Tiger Beat
Need to read? Then you'll be happy to hear that Lionel Tiger, one of my favorite anthropologists (and commentarians), has a new book out -- a compilation of his New York Press, Daily News, New Yorker, and Wall Street Journal columns, called "Apes Of New York." Here's a quote from one of his New York Press columns, entitled "Brain-And-Mouth Disease," about America's clutching grip on myths about fat and cholesterol:
...While the individual steps of the effect of fat have been demonstrated, the whole chain of events and their impact has not been. Among people not already at risk for heart disease (like enthusiastic smokers with high blood pressure), according to Taubes and the research of which he is the accountant, the evidence is weak that sharply reduced consumption of saturated fats will increase longevity more than a few weeks, perhaps as much as three months. As long ago as 1969, the National Heart Institute stated plainly, "It is not known whether dietary manipulation has any effect whatsoever on coronary heart disease." In fact, the authors of the report in which this was the conclusive sentence were concerned that, because fat is so important to cell membranes and the brain (which is 70 percent fat), too little fat could be a more serious medical deficit than too much. There is some evidence that very low cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk for auto accidents and aggressive interaction. Japanese physicians have found that low levels were associated with hemorrhagic stroke, and may counsel their patients to raise their levels.Since the beginning of the 70s Americans have dropped their consumption of fat to about 34 percent of their calories, down from more than 40 percent beforehand. The incidence of heart disease does not seem to have declined, according to a 10-year study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1998. Nonetheless, the treatment of heart disease has improved enormouslyñwith more than 5.4 million heart-related procedures compared with 1.2 million in 1979. This may provide the questionable impression that it is dietary change that is responsible for improved coronary experience.
Furthermore, the replacement of fat-containing foods by carbohydrates may have contributed to an epidemic of obesity and then diabetes among Americans. The term "fat-free" on a product appears to provide permission to consume large portions of it, producing an intake well beyond what seems to be necessary to balance energy consumed and energy used. Taubes describes how the principal political supporter of the low-fat push in the public arena was Sen. George McGovern, who had himself gone through the severely low-fat Pritikin diet program. McGovern then held two days of committee testimony in 1976 on the subject, and followed up by commissioning a former labor reporter for the Providence Journal, who had no scientific background, to produce the first "Dietary Goals for the United States."
This article of Tiger's happens to reference the work of one of my favorite science writers, Gary Taubes, who's most "secularly" famous for his New York Times Magazine article, "What If It's All Been A Big Fat Lie?"
If the members of the American medical establishment were to have a collective find-yourself-standing-naked-in-Times-Square-type nightmare, this might be it. They spend 30 years ridiculing Robert Atkins, author of the phenomenally-best-selling ''Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution'' and ''Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution,'' accusing the Manhattan doctor of quackery and fraud, only to discover that the unrepentant Atkins was right all along. Or maybe it's this: they find that their very own dietary recommendations -- eat less fat and more carbohydrates -- are the cause of the rampaging epidemic of obesity in America. Or, just possibly this: they find out both of the above are true.
In other words, Grease Is Good -- providing you don't swab it all up with a loaf of bread.
There was a piece on NPR a few weeks ago, about how people in North Dakota live the longest in the USA. There was also a comment about how these people eat a lot of dairy/meet/fat/grease products. Then there was another comment about how these people work long hours outside, and have a life social beyond TV and the Internet.
The Mad Hungarian at September 22, 2003 6:28 AM
Excercise and a decent diet? No way.
I always thought it was the cigars and cheap burbon that kept me thin...
Kresh at September 28, 2003 10:54 AM