Hooray, bring on the
bacon and eggs! Two recent reports are shaking up the food industry.
Salt has recently been vindicated by scientists. "Cardiovascular
disease, heart failure, or death in older Americans are not linked
to salt intake", according to research published in JAMA Internal
Medicine on January 19, 2015. This follows last year’s Institute of
Medicine report, which also raised questions about sodium
recommendations. The IOM committee found that there was no clear
evidence to support limiting sodium to 1,500 milligrams or less per
day.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study in August 2014
which reported that people who consume less 1,500 milligrams of
sodium are more likely to die than people who eat between 3,000 to
6,000 milligrams of sodium per day.
Now this new report says, cholesterol is no longer a "nutrient of
concern," according to the US leading nutritional panel in February
2015.
In its 2015 version of the guidelines from the US Department of
Agriculture, it will no longer place an upper limit on cholesterol,
"because available evidence shows no appreciable relationship
between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol."
The draft report said, "Cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for
over consumption." The recommended changes were compiled by 14
nationally recognized nutrition, medicine, and public health
experts. It makes Dr. Adkins appear absolutely prescient.
Health experts agreed it is no longer necessary to consider a food's
cholesterol content when making dietary decisions. The committee’s
new report also advised eliminating 'lean meat' as well as 'cutting
back on red and processed meats' from the list of recommended
healthy foods. The panel also said it OK to have three to five cups
of coffee per day.
The science connecting high-cholesterol foods to the accumulation of
bad cholesterol in the blood is lacking - not conclusive enough to
warrant federal intake recommendations. Even the predictive value of
bad cholesterol levels in looking at heart attack risk has shown to
be weak by recent studies.
The new enemy is increased carbohydrates, according the current
analysis of government data. It says that, "over the past 50 years,
we cut fat intake by 25 percent and increased carbohydrates by more
than 30 percent." That is what has led to the increase in obesity.
Other countries that offer dietary guidelines have long abandoned
specific caps on cholesterol. According to David Klurfeld, a
nutritional scientist at the USDA, "The US is the last country in
the world to set a specific limit on dietary cholesterol." Finally
science begins to trump headlines. Many of my friends know I
have been a Cassandra of cholesterol for years. I wonder
how long it will take for 'artery clogging' to be banished from
the lexicon.