In the early 1950s, the famous Framingham Heart Study identified cholesterol as one of more than 240 risk factors of cardiovascular disease.
Since then, any cholesterol-containing food, like butter, eggs and cream, was considered off limits for not only those with cardiovascular disease, but also those trying to avoid plaque buildup.
Government Endorsed Diet Goes Awry
The government became involved and sponsored an erroneous “Pyramid” diet that promoted low fat products with polyunsaturated vegetable oils, such as margarine, canola and corn oil, and marketed by the American Heart Association as heart protective.
The Pyramid diet caused the use of butter to drop to one fifth of the amount consumed in 1910. The highly marketed hydrogenated fats and trans fatty acids that first appeared on market shelves in 1911 had increased by nine times the amount.
The Pyramid diet also saw the intake of sugar to rise from 15 pounds per person per year in the early 1900s to 154 pounds per person today. It caused the consumption of beef to increase by 2.5 times and the intake of salads to drop 12 times the amount. This dietary change caused a steady increase of cancer among the American people.
By the 1980s, it was obvious that a reform in the dietary guidelines was needed. The new dietary guidelines released were to continue to eat margarine, but to substitute the type of vegetable oil used and increase the intake of carbohydrates.
Again, there was a ban on cholesterol rich saturated foods even though study after study exonerated saturated fats as being the cause of cardiovascular disease.
This new guideline caused a dramatic increase in diabetes and obesity while cardiovascular disease began to skyrocket.
Research Links Margarine to Diabetes and Heart Attacks
Research found that the increase of blood insulin levels promoting the risk for diabetes was being triggered by the intake of margarine and food containing trans fatty acids.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School conducted a study that followed approximately 85,000 women comparing their diets. They found that those who ate food containing margarine and/or partially hydrogenated fats had a higher risk of developing heart disease.
Additionally, studies concluded at the Harvard School of Public Health reported that every intake of any product using margarine or partially hydrogenated oils increased the risk of having a heart attack.
Margarine increases the levels of cholesterol and LDL while lowering the HDL. Opposite of what is recommended to protect cardiovascular function.
The trans-fatty acids found in margarine weaken each cell membrane's protective structure and function in the body. This alters normal transport of minerals and other nutrients across the membrane and allows disease microbes and toxic chemicals to get into the cell more readily, causing weakened cells, poor organ function and an exhausted immune system, with lowered resistance to infection and increased risk of disease.
Research confirms the depression of the immune system following the ingestion of trans fatty acids found in margarine. Furthermore, the consumption of margarine has been reported in journals to lower the efficiency of the B cell response in the immune system.
The body normally needs to use about 1100mg of cholesterol per day. Approximately 800mg of cholesterol is absorbed from the animal products, such as eggs, butter, cheese and meat as long as cholesterol from food is not being restricted. Only half of this amount the body actually absorbs. The rest is excreted unused.
Plus, for most of the population any increased consumption of cholesterol drops the production of cholesterol by the body.
Perhaps far too much emphasis has been placed on cholesterol and saturated fats as the culprits causing cardiovascular disease, while the real cause continues to elude scientists.
Sources:
1. Erasmus, Udo, Ph.D., Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, 1993
2. Harvard Health Letter, Summer 1994
3. Jaffe, Russell, M.D., Lipids, 1992
4. Siguel, Edward, M.D., Ph.D., Essential Fatty Acids in Health and Disease, 1995
5. Rudin, Donald, M.D., et al, The Omega-3 Phenomenon, 1987
6. Lipids, 1996
7. Finnegan, John, N.D., The Facts About Fats, 1993
8. Experts: Choose Soft Margarine/Spreads for Heart Health, Heart Health Resource Center, 2010
Kathryn Picoulin - Dr. Kathryn Picoulin, BSN, ND, PhD received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from California State University of Chico in 1978. After ...
