Men who consume the most cholesterol, meat and saturated fat live the longest

This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1989 Nov;50(5):1095-103

 

Study title and authors:

Diet and 20-y mortality in two rural population groups of middle-aged men in Italy.

Farchi G, Mariotti S, Menotti A, Seccareccia F, Torsello S, Fidanza F.

Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2816794

This study analysed the relationship of diet on cardiovascular disease and death rates. The study included 1,536 men aged 45-64 who were followed for 20 years.

After 15 years the study found:

(a) Men who were alive consumed 8.7% more fat than men who had died.

(b) Men who were alive consumed 18.1% more fat than men who had died of heart disease.

(c) Men who were alive consumed 7.4% more saturated fat than men who had died.

(d) Men who were alive consumed 21.4% more saturated fat than men who had died of heart disease.

The men were also analysed by a different method whereby they were divided up into four different groups where each group represented a different dietary pattern. For example group (1) consumed the least cholesterol, meat and saturated fat whereas group (3) consumed the most cholesterol, meat and saturated fat. The consumption amounts of groups (2) and (4) were intermediate between groups (1) and (3).

After analylising the data, the researchers found that after 20 years those men in group (1) (the lowest consumers of cholesterol, meat and saturated fat) had a 25.1% increased risk of death compared to the men in group (3) (the highest consumers of cholesterol, meat and saturated fat). The death rates of groups (2) and (4) were intermediate between groups (1) and (3).

The data from the study shows that men who consume the most cholesterol, meat and saturated fat live the longest.

 



High consumption of red meat is associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease and cancer

This study was published in Public Health Nutrition 1999 Dec;2(4):477-87

 

Study title and authors:

Dietary questions as determinants of mortality: the OXCHECK experience.

Whiteman D, Muir J, Jones L, Murphy M, Key T.

ICRF General Practice Research Group, Institute of Health Sciences, Oxford, UK. david.whiteman@dphpc.ox.ac.uk

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10656467

The study compared various types of food intake with specific causes of death. The study included 11,090 men and women aged 35-64 years who were followed for nine years.

Regarding red meat consumption, the study found:
(a) Those who consumed the most red meat had a 29% lower death rate compared to those who consumed the least red meat.
(b) Those who consumed the most red meat had a 45% reduced risk of death from heart disease compared to those who consumed the least red meat.
(c) Those who consumed the most red meat had a 12% reduced risk of death from cancer compared to those who consumed the least red meat.

The results of the study show a high consumption of red meat is associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease and cancer.

Ancel Keys 6 countries study actually shows the more animal fat and animal protein you eat, the longer you live!

This study was published in the Journal of the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York 1953 Jul-Aug;20(2):118-39.

Study title and author:

Atherosclerosis: a problem in newer public health.

KEYS A.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13085148

This study examined the effect of fat consumption and death rates from heart disease in males aged 55-59 from 6 countries.

In this study Keys set out to prove that a higher fat intake was associated with a higher death rate from heart disease.

He used data from 6 countries (Japan, Italy, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and USA) that did seem to show that a higher fat consumption would lead to higher rates of heart disease.

However Keys actually had data for 22 countries. For reasons known only to himself he decided to ignore the data from the other 16. The other countries were, Austria, Ceylon, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland.

When the data for all 22 countries are taken into account, there is a totally different outcome. 

The data actually shows: (See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13441073 (table IV)

(a) Those who ate more animal fat lived longer.

(b) Those who ate more animal protein lived longer.

(c) Those who ate more plant protein died earlier.

(d) Those who ate more carbohydrate died earlier.

This study from Keys is often quoted as proof that a high fat diet is dangerous. When Keys data is analysed it shows that more animal fat in the diet actually extends life and more carbohydrate in the diet lowers life expectancy.