Kevin Brown
Sadiqua Hamdan
Annette Presley
Debbie Wysocki
Paul Ericson
Maureen Diaz
Janet Demeter
Liz Reitzig
Julie Burns
Jenny Westerkamp, RD
Lauren Snyder Grosz
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN
let'spoon
Morley Robbins
Janet Stuck, ND, CNC, MH, CNHP
John Chisholm
Dr. Richard Walicki
Jimmy Moore
I get a lot of emails and regular mail, often with loads of samples, from the food industry with information designed to convince me to recommend certain foods to my clients. Today, I thought I’d share an email from The Promise Institute, the makers of Promise margarine and spreads.
This particular email contained an article with the title The Role of Omega-6 PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) In Heart Health which summarized the American Heart Association Sciences Advisory 2009 findings. According to this article, “a thorough assessment of the literature revealed that omega-6 PUFAs play a role in maintaining heart health as part of a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol.” They are recommending an omega-6 intake of up to 21% of total calories claiming that PUFAs improve the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol when substituted for carbohydrates; reduces LDL cholesterol when replacing saturated fat; and because a meta-analysis revealed that replacing saturated fat with PUFA lowered the risk of coronary heart disease.
The Promise Institute recommendations are to:
- Switch to soft spreads (meaning don’t use butter, use margarine)
- Choose nutritious vegetable oils (like soy and corn)
- Add a healthy nut/seed topping
- Smooth on some peanut butter
The references for this article included the Position Paper of the American Dietetic Association on dietary fatty acids which concluded that there was no scientific agreement on PUFA recommendations since many studies identified adverse effects from a high PUFA diet and indicated that the omega-6/omega-3 ratio was more important. This paper also recommended eating whole foods, not processed foods.
Most of the studies that did show a benefit to increasing PUFAs in the diet were either talking about increasing the omega-3 PUFA, not omega-6, or they were really old studies from the 60s and 70s. The problem with the old studies is that they occurred during the time when the lipid hypothesis was gaining ground (and deliberately trying to be proved at any cost) and saturated and trans fats were lumped together as we were unaware that there were biological differences between the two at that time. Omega-6 fats, and anything for that matter, would be better than trans fat and therefore the results would be favorable to increasing omega-6 fats. These old studies were generally of poor design and contained too many variables to pinpoint the risk or benefit of any one food component.
The end points used in most studies are “risk factors” for heart disease such as blood cholesterol levels, particularly LDL, rather than actual events of disease or death. It is assumed by the mainstream that a low LDL is good for the heart, but no study has ever proven that to be true. What the science does show is that oxidized LDL is a risk factor, but not the amount of LDL. So, you could have a high LDL that is not oxidized and be perfectly healthy or you could have a low LDL that is oxidized and be at risk for heart disease. PUFAs absolutely lower LDL cholesterol, but they also cause the LDL to oxidize.
The references sited in this article did not provide support for the Promise Institute recommendations to increase PUFA intake, but that won’t stop them from marketing their fake butter.
Annette Presley RD LD CPT, Chief Nutritionist for Liberation Wellness
Annette has been a registered dietitian for over 17 years and discovered several years ago that every thing she learned in school was wrong and the nutrition advice we dispense in this country actually causes heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. She is now dedicating her life to getting the truth out so people can live a truly healthy life. She is founder of Find Your Weigh online at findyourweigh.com.
