The Clintons: Chelsea (Pregnant), Hillary (Unhealthy), and
Bill (Healthy)

The Clinton family has been in the spotlight for decades, and much illumination has been on their health and diets. High-profile medical doctors have prescribed treatments for them ranging from heart surgery to vegan food plans, with outcomes visible to the public. The population's interpretation of their behaviors has worldwide impact, including influencing healthcare delivery, food buying habits, and the results of local and national US elections. Money sways politics and laws. Agribusinesses, including the meat, dairy, and egg industries, contribute more than $250 million annually to candidates and for lobbying efforts. Recent events surrounding the Clintons' health and diet have the potential for world change.

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Clearing Up The Confusion Surrounding Saturated Fat
By Travis

In the February, May and August 2013, and February 2014 McDougall newsletters, I presented readers with articles addressing the dangers of low-carb and Paleo diets. Please take this opportunity to read these articles.

The ever continuing confusion surrounding diet and health escalated again recently with several reports downplaying the dangers of foods rich in saturated fat. These reports have ignored a large body of relevant evidence accumulated over a century from clinical, population and animal studies demonstrating the dangers of foods rich in saturated fat. These reports only benefit those who profit from promoting such foods, and have the potential to harm the average uniformed individual.

In this article I address the research which has been used to downplay the dangers of saturated fat, and summarize the relevant lines of evidence that have gone largely ignored. I demonstrate that the same research cited to downplay the dangers of saturated fat actually provides strong evidence that saturated fat increases the risk of death from heart disease, the number one cause of death in the world. In addition, I address the evidence of the adverse effects that low-carb, high-saturated fat diets have on heart health.

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Featured Recipes

• Southwest Stew
• Lentil and Rice Loaf
• Creamy Mushroom Gravy
• Quinoa Curry Bowl
• Blueberry Muffins

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Evaluation of Chowdhury Meta-Analysis on the
Association of Fatty Acids with Coronary Risk, Part 2

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."^1
Fred Pollack
April 29, 2014

This is part 2 of my review of the Chowdhury meta-analysis study [1] that was published online at the Annals of Internal Medicine on March 18, 2014. The study effectively said that the current guidelines on saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake (<10% of calories from SFA) were not justified by the evidence and should be reconsidered. That led Mark Bittman, the NY Times Magazine's lead food columnist to write, Butter is Back, and said, "Julia Child, goddess of fat, is beaming somewhere. Butter is back, and when you're looking for a few chunks of pork for a stew, you can resume searching for the best pieces — the ones with the most fat."

From my own extensive reading of the medical/nutritional research, I doubted Chowdhury's conclusion, and thus was compelled to do an in-depth review. And, the only way to do this is to read and analyze all 20 of the SFA intake studies that were used in the Chowdhury meta-analysis. Part 1 of my review, published in last month's McDougall Newsletter, looked at just 2 of the 20 studies - one that showed the most benefit to higher intakes of SFA (MALMO) and one that showed the most harm (Oxford Vegetarian). My analysis of MALMO study described the major flaws, which were pointed out by the authors themselves in the paper that Chowdhury referenced. And, the conclusions in the paper are quite different than what Chowdhury's analysis indicated.

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