The sugar fat controversy.

For years, we’ve been told that fat, specifically animal fat, is bad for us. Now scientists have given saturated fat the all-clear – while they’ve named sugar ‘the new tobacco’ – bad for your health but promoted by big business. What’s the truth? Do we consume too much sugar or fat?

Saturated fat is actually good for you, according to much publicised new research [1].  It showed that 1983 guidelines to cut out fat were based on flawed research [2] and should never have been introduced. Far from piling on adipose tissues and clogging up the arteries – unlike sugar, fat is the healthy source of energy and even better are unsaturated fats like olive oil.

Sugar on the other hand is now recognised as the leading cause of obesity: a sugar rich diet produces excess insulin – which turns glucose into fat cells. Unlike fat, sugar also causes heart disease, diabetes and probably Alzheimer’s disease. And it’s addictive, creating an irresistible urge to eat and it makes you fat. And if you want to detox and lose weight, stay clear of sugar.

The tragedy is that 30 years ago scientists knew the risks of a diet rich in sugar. Pure, White and Deadly, a book published in 1972 by John Yudkin, Professor of Nutrition at London University, explained in detail how a sugar-rich diet causes furring of the arteries. But Yudkin was silenced by the food industry – and the anti-fat obsession became the prevailing health education message over the next 30 years.

During that time, UK  obesity levels have quadrupled almost certainly as a direct result of this confusion. A shocking expose in 2009, Sugar: The Bitter Truth [3], showed why we should have listened to Prof Yudkin:

Now a movie, Fed Up [4] produced by the American TV journalist, Katie Couric and dubbed: ‘the film the food industry doesn’t want you to see’, shows how the food industry, supported by mediocre nutritional research, nudged us into this unhealthy diet. You can watch it here:

Three steps to staying healthy.

1. Get educated: watch Fed Up and Sugar: The Bitter Truth.
2. Avoid low fat foods (apart from naturally fat free food and pure dairy products such as milk), alongside processed products, and sugary drinks.
3. Switch to a balanced diet – give your body enough of the healthy and energising fats.

See also our upcoming blog on Easy Tips to Go Sugar Free (by Denny) which includes tips for sugar free recipes.

References:
[1] openheart.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000196.fu
[2] sevencountriesstudy.com
[3] Sugar: The Bitter Truth www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oMom/#/page/home
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[4] http://Fedupmovie.com

The post Sugar or Fat which is worse? appeared first on Neals Yard Holidays Blog.

By Jane Feinmann

If menopausal symptoms strongly interfere with your daily life and your sleep then you may be considering HRT (hormone replacement therapy).

Most women apply a skin cream before bedtime. My daily regime is a blob of oestrogen gel, a hormone replacement therapy that my GP has prescribed on the NHS ever since I went through the menopause. Yoga and a healthy diet has kept me healthy enough in my sixties.

But it’s the HRT that stopped hot flushes, mental fog and other menopausal problems – and given me strong bones postmenopausally. That’s not just my view. There’s evidence that it works.

But surely, you ask, there are huge health risks in taking HRT?

Well not really. Certainly reports of two large-scale studies published in 2002 and 2003, persuaded many thousands of women to bin their HRT. And I’ve interviewed some who suffered barely manageable menopausal symptoms thereafter. [1]

Yet from the word go, menopause experts – gynaecologists and hormone specialists (endocrinologists) – have insisted that these trials were flawed – and the findings inaccurate. [2]

And this message continues today. On websites like www.menopausematters.co.uk, menopause experts make it clear that while HRT is neither necessary nor appropriate for every woman, it can safely relieve unpleasant symptoms and, in the long term, prevent osteoporosis and possibly heart disease.

What’s more, HRT involves ‘natural’ oestrogens – derived from soya bean or yam extract – and so-called because they are virtually identical to the female hormones oestradiol, oestrone and oestriol. Another type of HRT, known as conjugated equine oestrogen is made from horse urine. Both can be taken as a daily tablet, a twice weekly or weekly patch, an implant or, my favourite, a daily gel. Importantly, it can be taken in different strengths to suit the individual’s needs.

Be aware: any woman who has not had a hysterectomy needs to take progestogen alongside oestrogen.  This too can be taken in a number of different ways. I have a Mirena intrauterine system, delivering tiny daily doses of progestogen directly into the womb – once again available on the NHS, provided you ask.

3 steps to successful HRT:

1. See a doctor who will tailor HRT to your individual symptoms, past history and family history.
2. Try not to give up too quickly on HRT. If symptoms persist beyond three months ask your doctor if you can try a different version.
3. You can stay on HRT if it suits. Gynaecologists say there is no evidence that women need to stop HRT at an arbitrary point.

The next blog in this health series will be on ‘Fat or sugar, which is bad for your health?’.

As a freelance medical journalist for more than 20 years, Jane Feinmann has contributed to severalnational newspapers and magazines (www.janefeinmann.com), written books and produced radio programmes. She has covered the hot issues about anti-ageing and women’s health from the perspective of both mainstream and complementary medicine. Her aim is to provide the evidence base for and against, provided by authoritative research.
This is the first of a short series of blogs on health covering some of the investigations she has found most helpful.
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Footnotes:
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8376768/How-do-professional-women-cope-with-the-menopause.html
[2]  Managing the menopause. British Menopause Society Council consensus statement on hormone replacement therapy. Journal of the British Menopause Society 2003; Vol.9, No.3: 129-131
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The post HRT: a safe and healthy supplement? appeared first on Neals Yard Holidays Blog.