at University of Edinburgh specifically focusing on individuals of South Asian descent, has shown that even small changes in lifestyle can lead to weight loss and significantly reduce the risk of type 2 Diabetes. It has been seen that men of Pakistani and Indian descent are three times more likely to develop diabetes as compared to men from the general population with similar body mass indexes.

This trial titled "Culturally adapting the prevention of diabetes and obesity in South Asians (PODOSA) trial", included 171 individuals of Pakistani and Indian descent living in Scotland with impaired glycemia thus at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

As most South Asian cultural activities and traditions revolve around family and food. Participants were given detailed dietary advice by dieticians and provided culturally relevant lifestyle change plans and resources. The trials made use of professional translators and multilingual professionals for communicating instructions to participants. Also many of the manual and pamphlets were translated into participants' preferred languages, such as Urdu, Hindi, and Punjabi. In contrast, the control group was given basic instructions on weight control and management, it was not culturally specific.

According to Professor Raj Bhopal of Edinburgh University's Population Health Sciences Center 'These differing approaches show us that a more family-centred strategy, with culturally tailored lifestyle advice, can produce significant benefits to people's health through weight loss.'

 Although trials in Europe and North America have not so far reported on the impact on South Asian populations separately or provided the details of their cross-cultural adaptation processes. But there might be a more positive outcome of such efforts when instructions and advice are culture specific.



P.S: Small Lifestyle changes 'lower type 2 diabetes risk' (BBC World: Health)