IT HAS been a confusing week for UK dietary advice, with accepted wisdom concerning fat and salt being challenged.
A report from the National Obesity Forum, a UK charity, provoked a fight over fat by claiming that the . It argued that in trying to avoid fat we eat more sugar and refined carbohydrates, which raise blood sugar too quickly and, over time, dampen the body’s response to insulin. It also disputed the evidence that saturated fat causes heart attacks.
“In trying to avoid fat we eat more sugar and refined carbohydrates which raise blood sugar too quickly“
Critics say the , and that the majority of studies support the dangers of saturated fat.
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The advice to keep salt intake low was questioned by an analysis that pooled results from four studies of over 130,000 people. It found that while a very high salt intake of over 17.5 grams a day was linked with a higher death rate, so was a modest intake of up to 7.5 grams a day (The Lancet, ). UK guidelines conservatively recommend at most 6 grams of salt a day.
This article appeared in print under the headline “Food fight”
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