tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/polyunsaturated-fat-8357/articlesPolyunsaturated fat – The Conversation2017-11-13T01:13:38Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/868452017-11-13T01:13:38Z2017-11-13T01:13:38ZHemp can now be sold as a food in Australia (and it’s super good for you)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194229/original/file-20171112-29328-spmf9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=229%2C0%2C2488%2C1320&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You can eat and cook with whole hemp seeds (right), hearts (centre) and ground seed (left). </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hemp-seeds-hearts-protein-powder-metal-333343640">marekuliasz/shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most of you know hemp, or <a href="https://www.livescience.com/24559-marijuana-facts-cannabis.html">marijuana</a>, as a drug to be smoked. Laws restrict its use and sale in Australia and other countries. </p>
<p>From November 12 2017, changes to the Food Standards Code to permit the sale of low-psychoactive hemp seed as a food <a href="http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/generalissues/hemp/Pages/default.aspx">are effective</a> in Australia. Jurisdictions will now need to amend respective legislation to support the legal sale of low-THC hemp seed foods.</p>
<p>And, despite the slightly off-putting label “<a href="http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/primary_industry/industrial_hemp">industrial hemp</a>” used to distinguish it from <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-still-so-hard-for-patients-in-need-to-get-medicinal-cannabis-73844">medical marijuana</a>, evidence shows these seeds are very good for you.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-still-so-hard-for-patients-in-need-to-get-medicinal-cannabis-73844">Why is it still so hard for patients in need to get medicinal cannabis?</a>
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<h2>Fast facts about edible hemp</h2>
<p>In order to be considered a food ingredient hemp seed has to contain <a href="http://governmentgazette.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/public/documents/gazette/2017/October/2017_074.pdf">less than 0.5%</a> of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (<a href="https://www.livescience.com/24553-what-is-thc.html">THC</a>). It’s called low-THC hemp. </p>
<p>Industrial hemp naturally has low levels of THC, which is made by the plant (<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751-1097.1987.tb04757.x/abstract">probably as a sunscreen</a> or to deter insects from eating it). But levels will have to be <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-05/wa-researchers-work-to-grow-future-of-hemp-industry/8240420">monitored regularly</a>. This may necessitate setting up a dedicated screening capability in some Australian states, as the crop becomes established. </p>
<p>Hemp seeds are actually like a little nut, with a crisp shell and a soft heart. Mostly you will find them for sale in health food shops. Typically it will be the hearts you can buy, already released from the shells; they have a mild nutty flavour. </p>
<p>Hemp seeds contain around <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-health-benefits-of-hemp-seeds">25% protein</a>, up there with soybean and even better than quinoa. Most of the essential amino acids are present, plus valuable minerals and amounts of vitamin E. </p>
<h2>A rich source of ‘good’ oils</h2>
<p>Hemp seed hearts are also <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-health-benefits-of-hemp-seeds">rich in oils</a>, with a ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 polyunsaturated fats of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10681-004-4811-6">around 3:1</a>. </p>
<p>Now we can add hemp seeds and oil to the relatively limited list of good plant sources of these fats. Nutritionists increasingly <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australian-dietary-recommendations-on-fat-need-to-change-67543">highlight the importance</a> of balancing the amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats in our diets. </p>
<p>Hemp oil can be cold-pressed out of the seeds. It is likely that the oil itself will also become more readily available as a product in Australia now the law has changed. However, this oil <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejlt.200700311/abstract">often contains chlorophyll</a>, the group of pigments in plants that gives them their green colour. The oil is quite unstable and oxidises quite quickly. To slow this rancidity process down, the oil should be stored in a brown bottle away from direct sunlight. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-claims-about-coconut-oil-debunked-85320">5 claims about coconut oil debunked</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Still some questions</h2>
<p>It is less clear what types of polysaccharides or dietary fibre hemp seeds contain, and what our microbiome will make of hemp seeds when they get to the lower reaches of our digestive system. Will the microbes there be able to ferment this seed material? </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YB-8JEo_0bI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">What is the human microbiome?</span></figcaption>
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<p>Fermentation of foods in the lower intestine can produce protective anti-inflammatory byproducts. Hemp may be able to contribute to this. </p>
<p>Or maybe the seeds will just provide dietary bulk that helps move food through our digestive systems and prevents constipation (also useful from a health perspective). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141158/original/image-20161011-3909-p1j1kp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141158/original/image-20161011-3909-p1j1kp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141158/original/image-20161011-3909-p1j1kp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141158/original/image-20161011-3909-p1j1kp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141158/original/image-20161011-3909-p1j1kp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141158/original/image-20161011-3909-p1j1kp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141158/original/image-20161011-3909-p1j1kp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>We don’t really know the answers to these questions yet, but one thing we do know is that if we remove the shell or hull, we are taking away much of the <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-health-benefits-of-hemp-seeds">fibre and some of the minerals</a>. </p>
<h2>Australia is late to the party</h2>
<p>Hemp has been around for centuries and the seed has been freely available to eat in countries such as the US, Canada and the UK for many years. But its food value has only recently started to be appreciated. </p>
<p>It’s now finding its way into breads, breakfast cereals and other baked goods with increasing regularity. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194230/original/file-20171112-29374-mya2bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194230/original/file-20171112-29374-mya2bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194230/original/file-20171112-29374-mya2bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194230/original/file-20171112-29374-mya2bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194230/original/file-20171112-29374-mya2bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194230/original/file-20171112-29374-mya2bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194230/original/file-20171112-29374-mya2bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Chocolate, blueberry and hemp zucchini bread.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/9629757023/in/photolist-fEX2gv-fhfzu1-fgZVia-fh1E8x-7xVzZD-fh27sX-fhhbN3-fhhms7-fhgF4W-fhg5V5-fgZRQz-fh2Fdk-fhfxsC-agn1vJ-4RwcnD-5Z2QkS-7xVz8R-fh1p4v-fh16o6-fh1KKV-fh2ZBi-SoEutG-fh1N6P-invrW4-fhgSAL-8G7EHR-8nxtZy-fgZPuT-fh1bqM-gx55U-fh1rKT-7GsmkU-7fWrGt-6b6amc-8nuitg-fhfNu1-fhfVs7-6dZiwt-fh2nge-fhgztS-fhfRe5-fhgpU1-fh2u5F-fhgCum-agn1Yf-fhfXru-fh1upi-fCXgCn-fh2AZ8-8GaRzY">reid-bee/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>It will be interesting to monitor its uptake in Australia and New Zealand, particularly in comparison to other seeds like chia and quinoa.</p>
<p>The food use of industrial hemp is by no means the whole story though, and this crop is incredibly versatile. Plants can be grown for organic animal feed, for <a href="http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/en/fibres/hemp.html">fibre</a> to go into paper, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98529&page=1">fabric or soundproofing for cars</a> and the the residues can be used as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2008/jan/28/whyishempoffthebiofuelme">biofuel</a> feedstock to power our vehicles. Hemp could even be “torrefied” (roasted like coffee beans) to make a brown coal equivalent, or converted to provide essential high value chemicals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86845/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Burton receives funding from the Australian Research Council and has recently undertaken work on hempseed funded by the South Australian Department of State Development in collaboration with the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).</span></em></p>Hemp seeds are now legal as a food product in Australia. They won’t make you high, but they are very nutritious.Rachel Burton, Node leader of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls and Professor of Plant Science, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847642017-11-05T23:37:07Z2017-11-05T23:37:07ZThese foods will lower your risk of heart disease<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192856/original/file-20171101-19867-1unjwzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The evidence shows that both low and high fat diets can reduce your risks of cardiovascular disease -- if they are plant-based. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Low-fat or low-carb? Butter or margarine? Avocado oil or coconut oil? Bombarded with contradictory media reports on the ever-changing landscape of nutrition research, it’s difficult for anyone to know which fats and other foods they should eat, and in what quantities. </p>
<p>We know that cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs317/en/">No. 1 cause of death globally</a> and a <a href="http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&id=1020529">leading cause of death in Canada</a>. We also know that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19667296">80 per cent of chronic disease could be alleviated</a> by following a healthy diet, avoiding tobacco, maintaining a healthy weight and getting regular exercise. </p>
<p>In an effort to follow a healthy diet, it’s easy to focus on individual nutrients. This serves us well for preventing nutrient deficiencies (<a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155758.php">think Vitamin C and scurvy</a>). It doesn’t work so well as a strategy for avoiding chronic disease. </p>
<p>We eat food — ideally three to six times per day — not individual nutrients. So, when it comes to fats, we really need to <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/186365">focus on dietary patterns</a>.</p>
<h2>Fats and cardiovascular disease</h2>
<p>There have been many studies looking at diet and its impact on the heart. When the scientific community has examined the link between saturated fat (in butter, meat fat, chicken skin and high-fat dairy products) and risk for cardiovascular disease, conflicting findings have emerged. </p>
<p>One review of the evidence showed that saturated fat has <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.27725">no relationship with CVD</a>. However, this research didn’t consider what nutrient replaced saturated fat. Another review of the evidence demonstrated that the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4593072/">risk for CVD varies depending on what nutrient replaces the saturated fat.</a></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192854/original/file-20171101-19853-1rs0t1i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192854/original/file-20171101-19853-1rs0t1i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192854/original/file-20171101-19853-1rs0t1i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192854/original/file-20171101-19853-1rs0t1i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192854/original/file-20171101-19853-1rs0t1i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192854/original/file-20171101-19853-1rs0t1i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192854/original/file-20171101-19853-1rs0t1i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The best fats for our body come from fish, nuts, healthy oils and seeds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>When you eat trans fat — found in donuts and other store-bought baked goods, deep-fried foods, partially hydrogenated oils and vegetable oil shortening — instead of saturated fat, your risks of CVD increase. However, if you eat unsaturated fats — oils that are liquid at room temperature, especially polyunsaturated fats such as vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and fish, and carbohydrates from whole grains —instead of saturated fats, your risk of CVD decreases. </p>
<p>Whether you eat mostly saturated fats or sugar and refined starches (such as white rice, white bread and processed cereal) doesn’t appear to matter when it comes to heart disease. According to this research, the risks are about equal. </p>
<h2>Coconut oil or olive oil?</h2>
<p>The effects of coconut oil as a replacement for other dietary fats, such as butter, olive oil and canola oil, <a href="https://www.nutritionaction.com/daily/fat-in-food/fat-in-food-the-truth-about-coconut-oil/">have not been studied for the effects on CVD</a>. The impact of coconut oil on heart disease risk remains unknown. </p>
<p>We do know, however, that <a href="https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/nutrit/nuw002">coconut oil raises some risk <em>factors</em> for CVD</a> — it increases cholesterol compared to polyunsaturated fats (in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and fish) that lower cholesterol.</p>
<p>Olive oil, on the other hand, when consumed as part of the high-fat “predimed diet pattern” (PDP) referenced below, has been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease. It’s important, then, to look at dietary patterns rather than individual fats.</p>
<h2>Plant-based diets are best</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/07/health/western-diet-health/index.html">western diet pattern</a> includes sugar-sweetened beverages (pop, flavoured juice and coffee drinks), refined carbohydrates (commercially baked goods like muffins and doughnuts which are sources of trans fat), processed meats (salami, pepperoni and bacon) and combination foods (for instance pepperoni pizza and bacon cheese burgers). </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Canadians are consuming <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4042566/">sugar</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19916364">trans fat</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/2238025/cut-the-crap-heart-and-stroke-foundations-advice-to-canadians/">processed foods</a> in quantities that have been shown <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2608221?utm_campaign=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jama.2017.0947">to increase CVD risk</a>.</p>
<p>There is substantial evidence that a <a href="https://oldwayspt.org/traditional-diets/mediterranean-diet">Mediterranean diet</a> pattern (MDP) reduces cardiovascular disease. This involves eating plant foods — vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes and olive oil — plus fish and a moderate amount of wine. Meat, butter, cream, sugar-sweetened beverages and commercial baked goods are eaten in limited quantities. </p>
<p>Men with heart disease in the <a href="http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/circulationaha/99/6/779.full.pdf">Lyon Diet Heart Study</a> following the Mediterranean diet had a 30 per cent reduction in secondary heart events. Participants following the pridimed diet had a <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1200303#t=article">30 per cent reduction</a> in the primary prevention of CVD. The diet plans are similar and are high in fat from additional nuts or olive oil. </p>
<p>Vegetarian diet patterns are mostly plant-based, but can include small amounts of animal foods, such as dairy products, eggs and fish. Communities known for their longevity and low incidence of heart disease include Sardinia in Italy, Icaria in Greece, Okinawa in Japan and Loma Linda in California. These so-called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone">blue zones</a>” all follow healthy lifestyles including vegetarian diets. Their staples are vegetables and fruit, whole grains, legumes and nuts and may include fish. Meat is consumed only on special occasions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192861/original/file-20171101-19867-1sb1g34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192861/original/file-20171101-19867-1sb1g34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192861/original/file-20171101-19867-1sb1g34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192861/original/file-20171101-19867-1sb1g34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192861/original/file-20171101-19867-1sb1g34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192861/original/file-20171101-19867-1sb1g34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192861/original/file-20171101-19867-1sb1g34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Traditional fish market stall full of fresh red gurnard fish and orata — at Mercato di San Benedetto in Cagliari, Sardinia in March 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>When combined with intensive exercise, another plant-based diet followed in the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/188274">Lifestyle Heart Trial</a> demonstrated reversal of heart disease. This was a very low-fat vegetarian diet (with fat accounting for only 10 per cent of total calories) that consisted of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and legumes with small amounts of non-fat dairy products.</p>
<p>In these diet patterns, fat content ranges from 10 per cent to 40 per cent of total calories. This shows that both low-fat and high-fat diets lower risks of CVD — if they are plant-based.</p>
<h2>Eat cruciferous veg and citrus fruits</h2>
<p>We should all be eating five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Research shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw319">five servings of vegetables and fruit per day are protective against CVD, but 10 servings of vegetables and fruit per day lower heart disease risk by 24 per cent</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192851/original/file-20171101-19883-1ojo22z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192851/original/file-20171101-19883-1ojo22z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192851/original/file-20171101-19883-1ojo22z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192851/original/file-20171101-19883-1ojo22z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192851/original/file-20171101-19883-1ojo22z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192851/original/file-20171101-19883-1ojo22z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192851/original/file-20171101-19883-1ojo22z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">shutterstock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>One serving is equivalent to a medium-sized fruit, a half-cup of chopped fruit or berries, a quarter-cup of dried fruit, a half-cup of cooked or raw vegetables and one cup of salad greens. About <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-625-x/2012001/article/11661-eng.htm">40 per cent of Canadians over the age of 12 consume at least five servings of vegetables and fruit per day</a>.</p>
<p>Cruciferous vegetables — such as broccoli, cabbage, green leafy vegetables, spinach and kale — along with beta-carotene-rich fruits and veggies like tomatoes, carrots and squash demonstrate the most benefit. As do apples, pears, berries and citrus fruit like oranges.</p>
<h2>Serve up whole grains and legumes</h2>
<p>We should also be eating at least three servings per day of whole grains. The research shows this <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27301975">lowers CVD risk by 19 per cent</a>. </p>
<p>What’s a serving? It can be one slice of whole grain bread, half a slice of whole grain pita bread, one bowl of cereal, one third of a cup of cooked grains like barley, bulgur, brown rice and quinoa or half a cup of cooked whole grain pasta or corn.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192849/original/file-20171101-19845-1ffd841.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192849/original/file-20171101-19845-1ffd841.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192849/original/file-20171101-19845-1ffd841.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192849/original/file-20171101-19845-1ffd841.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192849/original/file-20171101-19845-1ffd841.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192849/original/file-20171101-19845-1ffd841.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192849/original/file-20171101-19845-1ffd841.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">shutterstock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Legumes also reduce our risk of heart disease. The research shows that four servings of legumes per week <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4144102/">lower CVD risk by 14 per cent</a>.</p>
<p>We should be eating three to four servings per week — of black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, navy beans, soy beans, lentils or dried peas. One serving is measured as three quarters of a cup of cooked legumes.</p>
<h2>Healthy fats in fish, nuts, seeds and oils</h2>
<p>Finally, back to the fats. We can obtain the good fats our body needs by eating fish, nuts, oils and seeds. </p>
<p>Eating fish at least two to four times per week <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980011002254">reduces CVD risk by 17 per cent</a>, according to research. One serving of fish is defined as three ounces of cooked salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, tuna, halibut and other fish.</p>
<p>Eating at least three servings of nuts per week is a good idea. Just one quarter cup of nuts consumed four times weekly <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/100/1/278.long">reduces CVD by a whopping 24 per cent</a>, according to research. One serving of nuts is defined as one quarter cup of walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews, peanuts or pistachios. Or two tablespoons of natural almond, cashew or peanut butter. </p>
<p>Seeds — such as pumpkin, flax, chia, sunflower and sesame seeds — and butters made from sesame and sunflower seeds <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.001119">also lower CVD risk</a>. Olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, avocado oil and soybean oils <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2015.07.055">all lower CVD risk</a> as do avocados, which <a href="http://www.fasebj.org/content/31/1_Supplement/789.13.short">improve your cholesterol profile</a>.</p>
<p>Enjoy minimally processed plant foods from nature most of the time. They are better for us. And, as a bonus - eating them is <a href="http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-eating-more-plant-based-foods-benefits-the-environment/">better for the planet</a> too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Mornin received funding from St. Paul's Hospital research challenge fund. </span></em></p>From donuts to avocados, food impacts your heart health. Here we delve into the science of how to eat – to reduce your chances of cardiovascular disease.Karen Mornin, Clinical Instructor of Land and Food Systems, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/458232015-08-13T20:30:36Z2015-08-13T20:30:36ZEat food, not nutrients: why healthy diets need a broad approach<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91723/original/image-20150813-21401-1ix0h71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We need to stop fussing over macronutrients and think about foods.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eugenia_loli/17459500360/">Eugenia Loli/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There seems to be a shortening gap between studies about diet, nutrition and health. And each starts another conversation about trans vs saturated vs polyunsaturated fats, or this diet vs that, or, as is today’s case, fats vs carbohydrates.</p>
<p>In a paper published today in the <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(15)00350-2">journal Cell Metabolism</a>, researchers found that when 30% of a day’s kilojoules were restricted by cutting fats (diets with a higher intake of carbohydrates), participants in their study lost more body fat compared to when the same amount of energy was restricted by cutting carbs (diets with a higher intake of fat).</p>
<p>This study used a type of meticulous metabolic research, which is expensive and unsuited to lengthy periods, but valuable for exploring the physiology of reducing equal dietary contributions from fat or carbohydrate. But like much dietary analysis, it may be shining a light on the wrong issues altogether.</p>
<h2>The good, the bad and the ugly</h2>
<p>The most important aspect of any diet is that it should be practical and healthy enough to follow for the rest of your life. There’s no magic bullet for weight loss. While some people claim they find it easier to cut out foods high in carbohydrates, others find it easier to avoid high-fat foods. </p>
<p>If you need to lose weight, <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1900510">cutting down is what helps</a>. But few people can stick to any extreme diet for life, so what you substitute is just as important as what you cut out – especially for long-term health.</p>
<p>Choices based only on macronutrients (foods required in large amounts in the diet, such as fats, carbohydrates and protein) miss important aspects of many foods and open the diet to imbalance. Carbohydrate foods, for instance, include nutritionally worthy choices – such as legumes, wholegrains, fruits, milk and yoghurt – but also a huge range of items high in sugar or refined starches with little or no nutritional attributes. “Cutting carbs” doesn’t distinguish between the good and bad foods in this category.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91726/original/image-20150813-21387-vtzp7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91726/original/image-20150813-21387-vtzp7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91726/original/image-20150813-21387-vtzp7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91726/original/image-20150813-21387-vtzp7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91726/original/image-20150813-21387-vtzp7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91726/original/image-20150813-21387-vtzp7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91726/original/image-20150813-21387-vtzp7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">This may not be the best way to get your daily ration of fruit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chodhound/7755540602/">Adrian Scottow/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>The same thing happens with fats. Sources of unsaturated fat – such as nuts, seeds, avocado or extra virgin olive oil – have proven health benefits. But there’s no evidence for any benefits of lard, dripping, cream, fast foods or any of the fatty snack foods that account for much of our saturated fat intake. And no long-term study shows sustained weight loss or other health benefits from a diet high in saturated fats.</p>
<p>Some foods are more even problematic. Most fast foods are high in saturated fat and salt, and lack dietary fibre. And they’re not only largely devoid of vegetables (apart from the odd gherkin), but often displace meals that would have contained vegetables. </p>
<p>Biscuits, cakes, pastries, many desserts and confectionery provide a double whammy with high levels of unhealthy fats as well as sugar and refined starches. Make that a triple whammy because most lack any nutritional virtue as well.</p>
<h2>From bad to worse</h2>
<p>Assumptions based on macronutrients are simply too gross to be meaningful. This is apparent in so-called meta-analyses based on a mixture of cohort and case-control studies that use different methods and time frames relating to what people eat, and fail to report all aspects of the diet.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24723079">One review</a>, for instance, claimed that saturated fat was unrelated to cardiovascular disease. But it ignored the adverse impacts of the foods that had replaced saturated fats and provided no information about the foods that provided saturated fat in the first instance. </p>
<p>Worse still, such analyses are prone to many errors. A long <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2015/202/8/sceptics-undermine-effective-dietary-and-heart-health-advice?utm_source=MJA+news+alerts&utm_campaign=2313abfd38-MJA_news_vol_202_Issue_8_4_May_20155_1_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8c7e70a099-2313abfd38-31315341">check of every reference</a> used in that meta-analysis showed that the conclusion would have differed if 25 studies had either not been omitted or had been reported correctly (sadly, it’s paywalled). </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3978">Another recent review</a> also failed to show any clear association between higher saturated fat intake and all-cause mortality, heart disease, ischaemic stroke or type 2 diabetes, although the authors were unable to confidently rule out increased risk for heart disease deaths. They also noted that the certainty of associations between saturated fat and all outcomes was “very low”, which means we don’t yet understand the association between saturated fats and disease.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91725/original/image-20150813-21387-123i532.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91725/original/image-20150813-21387-123i532.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91725/original/image-20150813-21387-123i532.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91725/original/image-20150813-21387-123i532.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91725/original/image-20150813-21387-123i532.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91725/original/image-20150813-21387-123i532.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91725/original/image-20150813-21387-123i532.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not all dairy products are created equal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/samir-rahamtalla/393729330/">Samir Rahamtalla/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Hopefully, further research will distinguish between food sources of saturated fats; they are not all equal. There’s already good evidence that processed meats can have more deleterious effects than fresh meat. And that fermented dairy products, such as <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/71/3/674.full.pdf+html">yoghurt</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4383488/">cheese</a>, may also have health benefits and are distinctly different for heart health risk <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/94/6/1479.long">compared to butter</a>.</p>
<p>Swapping saturated fat for sugar or refined starches is worse than useless <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26185980">for preventing cardiovascular disease</a>. But please direct criticism of foods where fat has been replaced by sugar at the food industry. Dietary guidelines have always recommended limiting sugar as well as saturated fat. </p>
<h2>A sorry state of affairs</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, in most developed countries, sugar consumption remains high while intakes of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts and wholegrains are low. And while macronutrient intakes in countries such as Australia may look fine (31% of energy from fat and 44% from carbs), problems remain with the kinds and amounts of foods we consume.</p>
<p>Junk food and drinks were once consumed only as an occasional treat, but they now contribute significant portions of both adult and children’s diets – in Australia, 35% of adults’ and 41% of childrens’ energy intake. Confectionery and starchy, fatty, savoury snack food intake have also increased significantly. </p>
<p>It really is time to focus on foods instead of wasting time on macronutrients. <a href="http://www.eatforhealth.gov.au">Australia’s Dietary Guidelines</a> have made this change, as has the <a href="http://www.livsmedelsverket.se/globalassets/english/food-habits-health-environment/dietary-guidelines/kostrad-eng.pdf?id=8140">new simple Swedish equivalent</a>, which emphasises sustainable choices. <a href="http://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/food-based-dietary-guidelines/regions/countries/norway/en/">Norway</a> and <a href="http://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/food-dietary-guidelines/regions/europe/en/">20 European countries</a> also take a food focus and the number one point in <a href="http://189.28.128.100/dab/docs/portaldab/publicacoes/guia_alimentar_populacao_ingles.pdf">Brazil’s enlightened guidelines</a> is that diet is more than the intake of nutrients.</p>
<p>Consider the dozens of studies on Mediterranean diets, including randomised trials, where the fat and carbohydrate content vary but the health value depends on particular foods: extra virgin olive oil, nuts, vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes and a low intake of highly processed products. The take-home message from these is that we need to stop fussing over macronutrients and think about foods.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosemary Stanton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By focusing on micro- or macronutrients, most nutrition research fails to recognise the most important truth about food: diet is more than the intake of nutrients.Rosemary Stanton, Nutritionist & Visiting Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/240562014-03-06T14:41:28Z2014-03-06T14:41:28ZSaturated fat debate shows how hard it is to challenge the establishment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43316/original/39k9cmr8-1394119623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Old school. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Snodgrass</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-saturated-fats-as-bad-as-we-have-been-led-to-believe-24044">debate over saturated fat</a> is hotting up: new scientists, intelligent laypeople, anthropological observers, and clinical practitioners, have all noticed that eating fat seems to do little harm – and can actually add some benefit when combined with eating less processed sugars and other carbohydrates.</p>
<p>The debate reflects a change in how the world accesses information and shares ideas. This is largely due to open access journals and social media – in particular Facebook and Twitter – which have the ability to connect research practice with the intelligent public. Fortunately, bad and often politically and/or commercially driven science survives less well under these conditions.</p>
<p>The thing is that science isn’t a democracy. We don’t have a vote and the most popular hypothesis wins. We deal with evidence, and as such we should be prepared to constantly change our mind as new evidence emerges. </p>
<p>And as we better understand the biology of human metabolism and nutrition our position has to change. The time has come for exactly this with saturated fat.</p>
<h2>Socially complex</h2>
<p>Unfortunately it’s not that simple. Human nutrition is socially complex. Our eating depends on personal and religious beliefs, powerful commercial and political interests, and science that is difficult to conduct both in terms of cost and human ethics.</p>
<p>When you strip back the commercial interests, the politics, the careers based on perpetuating a hypothesis, beliefs, and flawed science, we are left with a young and developing scientific field. We are still learning the basics, and the complexities of everything above, frankly speaking, are beyond us right now.</p>
<p>We don’t understand everything about human nutrition and health. But we do know that the diet-heart hypothesis originally put forward by Ancel Keys in the 1950s is flawed. The main argument the hypothesis puts forward is that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol and so contributes to the risk of a heart attack.</p>
<p>Various claims have been made that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Fatty plaques in blood vessels must be caused by ingesting the exact same substance.</p></li>
<li><p>Cholesterol in the blood is associated with coronary artery disease; so consuming dietary cholesterol must be a cause.</p></li>
<li><p>Fat is calorie dense compared to carbs and proteins on a weight-by-weight basis so that must also make you fat.</p></li>
<li><p>Reductions in populations’ saturated fat intake at the same time as reduced cardiovascular death show that saturated fat caused the disease.</p></li>
<li><p>Replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats in scientific studies shows benefits.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Proponents claim that reducing dietary saturated fat intake is one of the most successful public health interventions of the last 40 years. This is <a href="http://heart.bmj.com/content/94/12/1589.long">despite modest reductions</a> in actual incidence along with big changes in other risk factors such as smoking. At the same time we’ve seen a massive rise in obesity, diabetes, cancer, and neurological problems. All of these are metabolic diseases related to diet.</p>
<h2>What we know</h2>
<p>Here’s what we do know. We know that some fats in the blood are associated with heart health. These have known and plausible biological mechanisms. Dietary carbohydrate (especially sugar) and polyunsaturated seed oils high in Omega 6 fatty acids on the other hand are known to increase (bad) oxidised LDL (molecules that can transport fats into the arteries) and decrease (good) HDL (ones that transport fat away from arteries). There is no known mechanism where saturated fat contributes independently and directly to forming oxidised LDL. </p>
<p>We observe that indigenous populations eating diets high in saturated fat, for example the Inuit and groups in the Pacific Islands, do not suffer a high incidence of coronary artery disease. I’ve seen this first hand in my diabetes prevention work in the South Pacific where diets can be very high in saturated coconut fat with an absence of chronic diseases.</p>
<p>Humans evolved in a variety of environments and can cope with a range of protein, fat and carbohydrate intakes but with availability of food likely to be an issue, we are good at storing and burning fat seasonally. Dietary carbohydrate may be important in this kind of fat storage by elevating insulin and creating leptin resistance (which regulates energy intake and expenditure).</p>
<p>Polyunsaturated fats in sunflower and canola oils, as well as sugar, are not something our ancestors ate in any quantity, so it’s unlikely our metabolism reacts well to these. </p>
<p>When experimental trials are carried out where people eat more fat, including saturated fat, in the context of a <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0708681">lower carbohydrate diet</a> all their cardiovascular disease risk factors improve.</p>
<p>There are fundamental flaws in many of the trials where polyunsaturated fats have been used to replace saturated fats, which make conclusions had to draw. One example is the <a href="http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co.nz/2009/07/finnish-mental-hospital-trial.html">Finnish Mental Hospital study</a> where the cross-over design and lack of blinding and control groups make interpretation impossible.</p>
<p>It may be that saturated fat in the presence of other nutrients is bad for us. The meta-analyses of studies are equivocal. Most have flaws <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-saturated-fats-as-bad-as-we-have-been-led-to-believe-24044">each side criticises</a> one way or another.</p>
<p>Despite all this, some still say the casebook is closed. We don’t have all the answers, but we need to take a broader look at the evidence for the links between fat and human health. The message to reduce saturated fat has been successful, but the consequences are that we now eat more refined carbohydrate and Omega 6 fat. This has been a public health disaster. It’s time to stop defending dogma and to start conducting better research into human nutrition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24056/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grant Schofield receives funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand and Sovereign (Insurance). He is affiliated with AUT University and does some consultancy work for Vitality Works Ltd, A New Zealand and Australian workplace health provider</span></em></p>The debate over saturated fat is hotting up: new scientists, intelligent laypeople, anthropological observers, and clinical practitioners, have all noticed that eating fat seems to do little harm – and…Grant Schofield, Professor of Public Health and Director of the Human Potential Centre, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215242014-01-26T21:29:47Z2014-01-26T21:29:47ZHealth Check: are saturated fats good or bad?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39833/original/6dh628xn-1390535405.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A diet high in particular saturated fatty acids can increase your body's cholesterol production.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penn State/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dietary guidelines cite the fact that saturated fats can increase LDL cholesterol, which is also known as bad cholesterol because it’s a major risk factor for heart disease. Others claim saturated fats are <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/heartofthematter/">not a problem</a>.</p>
<p>So is saturated fat a saint or sinner? Or could the search for a single culprit miss the inevitable subtleties of a multifactorial problem such as heart disease?</p>
<p>These are complex questions so let’s start with what cholesterol and fats actually are and the different types. </p>
<p>Cholesterol is a waxy substance found only in animal products. It’s an essential component of our bodies, easily made within the body. A diet high in particular saturated fatty acids can increase cholesterol production, <a href="http://example.com/">assisted by genetic factors</a>, to levels that dramatically increase the risk of heart attacks.</p>
<h2>Fats in food</h2>
<p>The fats in food are categorised on the basis of their chemical structure as saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are further divided into omega 3s and omega 6s (<a href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Structural_Biochemistry/Lipids/Fatty_Acids">here’s a more detailed description</a>).</p>
<p>Individual foods are defined by the major type of fatty acid they contain. So olive oil is tagged “monounsaturated” although 16% of its fatty acids are saturated and 9% are polyunsaturated. </p>
<p>A “polyunsaturated” margarine spread may have 45% polyunsaturated fatty acids, 30% monounsaturated and 25% saturated. That’s less than the 70% saturated fat content of butter, but it’s not an insignificant amount by any means!</p>
<h2>Fats in blood</h2>
<p>Being insoluble in liquid, fats and cholesterol are carried in the blood in protein-fat compounds (called lipoproteins) that vary in their density and function. </p>
<p>Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) carry cholesterol from the liver and can deposit it in plaque on the walls of the coronary (and other) arteries. This can restrict blood flow and, aided by inflammatory reactions, plaque can block an artery causing heart attack or stroke. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39836/original/dw5x2fc7-1390536201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39836/original/dw5x2fc7-1390536201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39836/original/dw5x2fc7-1390536201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39836/original/dw5x2fc7-1390536201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39836/original/dw5x2fc7-1390536201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39836/original/dw5x2fc7-1390536201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39836/original/dw5x2fc7-1390536201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Butter has much more saturated fat than margarine but is considerably less processed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Susy Morris</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That’s why LDL cholesterol is often tagged as “bad” (high LDL levels may also be responsible for erectile problems in men). LDL cholesterol can also bind to another heart disease risk protein called apolipoprotein(a) or Lp(a).</p>
<p>High-density lipoproteins (HDL) carry stray bits of cholesterol back to the liver for disposal and are therefore “good”. The ratio of total to HDL cholesterol to LDL cholesterol now appears to <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1187927">give a stronger correlation</a> with heart disease than LDL levels on their own.</p>
<p>Triglycerides are the form of fat circulating in the blood immediately after meals that are available to cells for energy and likely to be used during physical activity. Any excess, which can come from too much ingested fat, carbohydrate or alcohol, is stored as body fat. </p>
<p>High triglyceride levels frequently accompany high LDL, low HDL and upper body fat. The omega 3 fats found in fish <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/83/6/S1477.long">may help lower triglycerides</a>.</p>
<h2>Types of saturated fat</h2>
<p>Of the many saturated fatty acids in foods, three (myristic acid, palmitic acid and lauric acid) have the greatest effect in raising blood cholesterol.</p>
<p>Large quantities of shorter chain fatty acids (especially caprylic and capric found in foods such as butter, goat and cow’s milk cheeses, and coconut) can <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/25/1/53.long">increase triglyceride levels</a>.</p>
<p>Some saturated fatty acids such as stearic acid (in meat fat and chocolate) can increase triglyceride levels, but have no effect on blood cholesterol.</p>
<p>Lauric acid, one of the major fatty acids in coconut oil, may raise both LDL and HDL. This makes it less “bad” than its total saturated fat implies. Still, while coconut oil may be better for LDL blood cholesterol than butter, it’s <a href="http://www.jlr.org/content/36/8/1787.long">not as good as</a> liquid oils, such as safflower oil.</p>
<p>All this may sound a little complicated (and it is) but there’s something simpler at the heart of the issue that’s much more important.</p>
<h2>Foods vs nutrients</h2>
<p>Claims that saturated or unsaturated fats are “good” or “bad” are distorted by ignoring their food sources. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39829/original/vn7rxwr4-1390534753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39829/original/vn7rxwr4-1390534753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39829/original/vn7rxwr4-1390534753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39829/original/vn7rxwr4-1390534753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39829/original/vn7rxwr4-1390534753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39829/original/vn7rxwr4-1390534753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39829/original/vn7rxwr4-1390534753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Judging foods only by their saturated or monounsaturated fat content ignores their complete nutritional profile.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Magliery</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Consider that the same quantity of saturated fat is found in 35 grams of cheese, 35 grams of white chocolate, 70 grams of potato crisps, 90 grams of roasted cashews, a small (145 grams) rump steak, a tablespoon of lard, 50 grams of polyunsaturated margarine, a small custard tart and 15 grams of hollandaise sauce! </p>
<p>The same goes for other fats. Monounsaturated fats, for instance, are the dominant type of fat in chicken noodle soup, eggs, peanut oil, avocado, liquorice, almonds, rolled oats, chocolate chip muesli bars and chicken nuggets. </p>
<p>It would clearly be a nonsense to assume these foods were nutritionally equivalent, but judging only their content of saturated or monounsaturated fat creates that absurdity.</p>
<p><a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/23/10/1288.long">Early studies</a> using liquid oils added to a standard diet reported that unsaturated fatty acids lowered blood cholesterol. </p>
<p>In Mediterranean populations, most unsaturated fats come from olive oil and nuts – foods with wide range of other beneficial components. But in North America and Australia, major sources of unsaturated fats include products such as frying oils and spreads. </p>
<p>Until fairly recently, spreads were made by partially hydrogenating (adding hydrogen atoms to) liquid oils. The same process was used for oils for commercial frying, snack foods, confectionery, pastries, biscuits and crackers and anything with a crisp coating. </p>
<p>It took scientists years to realise that partial hydrogenation produces an unsaturated, but nasty trans fatty acid called elaidic acid. This fat raises LDL cholesterol, lowers HDL cholesterol, increases inflammation and has a string of other undesirable effects. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39835/original/wtmkmm33-1390535716.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39835/original/wtmkmm33-1390535716.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39835/original/wtmkmm33-1390535716.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39835/original/wtmkmm33-1390535716.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39835/original/wtmkmm33-1390535716.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39835/original/wtmkmm33-1390535716.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39835/original/wtmkmm33-1390535716.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mediterranean dietary patterns favour a variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains, with extra virgin olive oil, herbs and spices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roberto/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other processes are now used to make spreads, but we have no way of identifying other foods with elaidic acid as it need not be labelled in Australia. It was recently found in margarine sold in remote communities. </p>
<h2>Saint or sinner?</h2>
<p>Going back to the question we started with, whether saturated fat is a saint or sinner depends on the quantity consumed and on other features of the food containing it.</p>
<p>One oft-quoted <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/91/3/535.full.pdf+html">review of observational studies</a> concluded there was no association between saturated fat and heart disease. </p>
<p>But one of the authors of the paper is supported by Unilever and two are “supported by the National Dairy Council”, so there are clear conflicts of interest involved. One also receives support from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.</p>
<p>What’s more, <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/2/458.long">major flaws</a> in the study’s methodology have been <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/2/459.2.long">pointed out</a>.</p>
<p>Food companies complicated matters by producing many low-fat foods with sugar and refined starches replacing fat. This has <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/89/5/1425.full">been counterproductive</a> although randomised controlled trials have established <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2843598">strong evidence of benefit</a> by substituting unsaturated fats, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3886748/">especially those from seafood</a>.</p>
<p>The fact is, the diversity of foods containing saturated and unsaturated fats in modern diets is a major source of confusion. A simple way through the muddle is to follow dietary patterns associated with low levels of heart disease and other health problems. This also helps avoid the absurdity created by thinking in terms of individual nutrients rather then whole foods.</p>
<p>My bias is for Mediterranean dietary patterns that favour few highly processed junk foods, cheese and yoghurt rather than butter and only modest meat intake. </p>
<p>The basis of the day’s meals includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains, with extra virgin olive oil, herbs and spices. Foods high in butter or sugar are enjoyed on special occasions. It’s an enjoyable and proven healthy way to eat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21524/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosemary Stanton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dietary guidelines cite the fact that saturated fats can increase LDL cholesterol, which is also known as bad cholesterol because it’s a major risk factor for heart disease. Others claim saturated fats…Rosemary Stanton, Nutritionist & Visiting Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214192013-12-29T20:12:12Z2013-12-29T20:12:12ZWhat the margarine vs butter argument says about nutrition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37687/original/br9mxb6k-1386904111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The long-term decline in butter sales has reversed in recent years despite the continued promotion of margarine as a healthy spread. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">penguincakes/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Margarine has been the chameleon of manufactured food products, able to transform its nutritional appearance, adapt to changing nutritional fads, and charm unwitting nutrition experts and nutrition-conscious consumers. </p>
<p>While <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199008163230703">research</a> published by nutrition scientists in the early 1990s on the harmfulness of the trans fats in margarine temporarily unveiled its highly processed and degraded character, it has subsequently been reinvented as a trans fat-free, cholesterol-lowering “functional food.” </p>
<p>From its invention in the late 19th century until the 1960s, margarine was considered by most people to be just a cheap imitation of butter, and was mainly consumed by those who couldn’t afford the real thing. </p>
<p>Margarine producers aimed to do little more than simulate the taste, texture, and nutritional profile of butter, by adding vitamins A and D, for instance.</p>
<h2>When fats became good and bad</h2>
<p>The promotion of margarine as a heart-healthy spread by nutrition experts began with the emergence of the distinction between so-called “good” polyunsaturated fats and the “bad” saturated fats. </p>
<p>This distinction was based on an <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/91/3/502.short">association</a> scientists had detected between saturated fats and heart disease risk, and on an indirect causal link to cardiovascular disease via blood cholesterol levels.</p>
<p>This vilification of saturated fats introduced the really novel idea that some naturally occurring nutrients are “bad”. But to describe nutrients as good or bad was really a simplification and exaggeration of the scientific evidence of their roles in the human body.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, such was the conviction of most nutrition experts in their new theories of good and bad fats that they were willing to override concerns about the highly processed character of margarine. </p>
<p>This included ignoring the fact that some of the polyunsaturated fats in margarine had been chemically transformed into trans fats during the hydrogenation process used to solidify vegetable oils. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37722/original/hvs9p78m-1386908566.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37722/original/hvs9p78m-1386908566.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37722/original/hvs9p78m-1386908566.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37722/original/hvs9p78m-1386908566.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37722/original/hvs9p78m-1386908566.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37722/original/hvs9p78m-1386908566.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37722/original/hvs9p78m-1386908566.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Margarine has been reinvented as a trans fat-free, cholesterol-lowering ‘functional food’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Benjamin/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And some <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02638705?LI=true">early evidence</a> that trans fats and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils have much the same effects as saturated fats on blood cholesterol levels was largely ignored.</p>
<h2>Through the nutritionism prism</h2>
<p>Nutrition experts’ promotion of margarine as a more healthy spread than butter was an important landmark in the triumph of what I call the <em>ideology of nutritionism</em>. </p>
<p><a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15656-1/nutritionism">Nutritionism</a> refers to the reductive focus on nutrients as a way of evaluating and comparing the healthiness of foods, which has dominated nutrition research and dietary advice for much of the past century. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781743316924">It’s characterised</a> by simplified, exaggerated, and decontextualized explanations of the health effects of particular nutrients. </p>
<p>At the same time, other ways of evaluating food quality, such as on the basis of the level and type of processing a food has been subjected to, have been systematically undermined.</p>
<p>Based on this reductive nutritional ideology, the hierarchy of butter and margarine was turned on its head as the imitation came to be considered better than – and more real than – the original. </p>
<p>In this sense, margarine was one of the first hyper-real food products of the modern age.</p>
<h2>Trans fats as ‘bad fats’</h2>
<p>By the 1980s, food manufacturers and fast-food chains, such as McDonald’s, were being pressured by public health groups to change from using animal fats and tropical oils (such as palm oil) to vegetable oils high in polyunsaturated fats. </p>
<p>But these polyunsaturated-rich oils had also typically been hydrogenated in order to give them the required baking or frying characteristics.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37724/original/2hdc2ctx-1386908896.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37724/original/2hdc2ctx-1386908896.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37724/original/2hdc2ctx-1386908896.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37724/original/2hdc2ctx-1386908896.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37724/original/2hdc2ctx-1386908896.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37724/original/2hdc2ctx-1386908896.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37724/original/2hdc2ctx-1386908896.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Early evidence that partially hydrogenated vegetable oils have much the same effects as saturated fats on blood cholesterol levels was largely ignored.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">1950sUnlimited/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Margarine’s nutritional façade was briefly undermined when a <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199008163230703">study</a> published in the early 1990s demonstrated that trans fats, in fact, have more harmful effects on blood cholesterol levels than saturated fats. </p>
<p>Other <a href="http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v63/n2s/full/1602973a.html">studies</a> have found a number of other associations and more direct harmful properties of trans fats.</p>
<p>Nutrition experts could have paused to question their reductive interpretation of margarine and butter in terms of their fat composition at this juncture, and perhaps reflected more deeply on other characteristics of the dominant nutritional paradigm, such as the good-and-bad fats discourse. </p>
<p>But instead most experts reacted by reasserting and even extending this discourse, by re-categorising trans fats as one of the bad fats and, in fact, as the worst fats of all. </p>
<p>They placed this novel, chemically modified fat in the same “bad fats” basket as saturated fats, thus blurring the distinction between a naturally-occurring and a chemically reconstituted fat.</p>
<h2>From trans fats to <em>i</em>-fats</h2>
<p>Margarine producers responded by finding new ways of chemically modifying the oils and fats so as to harden them without producing large quantities of trans fats. </p>
<p>They have typically done so by using a combination of the techniques of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenation">hydrogenation</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractionation">fractionation</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interesterification">interesterification</a> — all of which separate and chemically rearrange or transform the fatty acids in vegetable oils.</p>
<p>The end product is no less highly processed and reconstituted. And nutrition scientists don’t really know if these new types of modified fats, which I refer to as <em>i-fats</em> (short for interesterified fats), are any <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lite.200800031/abstract">safer</a> than trans fats, since they have not been extensively studied.</p>
<p>Still, these chemical modifications were enough to satisfy most nutrition experts, who seemed content to be told that these reformulated spreads are virtually trans fat-free. </p>
<p>Many experts have also continued to ignore the underlying processing techniques and additives used in the production of these spreads, maintaining focus on their nutrient composition instead.</p>
<p>While the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gyorgy-scrinis/the-transfats-fiasco_b_4267381.html">trans fats fiasco</a> was unfolding in the 1990s, some producers continued to refashion the nutrient profile of their spreads by adding plant sterols (components extracted from plants, such as wood pulp), to produce cholesterol-lowering spreads. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37721/original/26qsszcc-1386908425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37721/original/26qsszcc-1386908425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37721/original/26qsszcc-1386908425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37721/original/26qsszcc-1386908425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37721/original/26qsszcc-1386908425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37721/original/26qsszcc-1386908425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37721/original/26qsszcc-1386908425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Until the 1960s, margarine was considered to be just a cheap imitation of butter consumed by people who couldn’t afford the real thing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paula Bailey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The health claims on these products suggest they actively reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol levels. But there’s no evidence that consuming the spreads actually reduces the incidence of heart disease.</p>
<h2>The resurrection of real butter</h2>
<p>Margarines and spreads have also had other fetishized nutrients added to the mix, such as omega-3 fats, in order to claim to nutritional benefits. </p>
<p>In these ways margarine has been taken to the next level of hyper-reality, or what French social theorist Jean Baudrillard referred to as “pure simulation”. Margarine now simulates the nutritional profile of a range of foods. </p>
<p>Its primary reference point is no longer foods, such as butter, because it now almost entirely inhabits of world of nutrients and nutritional concepts.</p>
<p>In some cases butter producers have also chosen to play this nutritional game, by manufacturing reduced-fat varieties, or mixing butter with vegetable oils, such as canola or olive oil, to mimic both the nutritional profile and the spreadability of margarine.</p>
<p>Margarine and spread sales continue to outstrip butter sales. But, despite the continued promotion of margarine by many nutrition experts as a healthy spread, the long-term decline in <a href="http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/.../Spreads-in-the-current-market.pdf%E2%80%8E">butter sales</a> has been reversed in recent years in Australia and other countries, while margarine sales are falling.</p>
<p>It may be that many consumers are deciding they prefer the taste and “naturalness” of butter, either because they have discovered the highly processed character of margarine, or because they’re no longer deterred by the vilification of saturated fats.</p>
<p>But this may also be evidence that the ideology of nutritionism itself is beginning to lose its hold, at least on the lay public, as people turn to other ways of understanding and appreciating food quality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21419/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gyorgy Scrinis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Margarine has been the chameleon of manufactured food products, able to transform its nutritional appearance, adapt to changing nutritional fads, and charm unwitting nutrition experts and nutrition-conscious…Gyorgy Scrinis, Lecturer in Food and Nutrition Politics and Policy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.