86Thousand400: Fat (Carbohydrates) and Heart Disease

Graph Evidence

- In 1952 Ancel Keys PhD published a paper apparently showing a strong linear relationship between the amount of fat ingested by the citizens of 6 different countries and the incidence of heart disease in those countries. The iconic figure was used as 'proof' of the still unproven theory that especially fat in the diet causes heart disease. The study shows an association between two variables, but association also studies prove absolutely nothing

- The annual number of deaths from heart disease in the US began to rise shortly after WW1. The rise and subsequent fall in heart disease deaths nicely tracks the rise and fall of cigarette consumption. Smoking is one of the most potent causes of heart disease so that these two events could be causally related. Instead, after 1953 the US decided to find a specific nutritional cause for the rise of heart disease ignoring any potential role for changing smoking patterns in the US. Saturated fat was the chosen nutritional villain even though the consumption of saturated fat in the US has been falling since the early 1900s. But the consumption of sugar and polyunsaturated 'vegetable' oils has increased exponentially over the same time period

- The annual number of deaths from heart disease in each of the European countries is an inverse function of the percentage of daily calories derived from saturated fat so that countries that ingest the most saturated fat have the lowest annual heart disease rates. 'European paradox'

- Cardiovascular disease death rates and mean blood cholesterol concentrations for men and women in 171 countries. Results showed the higher the blood cholesterol concentrations the lower the cardiovascular disease death rates. This refute absolutely the false diet/heart hypothesis on Ancel Keys

- Rising incidence of obesity in the US begins in 1980. 3 years after publication of the 1977 USDGA which promoted the removal of fat from the diet

- The Food Pyramid promoted by the 1977 USDGA. The pyramid relegates the foods traditionally eaten to the third tier replacing them with 6 - 11 servings a day of foods that were first introduced to humans only 12,000 years ago and which were followed immediately by a reduction in human health best exemplified by the diseased bodies of the ancient Egyptian mummies

- The increased consumption of calories from carbohydrate matches exactly the increasing rates of obesity (and diabetes) beginning after 1980

Corn Production in the US after 1970

- Earl Butz, secretary of Agric

ulture, had 2 orders: bring down the price of food and increase the wealth of US farmers. Butz decided that the production of corn and soy on an industrial scale by farmers working as a huge conglomerate and receiving large subsidies was the solution to both "problems". His actions would have momentous effects on global health.

- If there is one single person to blame for the current obesity/diabetes epidemic, it is Secretary Butz (with help from Richard Nixon)

- How to convince the world that grains and cereals are healthier than the foods high in protein and fat that previous generations of healthy Americans had always eaten? Enter Senator George McGovern and his side-kick, vegetarian Nick Motten