Greetings, All! This week on my VoiceAmerica radio show Generation Regeneration, we discussed Nutrition Hypothe-myths with Certified Nutritionist Anne Baker. If you missed the show, you can catch it here.
So what is a hyothe-myth, you might ask? Good question, as I made it up! A hypothesis is a scientific term, and is a theory that is not yet proven but leads to further investigation, typically using the scientific method to prove or disprove it. A myth is an idea or story that is believed by many but is not true. A hypothe-myth starts out as a hypothesis, gets tested by the scientific community using dubious methods, gains support amongst the establishment, impacts government policy, and turns out to be a myth. Unfortunately, there are several Nutrition Hypothe-myths that we need to banish from our psyches forever.
The first one we will is what the medical community calls Diet Heart Hypothesis, and which I call the Diet Heart Hypothe-myth. It supposes a direct correlation between dietary fat, particularly saturated fat, and heart disease, which has no doubt been drummed into your psyche. For example, what do you think of as heart-healthy food? Probably not olive oil, coconut oil, and avocados, right? It’s LOW/NO FAT carbs like oatmeal and cereal, correct? The problem is that this hypothesis has been debunked by recent studies. Anne and I go into how this hypothe-myth came to be (thank you Ancel Benjamin Keys!), why this is not true, and the types of fats you should be eating.
The next one we covered is the Lipid Hypothesis, or Lipid Hypothe-myth, which supposes a correlation between blood serum cholesterol and heart disease. We defined what cholesterol is, and what LDL and HDL particles are. We also made the point that LDL and HDL numbers do not provide all of the information that you need to determine if you have a cholesterol issue that needs to be addressed. You need to know the LDL particle size (LDL-P) and delve into how diet and lifestyle factors may be impacting this important number. Simply decreasing your LDL number is not advisable, and to support this statement we referenced Grain Brain by Dr. David Perlmutter, who makes the point that LDL particles serve important functions, particularly in the brain. When cholesterol levels are too low, the brain simply does not work well, and individuals are at risk for neurological problems like dementia.
We covered a lot of ground, so I encourage you to listen to the show to learn more. I’d also love your feedback! You can comment here, or find me on Twitter @SandraGMalhotra #WeAreGenR.