Corporate Takeover of Nutrition

NHI morphed over the years into the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) that exists today. And every step of the way, this new institute moved in concert with its close sibling, the AHA.

In 1950, for instance, the two jointly held the first national conference on heart disease, in Washington, DC.

MD Conf, May 1961: Margaret Albrink, Yale: Elevated Triglycerides (TG) - not cholesterol - were asso w/ increased risk of heart disease. Low-fat, high-carb diets raised TG. Albrink: Ancel Keys' supporters attacked me, "They were so angry," & the science bullies prevailed.

The occasional occurrence of lactescent or milky serum in patients with certain diseases caused interest and speculation at least as long ago as 1799 when Mariet described turbid sera in some patients with diabetic acidosis (1). The lightscattering fat particles or chylomicrons causing lactescence are present in modest numbers after a fat meal but become scarce in normal postabsorptive sera. In certain pathological states, however, chylomicrons occur in excessive numbers, giving rise to a characteristic milky appearance of the sera. In a previous study, lactescence was reported to be directly proportional to the total triglyceride concentration in serum (2). Turbidity was invariably present when total triglyceride fatty acid concentration exceeded 20 mEq per L. As triglyceride concentration increased further, a progressively greater proportion of cholesterol and phospholipids also occurred in the particulate lipid fraction which could be readily removed by flotation of unaltered serum at moderate speeds in the ultracentrifuge. Serum lipids are now known to exist in a spectrum of lipoproteins of varying density, from very low density particulate chylomicrons composed chiefly of triglycerides, through various classes of low density lipoproteins relatively rich in cholesterol, to high density lipoproteins in which phospholipids are prominent (3). Interest in various classes of low density lipoproteins has been stimulated because of their possible role in the etiology of coronary arterial disease (4). Studies from this laboratory (5-7) have shown serum triglyceride concentration to be intimately associated with this disease. Antonis and Bersohn have also found elevation of serum triglycerides in ischemic heart disease (8). From the known composition of very low density lipoproteins, it might be inferred that their presence in abnormally high concentrations would be associated with increased concentration of total serum triglycerides. The present study was undertaken to learn whether total triglyceride concentration might determine not only the fraction of lipids present in chylomicrons but also the partition of lipids among the various low density lipoproteins. At the same time the lipoprotein composition of the relatively clear subnatant fluid after removal of the chylomicron "cream" layer of lactescent sera could be determined. This clear fraction was previously analyzed in toto (2), but no analysis of lipoproteins was made.

* Supported (in part) by Grant H-3498(C2) from the National Heart Institute, Bethesda, Md., and by a grant from The James Hudson Brown Memorial Fund. This work was done during tenure of an established investigatorship of the American Heart Association.

Although we know them as “vegetable oils,” they’re actually pressed mainly from seeds: cottonseeds, rapeseeds, safflower seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and corn, as well as from soybeans. We’ve seen how these oils started to become popular for culinary use when the AHA endorsed them for “heart health” in 1961. Having the backing of the country’s highest medical authority on heart disease gave them an enormous boost. “The rush to get aboard the polyunsaturated bandwagon has become a stampede,” gushed the trade publication Food Processing in that same year. New products containing “higher and higher amounts of polyunsaturated oils” included salad dressings, mayonnaise, and margarine. Even breads and rolls were promoted for containing these new oils. Mazola was just one of the manufacturers enthusiastically advertising the potential health benefits of its oils. “Polyunsaturates are the plus in Mazola,” said a magazine ad in 1967.

Margarine Gets Nod Over Butter

Margarine and butter are. of course, primarily fats. Most margarines are manufactured mainly from partially hardened polyunsaturated tats, while butter consists mainly of saturated animal fat. derived from whole milk Monounsaturated fat. which has no effect on blood cholesterol level, is another tvpe of unsalurated tat While vegetable oils are, as a rule, high in polyunsaturated fats, the liquid oils usually become more saturated when they are hardened for use in margarine. Therefore, margarine can never be as unsaturated as the oils it's made from But because margarine is made from vegetable oils, it's less likely to increase blood cholesterol levels than butter, which is largely saturated fat What's more, certain margarines, such as those made from minimally hardened oils, may actually lower blood cholesterol levels Consumers Union s medical consultants advise using margarine instead of butter especially a margarine selected from the list included here However, it should be emphasized that if an in dividual is on a cholesterollowering. low-saturated-fat diet the entire diet is important and involves much more than simply a choice of margarine over butler. Margarine comes in a confusing variety of shapes, sizes and forms Consumers Union tested a total of 45 brands of five different types conventional sticks, soft, whipped, diet imitation, and liquid and reported the results in the January 1975 Consumer Reports Conventional, soft, and whipped margarines are at least 80 per cent vegetable-oil fat Whipped margarine contains less margarine and more air. so a tablespoon of whipped contains only 07 calories instead ol the 100 calories in conventional and soft margarines Diet

margarine has hall as much tat and half as many calories (50 calories per tablespoon i as conventional and soft products. Butter has about the same amount of calories as conventional and soft margarines Some margarines generally those made from corn, sunflower, or safflower oils that have been minimally hardened contain more of the kinds of polyunsaturated fat that may help reduce the blood cholesterol level than do other margarines. In Consumers Union's tests, the margarines with the highest percentage of cholesterollowering polyunsaturated fats were Promise Soft, Promise. Food Club Soft, Squeeze Parkay Liquid. Soft Whipped Blue Bonnet. Parkay Soft, Whipped Parkay. Whipped Miracle Corn Oil, and Mazola Unfortunately, having a high percentage of cholesterol-lowering polyunsaturated fats may affect a margarine's taste and smell Margarine’s strongest selling point had always been its lower price That, however, has been changing While the price of butter seemed to stabilize in 1974, margarine prices continued to rise.