I recently attented a Consensensus Conference on the role of fats in
health. It was held in Cambridge, MA, sponsored by the Harvard School
of Public Health and the Oldways Preservation and Exchange Trust. The
scientists - and most of the big names were there - were charged to
come up with areas in which they agreed and those in which the data was
not yet complete enough to form a consensus. After a productive two
days of debate, they came to agreement on a couple of important issues.
Here are the two press releases that came out of the conference.
No doubt you will be hearing more about this conference in upcoming
weeks.
regards,
Ed Blonz, Ph.D.
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Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust
25 First Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
1 617 621-3000
January 30, 1998
For Immediate Release:
SCIENTISTS NOW SAY: FOCUS ON CALORIES, NOT
FAT!"
Cambridge MA: In a departure from currently popular dietary
messages, 50 international scientists agreed last week in Cambridge that
limiting daily calories is even more important to overall health. than
cutting fats.
The group, representing several science and medical disciplines
and a dozen different countries, agreed that otherwise healthful diets
need not limit fats to 30 percent, as current dietary guidance suggests,
as long as these diets are not excessive in calories
They defined a "healthful" diet as one rich in fruits, vegetables,
legumes. whole grains, fish, nuts. and low-fat dairy products. not
excessively high in calories, and low in saturated and partially
hydrogenated fats. Such diets would ideally include predominantly
monounsaturated oils, such as a olive oil, and, with the exception of
fish, would rely on a minimum of animal (meat) products.
It was the first time a scientific group of this size and
professional composition - members represented a cross-section of views
on the subject, from low-fat to high-fat advocates - clearly agreed
that trans fatty adds from partially-.hydrogenated vegetable oils
should be avoided and that consumers should be refocusing their dietary
attention on limiting calories.
The scientists - who met for two days in dosed-door sessions prior
to last week's 1998 International Conference on the Mediterranean Diet
in Cambridge, organized by Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust and
the Harvard School of Public Health - issued a consensus statement
reflecting the shift in focus away from limits on dietary fats. The
consensus was reached partly in response to paradoxical data that while
Americans overall are now consuming less dietary fat rates of obesity
have skyrocketed, posing serious and wide-ranging public health
concerns.
Products trumpeting the "low-fat" icon are often the same products
that contain high levels of sugar, salt, and trans fats (partially
hydrogenated fats found in snack crackers, many fast-foods, pastries,
and cookies) and consumers are gobbling them up. The trans fat and sugar
loads are far out of proportion to what a healthful diet should contain,
the group said.
In fact, the group specifically recommended that the intake of
trans fatty acids from partially hydrogenated oils should be minimized.
These trans fatty adds, they agreed, have been shown to have "adverse
effects" on blood cholesterol and other factors related to heart disease
and have "no counterbalancing nutritional benefit." (Partial
hydrogenation is the process by which liquid vegetable oils are hardened
into semi-solid fats for use in processed foods. Trans fatty acids are
formed as a byproduct of this process and are commonly found in snack
and fast-food products, crackers, pastries, and many processed foods.)
The scientists said that consumers should be informed of the
content of trans fatty adds in foods by effective food labeling, and
that such labeling should also be applied to restaurant foods. Trans
fatty acids are currently exempt from the food labeling laws.
The science summit was called to examine the level of
consensus among scientists on the relationships between dietary fat and
heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity, and to respond to consumer
confusion about how much and what kinds of dietary fats they should eat.
The group's statements were presented by Dr. Frank Sacks of the
Harvard School of Public Health, and K. Dun Gifford, President of
Oldways. The science group included researchers, physicians, and public
health officials from Argentina, Canada, England, France, Germany,
Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, a
number of U.S. universities and medical centers, and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
For additional information on the scientific sessions or other
presentations made at the Mediterranean Diet Conterence, contact Francie
King at Oldways1 617-621-3OOO, fax 617-621-1230, or email
oldways@tiac.net...
Oldways is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes
healthy eating based on the "old ways," the traditional healthy cuisines
of cultures around the world using foods grown and prepared in
environmentally sustainable ways.
**************************
*******
Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust
25 First Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
1 617 621-3000
January 28, 1998
For Immediate Release:
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTISTS REACH CONSENSYS ON DIETARY FAT ISSUES
Cambridge MA. In the first definitive statement of its kind, 50
nutrition scientists from a multitude of disciplines and a dozen
different countries have now agreed that, contrary to popular wisdom,
otherwise healthy diets need not be restricted in total dietary fat, as
long as such diets are also low in saturated and partially-hydrogenated
oil.
The scientists, who met in Cambridge last week for two days of
dosed door sessions on dietary fat, defined a "healthful" diet as one
high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish, nuts, and
low-fat dairy products. These diets emphasize vegetable oils that are
predominantly monounsaturated, such as a olive oil, and, with the
exception of fish, have a minimum of animal (meat) products.
The group concluded that the intake of trans fatty acids from
partially hydrogenated oils should be minimized. These oils, they
agreed, have "adverse effects" on blood cholesterol and other factors
related to heart disease and have "no counterbalancing nutritional
benefit" (Partial hydrogenation is the process by which liquid vegetable
oils are hardened into semi-solid fats for use in processed foods. Trans
fatty adds are formed as a byproduct of this process and are commonly
found in snack and many fast-food products.)
The scientists said that consumers should be informed, through
effective food labeling, of the content of trans fatty adds in foods,
and that such labeling should indude restaurant food.
It was the first time a scientific group of this size and
professional composition - members represented a cross-section of views
on the subject, from low-fat to high-fat advocates -- clearly agreed
that trans fatty acids from partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils should
be avoided.
The consensus statements came in conjunction with the 1998
International Conference on the Mediterranean Diet, held last week in
Cambridge and organized by Cambridge-based Oldways Preservation &
Exchange Trust and the Harvard school of Public Health. The science
summit was called to examine the level of consensus among scientists on
the relationships between dietary fat and heart disease, cancer,
diabetes, and obesity, and to respond to consumer confusion about how
much and what kinds of dietary fats they should eat.
The group's statements were presented by Dr. Frank Sacks of the
Harvard School of Public Health, and K. Dun Gifford, President of
Oldways. The presenting committee included Gerd Assrnan (University Of
Muenster, Muenster, Germany); Bruno Berra (University of Milan, Italy);
Tim Beyers (University of Colorado School of Medicine); Rafael Carmena
(University of
Valencia, Spain); John Foreyt (Baylor University); Barbara Howard
(Medlantic Research Foundation, Washington D.C.); Bernard Jacotot
(Assistance Hospitale Publique de Paris, France); Gabriele Riccardi
(Pederico II University Medical School, Naples, Italy); and Meir
Stampfer (Harvard School of Public Health. Also reporting were Antonia
Trichopoulos (Athens School of Public Health and Greece National Center
for Nutrition, Athens); Walter Willett (Harvard School of Public
Health); and John S. Yudkin (London Medical School). They represented
discussions that took place among the 50 scientists and observers at the
meetings.
For additional information on the scientific sessions, or on
other presentations at the Mediterranean Diet Conference, contact
Francie King at Oldways. 617-621-3000, fax 617-621-1230, or email
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Maintaining a positive attitude may not solve all your
problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worthwhile.
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