Re: Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and death: evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updated meta-analysis
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Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and death: evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updated meta-analysis
Re: Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and death: evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updated meta-analysis
The general belief is that animal fat is bad and vegetable oil is good. Research shows the opposite. Reference 50 is a 1965 trial reported in the BMJ which demonstrates corn oil, containing mostly linoleic acid, causes heart attacks in comparison to animal fat. The trial also shows olive oil, containing a significant amount of linoleic acid, is almost as bad as corn oil.
The mechanism is described whereby linoleic acid in LDL particles is oxidised in artery walls leading to plaque formation. There are more factors in this mechanism. If animal fat is eaten, LDL particles contain saturated fat which cannot be oxidised. Small dense LDL particles result from eating a high carbohydrate diet and easily pass into the artery walls. Large fluffy LDL particles 30 nanometres in diameter result from a low carbohydrate diet and cannot pass through the 26 nanometre gaps in the artery wall [1]. The blood levels of total cholesterol and LDL are irrelevant [2, 3, 4, 5]. It is the particle size that matters. Large fluffy particles are associated with high HDL and low triglyceride. The most important oxidising agent of LDL particles is the peptide BCM-7 produced by the digestion of A1 milk. The level of A1 milk consumption in countries is directly proportional to the rate of heart disease. Milk in the UK is mostly A1. Milk in Africa is mostly A2. France is in between. A few supermarkets have recently begun to sell A2 milk which has the potential to prevent many diseases such as type 1 diabetes and heart disease [6, 7, 8].
Many other conditions are caused by linoleic acid. High linoleic acid consumption results in high levels in cell membranes. The linoleic acid in the membranes is easily oxidised and the cells are killed. When this happens repeatedly in epithelial linings, cancer results. This is why prolonged trials comparing animal and vegetable fat show more cancer in the vegetable fat groups. Cell membranes containing linoleic acid are stiff due to its jagged structure compared to saturated fat which is straight. Stiff red blood cells do not pass easily through capillaries and hypertension results.
Linoleic acid is an omega 6 fatty acid. It causes weight gain and inflammation. Omega 3 fats have the opposite effect. The ideal ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 in the diet is about 2:1 [9]. Modern diets have a ratio of 20:1 due to the false belief that linoleic acid is good for us. In pre-historic times weight gain from eating omega 6 fats in nuts and seeds, which were plentiful in the autumn, was an advantage to prepare humans for winter [10]. Meat from grass fed animals has a good amount of omega 3. But 99% of farmed animals are fattened on grain products such as brewery waste prior to slaughter which lowers their omega 3 levels to zero and the meat contains only omega 6. Similarly, farmed fish has reduced omega 3 levels due to being fed on grains.
Heart disease was rare before the introduction of industrial seed oils at the start of the 20th century [11]. Four meta-analyses recently prove saturated fat to be harmless [12]. The lesson of this article is that it is time we stopped demonising the really healthy fats such as butter, lard, beef dripping, coconut oil and palm oil [13, 14].
References:
1. Big Fat Lies by David Gillespie
2. The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick
3. Ignore the Awkward, how cholesterol myths are kept alive by Uffe Ravnskov
4. The Great Cholesterol Myth by Jonny Bowden
5. Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical PracticeVolume 18, Issue 1, Article first published online: 25 SEP 2011, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01767.x/pdf
6. Ischaemic heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, and cow milk A1 beta-casein. N Z Med J. 116(1168), U295
7. Don’t drink A1 Milk by Brent Bateman
8. The Devil in the Milk by Keith Woodford
9. The Paleo Answer by Loren Cordain PhD
10. Omega Six, The Devil’s Fat by Robert Brown
11. The Oiling of America by Sally Fallon
12. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease, Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar;91(3):535-46. Epub 2010 Jan 13.
13. The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife
14. The Palm Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife
Rapid Response:
Re: Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and death: evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updated meta-analysis
The general belief is that animal fat is bad and vegetable oil is good. Research shows the opposite. Reference 50 is a 1965 trial reported in the BMJ which demonstrates corn oil, containing mostly linoleic acid, causes heart attacks in comparison to animal fat. The trial also shows olive oil, containing a significant amount of linoleic acid, is almost as bad as corn oil.
The mechanism is described whereby linoleic acid in LDL particles is oxidised in artery walls leading to plaque formation. There are more factors in this mechanism. If animal fat is eaten, LDL particles contain saturated fat which cannot be oxidised. Small dense LDL particles result from eating a high carbohydrate diet and easily pass into the artery walls. Large fluffy LDL particles 30 nanometres in diameter result from a low carbohydrate diet and cannot pass through the 26 nanometre gaps in the artery wall [1]. The blood levels of total cholesterol and LDL are irrelevant [2, 3, 4, 5]. It is the particle size that matters. Large fluffy particles are associated with high HDL and low triglyceride. The most important oxidising agent of LDL particles is the peptide BCM-7 produced by the digestion of A1 milk. The level of A1 milk consumption in countries is directly proportional to the rate of heart disease. Milk in the UK is mostly A1. Milk in Africa is mostly A2. France is in between. A few supermarkets have recently begun to sell A2 milk which has the potential to prevent many diseases such as type 1 diabetes and heart disease [6, 7, 8].
Many other conditions are caused by linoleic acid. High linoleic acid consumption results in high levels in cell membranes. The linoleic acid in the membranes is easily oxidised and the cells are killed. When this happens repeatedly in epithelial linings, cancer results. This is why prolonged trials comparing animal and vegetable fat show more cancer in the vegetable fat groups. Cell membranes containing linoleic acid are stiff due to its jagged structure compared to saturated fat which is straight. Stiff red blood cells do not pass easily through capillaries and hypertension results.
Linoleic acid is an omega 6 fatty acid. It causes weight gain and inflammation. Omega 3 fats have the opposite effect. The ideal ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 in the diet is about 2:1 [9]. Modern diets have a ratio of 20:1 due to the false belief that linoleic acid is good for us. In pre-historic times weight gain from eating omega 6 fats in nuts and seeds, which were plentiful in the autumn, was an advantage to prepare humans for winter [10]. Meat from grass fed animals has a good amount of omega 3. But 99% of farmed animals are fattened on grain products such as brewery waste prior to slaughter which lowers their omega 3 levels to zero and the meat contains only omega 6. Similarly, farmed fish has reduced omega 3 levels due to being fed on grains.
Heart disease was rare before the introduction of industrial seed oils at the start of the 20th century [11]. Four meta-analyses recently prove saturated fat to be harmless [12]. The lesson of this article is that it is time we stopped demonising the really healthy fats such as butter, lard, beef dripping, coconut oil and palm oil [13, 14].
References:
1. Big Fat Lies by David Gillespie
2. The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick
3. Ignore the Awkward, how cholesterol myths are kept alive by Uffe Ravnskov
4. The Great Cholesterol Myth by Jonny Bowden
5. Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical PracticeVolume 18, Issue 1, Article first published online: 25 SEP 2011, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01767.x/pdf
6. Ischaemic heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, and cow milk A1 beta-casein. N Z Med J. 116(1168), U295
7. Don’t drink A1 Milk by Brent Bateman
8. The Devil in the Milk by Keith Woodford
9. The Paleo Answer by Loren Cordain PhD
10. Omega Six, The Devil’s Fat by Robert Brown
11. The Oiling of America by Sally Fallon
12. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease, Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar;91(3):535-46. Epub 2010 Jan 13.
13. The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife
14. The Palm Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife
Competing interests: No competing interests