Mr Cholesterol!
Dr Keys or Mr Cholesterol recommended reducing saturated fat in one’s diet to only 4%, as the only way of lowering cholesterol and saving yourself from heart disease. He also believed that industrial seed oils would help prevent heart disease. It is, however, well-recorded (Times magazine 13Jan. 1961) that this man never followed his own advice. Regardless, his ideas got all the nourishment needed, while all the opposing thoughts had no media space or nourishment. To confirm the bias of the AHA, we must also mention Dr Moses, who led AHA from 1965 to 1973. He posed with a bottle of Crisco oil in a health education film seen by millions of Americans.
Dr Stamler, mentioned above, before his dominant role in the AHA, did lab research “on the influence of female hormones on diet-induced atherosclerosis in chickens”.
Corn Products Company as a book publisher?
His 1963 book, “Your heart has nine lives” was published by the Corn Products Company (manufacturers of Mazola corn oil) and distributed free of charge to doctors in America. Whether any conclusions from his lab work influenced, his book is unknown. In her excellent book “The big fat surprise” Nina Teicholz quotes Dr Stamler: “Scientists in public health must make alliances with industry”.
The “Corn Product Company” is now called Ingredian, and one wonders how many scientists have aligned themselves with its production, in our time. The company website is mostly in beautiful, nature-inspired green colours with a healthy young woman, eating something (must be healthy) from a bowl. According to their site, it is a “global ingredients solution company, for foods and beverages to paper and pharmaceuticals”. For 2017 it reported 6.18 billion dollars in net sales.
I could go on and on, about the big evil players that sold us the “industry oils are healthier” mantra, in cooperation with the medical and media organisations. Still, it is a massive and sad unravelling.
Is calorie just a calorie regardless of where you get it? Is getting nourishment from sugar the same as getting that calorie from butter or margarine? Is cholesterol such an important marker in determining heart attacks? Why is there a need to put sugar in most packaged products, including bacon and salmon?
Profit is more important
It seems that we all believe in what gives us the most benefit. We align with the powerful and charismatic leaders, even when we are not sure of their ideology. We are often paid not to see the truth. We hypnotise ourselves to distrust what is right in front of us.
Same same but different
I have worked in the gaming industry for 13 years. Gaming is a PR weasel word for gambling. For most of that time, I refused to believe the suffering of addicted people. I was hypnotised not to see the truth. Paid travel to conferences in exotic places, to learn the fine art of excellent service may have helped in this surprising “blindness”. You know the excuses; if we didn’t do it, they would go to another place. Or, they are just stupid people. Or we only offer a service, at least we are not as bad as the others. Or we can’t change the way the world works etc.
Pavlov experiments (Classical Conditioning)
But the facts were in plain sight — gambling machines with happy tunes, bells and colours, same as the Pavlov experiments with dogs. Zombie-like people, for hours at a time, in front of screens. They are defecating in corners close to the machine, urinating in the machine coin trays or attempting to kill themselves in the toilets. All this could have pointed to the fact that there is something wrong in official gaming definitions. Gamers (gambling addicts) are told that they should only gamble how much they can afford. It is only entertainment, according to our relevant government departments and the “gaming” industry. If punters have problems, it is their problem alone. They are weak and should exercise more self-restraint.
Industry advice
Well, it is similar in the food industry. We are more obese, and we have more chronic diseases than ever before. All this, after following all the official dietary guidelines. We are told that we are lazy and need more exercise. We are told we overeat and should have more self-restraint. Could it be, that we have become addicted and sick, due to wrong advice, by following the wrong road map? Could this be the result of the sugar and processed food addiction?
Sugar, seed oils and Tobacco industry tactics
Sugar (hidden under more than 60 aliases) and seed (vegetable) oils are in most packaged (processed) food. Eating these packaged industrial products, we may be feeding a process of chronic disease creation. Did anybody care? Yes, but there were too many obstacles and confusion set up by the food industry heavy-weights. It was done through the media, in the same way as the tactics of the Tobacco industry. Feed the public contradictory “evidence” to create confusion. We all know that corporations don’t have tear ducts. Pleasant mission statements will not stop them from creating misery.
Dr Stare and his Coca-Cola snack
Here I must mention Dr Frederic Stare, the founder of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard’s School of public health, and chairman for the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). ACSH mission statement is to “support evidence-based science and medicine”.
For more than 30 years, Dr Stare was the most influential nutritionist, advising on what Americans should eat. Only scientific evidence was considered, I am sure.
He also had exciting health advice:
– Coca-Cola is a “healthy between-meals snack.”
– High amounts of sugar in one’s diet will not cause health problems
– Fluoridation is good
– People should drink a cup of corn oil a day
Who funds the dietary advisors?
In 1960 he obtained a grant of more than 1 million dollars from General Foods. In 1975, the good Dr Stare played a crucial role in sugar officially defined as a safe product. In 1976 sugar was given a label that dispelled all fears that it could cause illness. The person that led the committee to this decision was Mr George W. Irving Jr who previously chaired the International Sugar research advisory board. Just a coincidence, I am sure.
Before retiring, Dr Stare bragged that during his working life, he raised more than 29 million dollars from various industries. He was 91 when he died. It would be interesting to know how much of his own advice he followed.
Has anything changed since then?
No, in 2013 financial documents revealed that 58% of the ACSH’s donations came from corporations and large private foundations. Donors include Chevron, Coca-Cola, Bayer etc. Ralph Nader, a well-known American activist, said: “ACSH is a consumer front organisation for its business backers. It has seized the language and style of the existing consumer organisations, but its real purpose, you might say, is to glove the hand that feeds it”.
I will end with another interesting fact; Gilbert Ross was appointed as ACSH medical director (1999) after he got out of prison for Medicaid fraud (worth 8 million dollars). ACSH identifies Ross as an emeritus advisor