Fat - More Recent Studies
The realization that diet is
an important determinant of human health is
not new. This fact imposes on us, nutrition
scientists and public health officials, an
obligation to act. As a first step towards
meeting this obligation, we have developed
food-based guidelines (FBNG) and
we have asked the conscientious citizens to
adopt them toward a better nutrition for a
better life. Several countries have
formulated their own national FBNG. The
Hellenic Supreme Scientific Health Council
has developed a document summarizing FBNG
for the Greek population, taking into
account evidence from studies in this
population.
Current scientific evidence is altering our
perceptions on nutrition and health and
tends to transform nutrition guidelines. In
this context I will comment on some elements
of several FBDG from the point of view of
the
Mediterranean diet.
What is meant by fat?
Dietary guidelines have been
widely perceived as indicating that total
fat should be reduced. "Total fat" however,
is not a very useful term, because fats and
oils are distinct categories in the broad
group of lipids. For southern Europe "fat"
means mainly
olive oil,
whereas for northern and central Europe the
word fat is associated with animal fat. By
recommending "fat" reduction, we may have
had, as a result, the reduction of olive oil
consumption in southern Europe and the
concomitant reduction of vegetable intake,
(vegetables are consumed as salads as well
as main dishes cooked in olive oil). For
this reason I have advocated that the term
fat should be replaced by the term dietary
lipids which comprise both fats and oils.
Another argument allegedly supporting "low
fats" intake is that "fat" is conductive to
obesity. It has been found instead, that the
proportion of fat and carbohydrate in a
fully-controlled energy-restricted diet does
not materially affect weight loss.
The evidence for the adverse health effects
of dietary "fat" does not apply to olive oil
and perhaps other types of plant oils. In
any case, special emphasis should be given
to the specific properties of various types
of fat and oils and on how these should
affect the recommended quantities. For the
prevention of coronary heart disease the
guidelines should emphasize reduction of
saturated fat, and for the prevention of
obesity
reduction of total energy intake.
In both instances, and in several others, a
central recommendation is to increase
physical activity.
Vegetable and "fat"
There is strong evidence
that antioxidants, largely derived from
vegetables and fruits, contribute to the
protection against coronary heart disease
and probably cancer and other diseases.
Recent findings suggest that polyphenolic
compounds in vegetables are endowed with
several beneficial biologic activities.
The campaigns to increase fruit consumption
have been relatively successful, but only a
minority of people in developed countries
consumes adequate quantities of vegetables..
However, how can one consume considerable
amounts of vegetables unless they are cooked
or seasoned in oil?
