Ketogenic and low-carbohydrate diet advocates have been having a much greater impact on our diet and our health in the recent decades.. Book sales are higher, website visits are much more frequent.
Our health indicators have become progressively worse. The prevalence of many cancers have continued to rise. The mortality rate for all cases of cancer has risen for females. It has decreased for males because of the reduction in lung cancer.
Breast cancer, a sex-hormone related cancer with a high prevalence rate, continues to rise.
Pancreatic cancer, has a lower prevalence rate but has a high mortality rate, continues to rise unabated.
Whilst a substantial reduction in cervical cancer occurred between 1992-2002, there has been no reduction in the following two decades.
In 2018, 36% of Australians aged 18 and over are overweight (BMI of 25 to up to 30) and 31% of the population are obese (BMI 30 or more).
34% of adult Australians have hypertension (greater than 140/90 or taking medication). According to the Framingham Risk Assessment calculator, a systolic value of less than 120 mmHg is ideal.
Autoimmune diseases are a pernicious group of diseases where the immune system produces antibodies that destroy the body’s cells. There are 80-100 autoimmune diseases that have been identified.
Autoimmune diseases cumulatively affect 5-10% of the industrial world population and are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality.
World-wide, the incidence of autoimmune diseases is increasing at the rate of 19% each and every year.
5.3% of Australian adults aged 18 and over had type 2 diabetes in 2017–18. Diabetes is the fastest growing chronic condition in Australia, increasing at a faster rate than other chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
Almost 1.9 million Australians have diabetes. On average, one in three of these people have some level of diabetic retinopathy.
Dementia is a syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities. It is not a normal part of aging. 50 million people world-wide have dementia with nearly 10 million new cases every year. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia contributing 60–70% of cases.
In 2016, the global number of individuals who lived with dementia was 43·8 million which increased from 20.2 million in 1990. This represented an increase of 117% in 16 years. Dementia was the fifth leading cause of death globally accounting for 2·4 million deaths. This could be attributed to modifiable risk factors of high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, smoking, and a high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages.
In the US, in 2010, the rate of autism at age 8 was 14.7 per 1,000 which is 1 in 68. Boys are 4.5 times more likely to be affected than girls.
This rate continues to increase. As at 2020, about 1 in 36 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. About 1 in 6 (17%) children aged 3–17 years were diagnosed with a developmental disability.
That is the bad news. The good news is much of these illnesses can be prevented and even reversed with the consumption of a whole-food, plant-based diet with NO added oils (or salt). Coconut oil, olive oil or mayonnaise are not healthy and are most assuredly NOT associated with a natural diet of humans (or chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans).
Popular commentators frequently accuse Keys of manipulating data in his 1953 paper, Atherosclerosis, A Problem in Newer Public Health.
This study is sometimes referred as the “Six Countries Study”. A number of popular commentators think this is the Seven Countries Study— they count England & Wales as two countries.
This paper was presented in Amsterdam in 1952 and in January 1953 in New York.
Far too much attention is paid to one page of a minor discussion paper written in the early 1950s. Keys writes,
“The fact that the present high rate from degenerative heart disease in the United States is not inevitable is easily shown by the comparison with some other countries.”
An article relating to Nina Teicholz book, The Big Fat Surprise, was printed in the Australian on 29th December 2014. Unfortunately, it is largely a repeat of misinformation and misunderstanding of the history of diet and cardiovascular research that is found in popular books and websites.
Whilst the current western diet is appalling and contributes to our poor health, it is absurd to contend that we have been lied to by the government, nutritionists and researchers. The contention that saturated fat from animals is actually quite good for you and cholesterol isn’t really important is simply wrong and not supported by research.
TIME magazine published an article by Bryan Walsh that appeared in TIME magazine on 23 June 2014.
The cover of the magazine asserts “Eat Butter. Scientists labeled fat the enemy. Why they were wrong.”
Unfortunately, much of the evidence that Walsh presents in the article “Don’t blame the fat” is simply wrong and misleading. Walsh states that between 1977-2012, egg consumption fell 9%, beef 37% and milk 72%.
For the period 1970 - 2000, total added fats (up 40%), dairy products (up 8%), cheese (up 107%), low fat milk (up 79%), all meat products (up 10%), poultry (up 89%) and fish (up 22%) increased. These significant increases were not included in Walsh’s report. All of these food products, even low fat milk, are high fat foods.
The total calories consumed also rose significantly by 24%.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Catalyst program series produced a 2 part program collectively titled Heart of the Matter. The programs are titled Dietary Villains and Cholesterol Drug War. These programs were aired in October 2013.
The presenter and co-producer is Dr Maryanne Demasi. The medical experts interviewed include Dr Michael Eades, Dr Jonny Bowden and Dr Stephen Sinatra. Science and medical writer Gary Taubes was also interviewed.
The views presented are based on popular books stating that we has been following the expert medical advice for the past 20 years (or 30, 40 or 50 years) and we are unhealthy than ever. They claim that there is a conspiracy to hide the truth concerning health, fat and cholesterol. These popular views are based on myths, fabrications and a distortion of the facts.
WHO's recommendations on saturated fat are out of date, expert team says. However, the study has been funded by the dairy and beef industries. Discover how industry-funded research is deceiving the public.
Discover why researchers, popular commentators and the food industry is more concerned with maintaining corporate profits than ensuring that we have valid health information. Who is going to get wealthy by encouraging people to eat their fruit and vegetables?
Carbohydrates DO NOT cause diabetes
Discover why researchers, popular commentators and the food industry is more concerned with maintaining corporate profits than ensuring that we have valid health information.