Re: [EX] dieting may increase mortality in humans

Vanessa Yaremchuk (vanessa@ugrad.cs.ualberta.ca)
Tue, 8 Jun 1999 17:19:26 -0600 (MDT)

On Mon, 7 Jun 1999, Doug Skrecky wrote:

> A study was done on 7'th Day Adventists, which found the main
> determinants of mortality in these semi-vegetarians was meat consumption,
> and nut consumption. Meat eaters had a higher mortality rate, while nut
> consumers had a lower mortality. Other studies have found little relation
> between over-all fat consumption and mortality. However when different
> types of dietary fats are considered, saturated and hydrogenated fats
> were found to increase mortality, while monounsaturated, and
> polyunsaturated lowered it. Some studies have found omega-3 polys to be
> particularly beneficial. Salad eaters enjoyed a lower mortality rate in
> one study, which was found to be dependant on the amount of omega-3
> containing salad dressing consumed, and not as one would think the amount
> of vegetables ingested.
> Whether dieting is healthy would seem to be entirely dependant on how it
> is implimented. Giving up heart healthy fat (and arginine) rich nuts would
> appear to be a particularly bad dietary strategy.

On a sort of related note:
I'm in a nutritional study about beef fat and cholesterol. The two variables they manipulate are consumption of saturated fats and consumption of poly-unsaturated fats.
The nutritionist doing the study was talking to a bunch of us subjects about a previous study done in the same format using palm oil instead of beef fat.
Aparently, they found that saturated fat (specifically palm oil) did not raise cholesterol levels when equal portions of polyunsaturated fat were consumed.
If high cholesterol levels increase mortality (which may be false), then the right combination of fats can increase mortality just as well as consuming only unsaturated fats.

Vanessa