Are Concepts of Nutrition and Diet Changing?

The role of saturated fats in the diet has come under close scrutiny recently – and the outcome has been that they might not be the villains that they have been portrayed.

A series of conferences organised by the Dairy Council and Dairy Co on Dairy, Saturated Fats and Cardiovascular Disease over the last month heard that the image of all saturated fats being labelled as enemies has now been largely overturned.

Dr Anne Mullen, director of nutrition at the Dairy Council said: “Saturated fat has been seen as the bad cop. Recent research has shown that while it might not be the good cop, it is not as bad as it has been made out.”

Prof Philippe Legrande from INRA in France said that fatty acids are nutrients and as the body converts sugars, starch and alcohol into fatty acids it was wrong to define them as enemies.

He said that it is impossible to examine saturated fatty acids as a group as they needed to be examines according to their functions.

“They are not bad guys, they are not villains. It is just a question of amount,” he told the conference.

“They all have their functions.”

A study from Lund University in Sweden has also found that consumption of high-fat yoghurt and cheese are linked to a reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes by as much as a fifth.

High meat consumption, on the other hand, is linked to a higher risk.

The findings, which have been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are in line with previous studies of eating habits that indicated a link between high consumption of dairy products and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

Another study from Finland found that egg consumption may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes

The research from the University of Eastern Finland, published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that the consumption of eggs has led to improved glucose balance, among other things.

The new studies on fats have come at a time when representatives from Congress in the US have called on the government to base the national dietary guidelines on sound science.

In a letter to the agriculture and health secretaries they expressed concern that new guidelines had been drawn up on predetermined policy decisions rather than unbiased science.