Grass-Fed Animal Foods and Diseases of Civilization: Cardiovascular Disease in Ancient Civilizations

Vilhjalmur Stefansson was an Artic explorer known for his observations on the traditional living Inuit-Eskimo, which he lived together with in the winter of 1906-1907 in the Mackenzie Delta of Canada. Stefansson asserted that during this time he subsisted on traditional Inuit fare, based almost exclusively on flesh. In part based on less than extensive observations of the health of the Inuit, Stefansson hypothesized that a number of chronic and degenerative diseases, including cancer are diseases of civilization which can be prevented by adherence to a pre-modern diet and lifestyle. However, Stefansson did not suggest that only flesh based dietary patterns, such as that consumed by the traditional living Inuit, but also primarily vegetarian diets, such as that consumed by the Hunza may protect against such diseases.1 

The term diseases of civilization, which Stefansson has contributed to the popularization of is frequently referred to by proponents of Low-Carb, Paleo, Primal and Weston A. Price Foundation type diets. Many of these proponents have extrapolated limited suggestive evidence that obesity, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, certain cancers, and a number of other chronic and degenerative diseases were uncommon during the Paleolithic period to suggesting that foods derived from naturally raised, grass-fed animals, as was consumed by Paleolithic humans must therefore somehow provide protection against these so-called diseases of civilization. Many of these proponents have also claimed that a vast number of scientific studies that have been used as evidence to conclude that animal foods increase the risk of such diseases have been complicated by confounding of other unhealthy foods and lifestyle factors, or by the use of unnaturally raised animal foods. This series of posts will examine the evidence to help determine whether these claimed confounding variables can actually explain the evidence linking animal foods with certain chronic and degenerative diseases, often referred to as diseases of civilization, but also as western diseases, lifestyle diseases and diseases of affluence.

In 1928, Stefansson and his colleague Karsten Anderson participated in a monitored experiment partly funded by the meat industry in which they consumed a flesh exclusive diet for the period of one year. Although the researchers concluded that these two men were in good health throughout the experiment, Anderson experienced a severe elevation in blood cholesterol, with measurements as high as 800 mg/dl on one occasion, which returned to pre-experiment levels after resuming a higher carbohydrate diet.2 A glucose tolerance test carried out immediately after the termination of the meat based experiment showed a marked rise in blood sugar in both men compared to a subsequent test carried out after resuming a higher carbohydrate diet. Glucose was detected in the urine of Anderson in the test following the meat based experiment, a marker of untreated diabetes. This abnormality was not detected in the subsequent test after resuming a higher carbohydrate diet.3

Short-term experiments such as this cannot provide adequate insight into the long-term consequences of following such a diet, as it can take many decades for diseases caused by exposure to harmful substances to become clinically significant. For example, the greatest risk of excess death from radiation-related solid cancers among the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was more than half a century after exposure.4 Furthermore, other flesh based experiments have resulted in considerably more unfavorable outcomes. For example, in 1906, Russell noted an even earlier experiment: 

A recent instance occurred in South Africa, where about twenty natives out of some hundreds who were supplied with a large amount of flesh, as an experiment, by mine-owners, died, and many others were ill.5

Cardiovascular Disease in Ancient Civilizations

The traditional living Inuit's were certainly
not immune from atherosclerosis

If a diet rich in naturally raised animal foods provides protection against cardiovascular disease as many proponents of Low-Carb type diets claim, it would be expected that traditional living populations consuming such a diet, particularly those living prior to the rapid westernization of the globe would demonstrate evidence of superior cardiovascular health compared to those populations who subsisted primarily on starchy staples, including grains, legumes and tubers. Populations who have inhabited the arctic, where scant plant matter is available throughout most parts of the year, such as the Inuit and Aleut were forced to subsist almost exclusively on hunted marine animals for extensive periods of time.1 6 This should make these populations suitable to study the hypothesis that naturally raised animal foods protect against cardiovascular disease.

Contrary to claims of the traditional living Inuit being immune from cardiovascular disease, evidence of severe atherosclerosis has been identified in several frozen mummies of Alaskan Inuit dating back to 400 CE and 1520 CE, both instances predating European contact.7 8 Atherosclerosis has also previously been identified in several artificially prepared mummies of Aleut-Unangan hunter gatherers who lived in the 18th century in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.9 10 Recently the HORUS study, which examined an additional five recovered mummies of Unangan hunter gatherers who lived in the mid and late 19th century found definite evidence of atherosclerosis in several major arteries in all three who were over the age of 25.11

When considering the findings from all of these Alaskan Inuit and Aleut mummies it becomes evident that these Alaskan natives likely experienced a greater incidence of atherosclerosis, especially given the young mean age compared to the three other ancient populations studied in the HORUS study. Unlike the Alaskan natives, these other three populations, which were the ancient Egyptians, ancient Peruvians and Ancestral Puebloans practiced agriculture and consumed grains. 

In addition to evidence of atherosclerosis from native Alaskan mummies, reports from medical officers provide further evidence of unfavorable rates of cardiovascular disease among the Inuit before the rapid transition to the western diet. In 1940, based on decades of clinical practice and reviewing reports of medical officers dating all the way back 175 years ago, Bertelsen, who is considered the father of Greenland epidemiology stated in regards to the mortality patterns among the Greenland Inuit that: 

...arteriosclerosis and degeneration of the myocardium are quite common conditions among the Inuit, in particular considering the low mean age of the population.12

Bjerregaard and colleagues performed a literature review for studies addressing the incidence of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease among the Inuit of Alaska, Canada and Greenland spanning from the 1930s to more recent decades. The researchers found that the incidence of atherosclerosis was generally similar to that of other western populations that suffered from high rates of cardiovascular disease. Mortality from stroke was found to be even higher, and mortality from all cardiovascular diseases combined was found to be similar or even higher among the Inuit. The researchers also found that mortality from coronary heart disease among the Inuit was not significantly different after adjusting for ill-defined causes of cardiovascular death, suggesting that the substantial proportion of cardiovascular deaths being classified as ‘garbage codes’, particularly in Greenland may have hidden a significant portion of deaths from coronary heart disease. The researchers concluded: 

The mortality from all cardiovascular diseases combined is not lower among the Inuit than in white comparison populations. If the mortality from IHD [ischemic heart disease] is low, it seems not to be associated with a low prevalence of general atherosclerosis. A decreasing trend in mortality from IHD in Inuit populations undergoing rapid westernization supports the need for a critical rethinking of cardiovascular epidemiology among the Inuit and the role of a marine diet in this population.12

A similar phenomenon to the misclassification of deaths from coronary heart disease among the Inuit populations has also been observed in France, which may largely explain the so-called French Paradox. Data from the World Health Organization MONICA Project suggests that the official mortality statistics for France significantly underreport deaths from cardiovascular disease compared to other countries, with deaths from coronary heart disease being underestimated by 75%. Other reports suggest that this is likely explained by a much higher rate of French doctors classifying deaths as due to ‘other causes’ than in other countries.13 14

It has been observed that among the Alaskan Inuit a higher intake of saturated fat is associated with elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and carotid atherosclerosis, suggesting that the traditional Inuit foods relatively rich in saturated fat were likely to have been detrimental to the cardiovascular health of the Inuit.15 16 17 It has also been observed that among Alaskan Inuit elevated LDL cholesterol is associated with a greater than fourfold increased risk of cardiovascular disease.18 Furthermore, rheumatic disorders that have been linked to cardiovascular disease, such as gout and rheumatoid arthritis have been found to be just as, or even more common among the Eskimo populations compared to that of the general North American population.19 20 Established risk factors, a number of which are likely adversely affected by the traditional Inuit diet can probably in part explain the evidence of severe atherosclerosis and unfavorable rates of cardiovascular disease observed among the traditional living Inuit and Aleut populations. 

In the HORUS study it was found that two of the four Ancestral Puebloan who lived in southwestern United States dating between 1500 BCE and 500 CE exhibited probable evidence of atherosclerosis, the two other both being under the age of 30. These Ancestral Puebloans were identified as being from a time when they were transitioning from hunter-gatherers to farmer-foragers, and were likely to have relied on hunted animal foods to supply at least a modest portion of their diet. An additional Ancestral Puebloan mummy aged 18-22 found from a later period after a greater transition towards agriculture did not exhibit any evidence of atherosclerosis.11

In the HORUS study the ancient Egyptian mummies exhibited the next greatest frequency of atherosclerosis, with 29 (38%) of the 76 of the mummies exhibiting at least probable evidence of atherosclerosis.11 In their book Protein Power, Michael and Mary Eades assert that the ‘diet of the average [ancient] Egyptian consisted primarily of carbohydrates’, which they suggest was ‘a veritable nutritionist’s nirvana… rich in all the foods believed to promote health and almost devoid of saturated fat and cholesterol'. These authors go on to suggesting that the carbohydrate rich diet of the ‘average Egyptian’ which they describe as being based on whole-grain wheat and barley supplemented by a variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and some goats milk is responsible for the atherosclerosis and obesity exhibited by the ancient Egyptian mummies.21

The authors of Protein Power suggest that complex carbohydrates, such as wheat made the ancient Egyptians obese

There is much evidence that casts doubt on these authors description of the diets of the ancient Egyptian mummies. For example, Macko and colleagues have shown that isotope analyses of the amino-acid composition of hair from the ancient Egyptian mummies far more closely resemble that of modern westerners following an omnivorous diet than a vegetarian, and especially vegan diet.22 In addition, David and colleagues showed that evidence from hieroglyphic inscriptions on ancient Egyptian temples suggest that the elites of ancient Egyptian society, being those who were primarily mummified consumed a diet rich in flesh and saturated animal fat. These researchers addressed the confusion surrounding the diet and atherosclerosis of the ancient Egyptian mummies, asserting: 

It is important to point out that there was a marked difference between the mainly vegetarian diet most Egyptians ate and that of royalty and priests and their family members whose daily intake would have included these high levels of saturated fat. Mummification was practised by the elite groups in society, ensuring that their remains have survived to provide clear indications of atherosclerosis; by contrast, there is a lack of evidence that the condition existed among the less well-preserved remains of the [mainly vegetarian] lower classes.23

The findings of a lower incidence of atherosclerosis among the lower classes of ancient Egypt who subsisted primarily on a carbohydrate-rich vegetarian diet are consistent with observations in Egypt in the early 20th century. In 1934, Rosenthal asserted:

Of interest is the report of Ismail in Egypt, who has communicated that among his private patients, whose diet is similar to that of the Europeans, the incidence of atherosclerosis is high, while in his hospital practice, composed mainly of natives, who subsist largely on a carbohydrate diet, the incidence of atherosclerosis is low.24

It is clear that the authors of Protein Power have confused the diet of the elites of the ancient Egyptian society, who certainly cannot be considered as the 'average Egyptian' with the largely vegetarian diet of the of the lower classes who exhibit a lack of atherosclerosis, and which scant evidence suggests were obese. The findings from ancient Egyptian mummies do not support the claimed benefits of a low carbohydrate, high saturated fat diet promoted by these authors.

In the HORUS study, despite having the highest mean age, nearly 10 years older than that of the Unangan and Ancestral Puebloans mummies, the ancient Peruvians exhibited the lowest incidence of atherosclerosis, being evident in 13 (25%) of 51 of the mummies. Compared to these other studied ancient populations, the Peruvians likely relied more on staple plant foods, such as corn, beans and tubers, although did consume some domesticated and hunted animals.11

The researchers of the HORUS study suggested that exposure to smoke from fire used for cooking and25

heating may help explain some of the degree of atherosclerosis identified in these ancient populations. However, the description of the use of fire for cooking in ancient Egypt provided by these researchers would apply primarily to the lower classes of ancient Egypt which exhibit a lack of atherosclerosis, rather than the mummified elites that these researchers examined who would typically have had servants to cook for them.

Gout was known to be common among 

the Mongols of the Golden Horde

In regards to the traditional living Inuit and Aleut, it has been suggested that the extensive exposure to seal oil lamps may help explain the relatively severe degree of atherosclerosis in these populations.  These findings should however be considered in light of evidence of atherosclerosis in other populations which have high exposure to hazardous smoke but consume contrasting diets. For example, it has been observed that the Papua New Guinean highlanders have a smoking prevalence of greater than 70% for males and 20% for females while also being exposed to smoke for up to twelve hours a day due to the use of centrally placed open wood fires in their houses which lack both ventilation and chimneys. Despite such a high exposure to hazardous smoke it has been observed that the Papua New Guinean highlanders have among the lowest age-adjusted incidence of atherosclerosis of any studied population. However, unlike the Inuit, the Papua New Guinean highlanders traditionally consumed a plant based diet with carbohydrate supplying more than 90% of total energy intake, predominantly derived from sweet potatoes.26 27

Another population that have historically been documented to subsist almost exclusively on a diet derived from grass-fed, free-ranging animals are the largely nomadic Mongolians. John of Plano Carpini who visited the Mongols in the mid-13th century noted:

[The Mongols] have neither bread nor herbs nor vegetables nor anything else, nothing but meat… They drink mare’s milk in very great quantities if they have it; they also drink the milk of ewes, cows, goats and even camels.28

Smith reviewed the literature regarding the health of the Mongols from the 13th century and noted that a number of unfavorable cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity and gout were both common disorders. Smith went on to state:

Cardio-vascular problems, although not then subject to diagnosis, may be suspected as well.29

In 1925, Kuczynski reported on the nomadic pastoralists of the Kirghiz and Dzungarian Steppes in Central Asia and northern China that were of Mongolian descent. Similar to the observations of the diet of the nomadic Mongols of the 13th century, Kuczynski observed that these nomadic pastoralists subsisted almost exclusively on enormous quantities of meat and milk from grass-fed, free-ranging animals. Other authors have also come to the same conclusions regarding the composition of the diet of the nomadic pastoralists of the Central Asian Steppes. For example, Tayzhanov asserted:

…the people [of the steppe] lived exclusively on meat, fat and sour milk. Bread was added only later and even then some households did not adopt or consume this food.30

Similarly, Barfield asserted:

In good legendary style, the pure Central Asian nomads eat only meat, marrow, and milk products {preferably ferments}. They despise farmers, farming, and grain…31

These findings suggest that the diet of these nomadic pastoralists of the Central Asian Steppes was almost exclusively animal based, virtually devoid of grains, legumes and refined carbohydrates. This should make these populations also suitable to study the hypothesis that naturally raised animal foods protect against cardiovascular disease. However, not only did Kuczynski observe that these nomadic pastoralists suffered from high rates of obesity and gout similar to the Mongols of the 13th century, Kuczynski's observations further extended to the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and other dietary related disorders. Kuczynski asserted:

They get arteriosclerosis in an intense degree and often at an early age as shown by cardiac symptoms, nervous disordes, typical changes of the peripheral vessels, nephrosclerosis and, finally, apoplectic attacks. Even in men thirty-two years old I frequently observed arcus senilis.32

It was also observed that in the 1960s the prevalence of coronary heart disease among the nomadic pastoralists in Xinjiang in northern China who consumed large quantities of animal fat from grass-fed, free-ranging animals was more than seven times higher than that of other populations both within Xinjiang and throughout China which consumed significantly less animal fat.33 These observations support the suggestion that cardiovascular disease was common among the Mongols of the 13th century who subsisted almost exclusively on a diet based on grass-fed, free-ranging animals.

Dispelling Grass-Fed Fairy Tales

These findings from populations living before the 20th century suggest that similar to the findings from people studied in more modern times, a greater intake of minimally refined plant foods strongly predicts a lower prevalence of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. These findings cast doubt on the hypothesis that foods from organic, naturally raised animals protect against cardiovascular disease compared to staple plant foods. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the traditional living populations that relied predominantly on naturally raised animal based foods suffered from complications related to cardiovascular disease at a relatively young age and are poor role models for health.

Future posts in this series will further address how naturally raised animal foods influence cardiovascular disease, as well as other so-called diseases of civilization.


Please post any comments in the Discussion Thread.

Traditional Diets in Asia Pacific and Implications for Health, and the History of Disease Prevention

I previously reviewed the health of a number of primitive populations, including evidence from numerous preserved Inuit mummies that predate western contact, demonstrating that without consuming a morsel of modern processed food throughout their entire lifetimes, the traditional Inuit developed atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, breast cancer and numerous other chronic and degenerative diseases that are evidently partly explained by their carnivorous diet. The diets and incidence rates of disease in traditionally living populations can provide implications for disease prevention, which can be used to supplement the current knowledge of the impact of dietary and lifestyle factors on diseases from other forms of evidence, including observational, laboratory and clinical studies in order to achieve maximum protection.

The Nomadic Kirghiz and Dzungarian Plainsmen

In the 1920’s, Kuczynski reported on the nomadic plainsmen of the Kirghiz and Dzungarian Steppes in Central Asia and estimated that they consumed an astonishing 20 liters of fermented mare’s milk, and between 10 to 20 pounds (4.5 to 9kg) of meat per day.1 2 Lack of systematically documented dietary data however suggests that these findings could have been slightly overestimated, as evidently has been the case for early researcher's estimates of the Masai's intake of milk, meat, cholesterol and total energy.3 Nevertheless, these nomadic plainsmen consumed enormous quantities of organic pasture raised animals foods, perhaps among the largest ever documented. 

Kuczynski noted that these nomads, evidently largely as a result of their diet experienced a high incidence of obesity, premature extensive atherosclerosis, contracted kidney, apoplexy, arcus senilis, and gout.4 5 In specific, Kuczynski asserted that:2

They get arteriosclerosis in an intense degree and often at an early age as shown by cardiac symptoms, nervous disordes, typical changes of the peripheral vessels, nephrosclerosis and, finally, apoplectic attacks. Even in men thirty-two years old I frequently observed arcus senilis.

The Nomadic Kirghiz Plainsmen

Kuczynski compared the diet and health of these nomadic plainsmen with Russian peasants, who had an apparent low incidence of these conditions while consuming a vastly different diet. Their diet was based on soup, bread, pickles, potatoes, with very little meat, but consumed large amounts of alcohol.5 In comparison to the nomadic plainsmen, Kuczynski asserted in regards to these Russian peasants that:2

Repeatedly I found at the age of about seventy years no signs of arteriosclerosis, no arcus senilis, etc.; they were men of youthful appearance, with no grey in their still abundant growth of hair, and with their sexual functions still intact.

For more information regarding the health of nomadic populations, Don Matesz has previously posted an informative review addressing the high rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer among the modern, still largely nomadic Mongols consuming diets rich in organic pasture raised animal foods.

The Native Indonesians 

In 1916, Cornelis D. de Langen observed that the native Javanese, the indigenous people of the Indonesian island of Java who consumed a diet which was 'mainly vegetarian with rice as the staple, that is very poor in cholesterol and other lipids', had very low levels of serum cholesterol and incidence of coronary heart disease.6 Conversely, de Langen observed that their Javanese counterparts who worked as stewards on Dutch passenger ships and consumed traditional cholesterol laden Dutch food had much higher levels of serum cholesterol and incidence of coronary heart disease.7 Blackburn noted in regards to de Langen's classical findings from Indonesian hospitals that:6 

Pursuing this clinical impression, he reviewed 10 years of admissions charts and found only 5 cases of acute gallbladder disease among many thousands of patients passing through the medical wards and only 1 case on the surgery service among 70,000 admissions surveyed. 

Following these observations, de Langen stated in regards to the rarity of vascular disease among the Javanese that:6 

thrombosis and emboli, so serious in Europe, are most exceptional here. This is not only true of internal medicine, but also on surgery, where the surgeon needs take no thought of these dreaded possibilities among his native patients. Out of 160 major laparotomies and 5,578 deliveries in the wards, not a single case of thrombosis or embolism was seen.

These findings closely resemble observations from over 15,000 operations carried out in Norway during the period around World War II, where the changes in incidence of post-operative thrombosis was consistent with changes in the availability of cholesterol laden foods [reviewed previously]. Blackburn also noted in regards to de Langen’s 1922 experiment, which is regarded as apparently the first ever systematic feeding experiment of diet in relation to serum cholesterol levels, that:6

…he found an average 40 mg/dl increase in cholesterol in 5 Javanese natives who were shifted from a rice-based vegetarian cuisine to a 6-week regimen high in meat, butter, and egg fats.

These findings were reproduced decades later in hundreds of tightly controlled feeding experiments, firmly establishing that dietary cholesterol and isocaloric replacement of complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fat by saturated fat raises LDL and total cholesterol in humans.8

In 1908, Williams noted in regards to the findings of early doctors who practiced in Indonesia and the rarity of cancer among the Javanese that:9

...a single example of a malignant tumour in a native being esteemed a great rarity.

The Okinawans

In 1949, a government survey found that in Okinawa, known to have the highest concentration of centenarians in the world, the population consumed about 85% of their total energy intake from carbohydrates, with the staple at the time being the sweet potato. The dietary survey also showed that the Okinawans derived about 9% of their energy intake from protein and less than 4% of energy from all sources of animal foods combined (Table 1).10 These findings were largely consistent with previous dietary surveys dating back to 1879 and 1919.11

In 1946, Steiner examined autopsies of 150 Okinawans, of which 40 were between the age of 50 and 95. Steiner noted only seven cases of slight aortic atherosclerosis, all of which were found in those over the age of 66, and only one case of calcification in the coronary arteries. In 1946 Benjamin reported similar findings from a study of 200 autopsies on Okinawans.12

Even in 1995 the observed rates of coronary heart disease and dietary related cancers, including that of the colon, prostate, breast and ovarian in Okinawa were not only many fold lower than that of the United States, but even significantly lower than that of mainland Japan.10 This may be explained by the likelihood that these diseases are slowly progressive diseases and therefore the more traditional Okinawan diet consumed several decades prior would still have played a major role in the development and manifestation of these diseases.13 14 15

The Papua New Guineans

The Papua New Guineans traditionally subsisted on a plant based diet, of which a number of varieties of sweet potatoes typically supplied over 90% of dietary intake. They also grew a number of other crops including corn, as well as sugar cane which was consumed as a delicacy. Pig feasts are organised a few times a year, but at which pork is not consumed in excess of 50 grams. A dietary survey on the Papua New Guineans highlanders estimated that carbohydrate accounted for 94.6% of total energy intake, among the highest recorded in the world. Total energy intake was adequate, however only 3% of energy intake was derived from protein (25g for men and 20g for women), yet there was no evidence of dietary induced protein deficiency or anemia. Furthermore, this surveyed population was described as being muscular and mostly very lean, physically fit and in good nutritional state.16 17 They also drank 'soft' water which is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It was estimated that tobacco was smoked by 73% of males and 20% females. Also, the highlanders spend up to twelve hours a day inside a smoke-filled house due to centrally placed open wood fires with little ventilation and no chimneys in their homes, resulting in a very high exposure to hazardous smoke in this population.16 

Despite cardiac risk factors including high exposure to smoke and soft drinking water, a number of authors observed a great rarity of incidence of atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and stroke among the traditional Papua New Guineans, but also noted an increase in incidence paralleling the Westernization of the nation. In 1958, Blackhouse reported on autopsies of 724 individuals between 1923 and 1934 and found no evidence of heart attack incidence and only one case of slight narrowing of the coronary arteries. However, it has been suggested that this study was selective as only a small portion of the autopsies were performed on females or the elderly. In 1969, Magarey et al. published a report on the autopsy results of 217 aortas and found a great rarity of atherosclerosis. The authors noted that the prevalence and severity of atherosclerosis was less than had been reported in any previously investigated population.18 In 1973, Sinnett and Whyte published findings from a survey of 779 highlanders using electrocardiograms among other methods, and found little probable evidence of coronary heart disease, and no clinical evidence of diabetes, gout, Parkinson’s disease, or any previous incidence of stroke.16

For a population that consumed virtually the highest intake of carbohydrates out of any population to also have virtually the lowest incidence of atherosclerosis and diabetes ever recorded highlights the vital importance of the health properties of specific carbohydrate rich foods. These findings further question certain 'carbohydrate-induced dyslipidemia' hypotheses, emphasized by certain researchers, who perhaps intentionally do not always take the quality of carbohydrate rich foods into careful consideration.19

In 1900, Sir William MacGregor reported in the Lancet in regards to the observed rarity of cancer among the native Papua New Guineans, asserting that:20

For nine and a half years I never saw a case in British New Guinea ; but at the end of that time there occurred an example of sarcoma of the tibia in a Papuan, who had for seven or eight years lived practically a European life, eating tinned Australian meat daily.

In 1974, Clezy brought to attention the rarity of mortality from colorectal cancer among the Papua New Guineans, for which the observed annual rate per 100,000 was 0.6 for men and 0.2 for women. These rates were 100 fold lower than that of many developed nations during the same time period, although this could have been in part explained by underdiagnosis.17

Even in more recent statistics after modest changes towards a western diet, the Papua New Guineans still had among the lowest rates of hip fractures in the world, which Frassetto et al. observed was more than 50 fold lower than that of the Scandinavian nations.21 Although these researchers ascribed the worldwide differences in rates of hip fractures to the ratio of vegetable to animal protein, evidence from prospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials, as well as experimental animal models suggests that saturated fat may be at least as great, if not an even greater contributor to poor bone health.22 23 24 25 26

The Tokelauans and Pukupukans

In the video below, Plant Positive reviews the diet and health of the Tokelauans and Pupukans whose diet is rich in coconuts, as well as the diet and health of other South Pacific island populations.

The Tokelauns, and more on the Masai

A 1908 Review on the Causation of Cancer

In 1908, William Roger Williams published an extensive review of the medical literature and documentations from a large number of populations around the world before the widespread use of intensive farming practices. Williams observed that compared to the nations with carnivorous dietary patterns there was a significantly lower incidence of cancer among the nations subsisting predominantly on a plant-based diet. He also noted that groups within nations with carnivorous dietary patterns that largely abstained from animal foods, such as nuns, monks, slaves and prison inmates had a similar low incidence of cancer.9

Williams reported on the cancer rates of the area inhabited by the Gaucho of the Argentina Pampas, another nomadic population that subsisted predominantly on organic pasture raised animal foods, noting that:9

Cancer is commoner in Argentina which comprises the pampas region inhabited by the Gauchos, who for months subsist entirely on beef, and never touch salt than in other parts of South America. On the other hand, among the natives of Egypt, who are of vegetarian habits, and consume immense quantities of salt, cancer is almost unknown.

The Nomadic Argentinean Gaucho

These findings are largely consistent with modern reviews from prominent health authorities, including the report from the expert panel of the World Cancer Research Fund that produced convincing evidence that red meat is a major risk factor for cancer and that dietary fiber provides significant protection [reviewed previously]. However, these findings raise questions as to whether the Egyptians plant-based diet that is centered on wheat provides significant protection against salt sensitive cancers. In regards to the cancer incidence among the different ethnic groups of Egypt, Williams quoted from a 1902 publication in the British Medical Journal authored by Dr. F. C. Madden of Cairo that:9

The consensus of opinion among medical men in Egypt is, that cancer is never found either in male or female, among the black races of that country. These include the Berberines and the Sudanese, who are all Mussulmans, and live almost entirely upon vegetarian diet. Cancer is fairly common, however, among the Arabs and Copts, who live and eat somewhat after the manner of Europeans.

Williams also observed that the increases in incidence of cancer within populations coincided with increases in animal food intake. For example, in regards to the observed marked increase cancer incidence among the Native American’s after gaining easier means to hunt buffaloes, Williams asserted:9 

In this connexion it should be borne in mind, that in their primitive condition these savages had no horses and no firearms ; consequently it was no easy matter for them to kill the fleet buffaloes, on which they mainly depended for subsistence ; hence, in their primitive condition, they were generally less well nourished than when, after contact with whites, they had, by the acquirement of horses and firearms, become assured of a constant supply of their favourite food [coinciding with an increase in cancer incidence].

Historical Overview of the Reversal of Chronic Diseases 

In 1903, John Harvey Kellogg, the founder of the Kellogg Company asserted:

Dr John Bell, who was, about a hundred years ago [now two hundred years ago], professor in a leading college in London, wrote that a careful adherence to a vegetarian dietary tended to prevent cancer. He also stated that in some cases persons who had already acquired cancer had been cured by adherence to a non-flesh dietary. When I first read this book, I did not agree with the author; I thought he was mistaken; but I have gradually come to believe that what he says on this subject is true. 

These findings are consistent with Dr. Dean Ornish’s on-going Prostate Cancer Lifestyle Trial which has already produced strong suggestive evidence of reversal of prostate cancer growth.27 These findings are also consistent with experiments showing that dietary restriction of methionine, typically found in higher quantity and bioavailability in protein rich animal foods compared to unprocessed plant foods can inhibit and even reverse human tumor growth in animal models and in culture [reviewed previously]. 

Publications producing evidence of regression of atherosclerosis in humans dates back to the periods following both the World Wars in Scandinavia and the low countries of Europe, where a number of researchers found a trend between changes in intake of cholesterol laden foods throughout periods of food scarcity in the war and changes in the severity of atherosclerosis at autopsy [reviewed previously]. Several decades later during the 1960's and 70's experiments involving modest dietary and lifestyle changes or drugs produced the first angiographic evidence of modest regression of atherosclerosis.28

In experimental animal models, the first suggestive evidence of regression of atherosclerosis came from rabbit models produced by Anichkov and colleagues during the 1920’s. Beginning from 1957 much more substantial evidence of regression was produced in rabbits and then later replicated in a number of other species, including non-human primates.29 30

In 1970, Armstrong et al. published the first study producing substantial evidence of regression of atherosclerosis in non-human primates. Armstrong et al. induced severe autopsy proven atherosclerosis in Rhesus monkeys resembling that of human atherosclerosis by feeding a diet with 40% of energy from egg yolks for 17 months. The egg yolks were then removed from the diet of the remaining monkey’s and replaced by either linoleic acid rich chow or sugar rich low fat chow for three years reducing serum cholesterol to 140 mg/dl and resulting in a marked regression of atherosclerosis.28 31 These results were later reproduced in well over a dozen experiments in various primate species in which severe atherosclerosis was induced typically by feeding diets rich in dietary cholesterol and saturated fat and then reversed the process either by removing these atherogenic components, or by other means which significantly reduce serum cholesterol.30

During the late 1980’s, Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn began reversing atherosclerosis, and more importantly greatly decreased the number of reoccurring cardiac events in participants who adhered to a plant-based diet and often other lifestyle modifications.32 33 34 35 More recently Dr. Esselstyn has replicated his initial findings in around 200 participants over the period of a decade, with publication pending results showing a phenomenal success rate of a 99.5% reduction in reoccurring cardiovascular events [reviewed previously].

Caldwell Esselstyn on making heart attacks history

Please post any comments in the Discussion Thread. 

Diet, Blood Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Risk of Stroke

The controversy surrounding the lipid hypothesis, in particular the relationship between elevated total and LDL cholesterol and coronary heart disease was considered largely resolved and regarded as scientific fact within the scientific community by 1984 when the expert panel from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reviewed the relevant literature and agreed that the relationship was causal.1 2 The panel concluded:

Elevated blood cholesterol level is a major cause of coronary artery disease. It has been established beyond a reasonable doubt that lowering definitely elevated blood cholesterol levels (specifically blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) will reduce the risk of heart attacks due to coronary heart disease… Further, we are persuaded that the blood cholesterol level of most Americans is undesirably high, in large part because of our high dietary intake of calories, saturated fat, and cholesterol… There is no doubt that appropriate changes in our diet will reduce blood cholesterol levels.

Since 1984 evidence accumulated from over 100 randomized controlled trials of various medical and dietary based lipid modifying interventions has further established that lowering LDL cholesterol significantly decreases the risk of coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality, independent of changes to HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and non-lipid effects of specific drugs.3 4

Controversy however has lingered over whether medical and dietary based interventions to lower total and LDL cholesterol, and perhaps triglycerides may increase the risk of certain stroke subtypes, in particular hemorrhagic stroke. Controversy has arisen in part due to the interpretation of certain statin trials, prospective cohort studies, and observational studies in certain populations with unique cardiovascular profiles, in particular the Japanese.5 6 7 This has led some to suggest that physiological levels of LDL cholesterol (less than 70 mg/dl; 1.8 mmol/l), the levels observed in newborn humans, free-ranging mammals, and human populations on low cholesterol diets that do not develop atherosclerosis [reviewed previously] may somehow increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

There are two major categories of stroke, ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic stroke occurs as a result of an obstruction with the blood supply to the brain, while hemorrhagic stroke occurs as a result of a rapture of a weakened blood vessel. In contrast to the observed decline of stroke incident in Japan where there was a significant improvement in a number of major risk factors but an increase in mean serum cholesterol, Finland experienced one of the highest rates of stroke mortality in the world as well as one of the largest declines, which was in part explained by a decrease in serum cholesterol.8 Unlike Japan, Finland also experienced the highest rate of coronary heart disease mortality in the world as well as the largest decline, which was predominantly explained by cholesterol lowering dietary changes [reviewed previously]. Furthermore, evidence suggests that Japanese Zen monks who consume significantly less meat and fish than the general Japanese population experience lower rates of stroke and all-cause mortality, independent of BMI, alcohol intake and other lifestyle factors.9

At the opposite end of the dietary spectrum higher rates of stroke mortality have been observed among the three main Inuit populations, including those in Greenland, Canada and Alaska compared to their non-Inuit Western counterparts, yet experience similar rates of non-stroke cardiovascular mortality.10 Evidence of atherosclerosis and other chronic and degenerative diseases have been observed in numerous preserved Inuit mummies that date back to pre-western contact, suggesting that their high rate of cardiovascular mortality cannot be entirely explained by influences of modern dietary and lifestyle factors [reviewed previously]. Furthermore, the declining rates of cardiovascular mortality, including stroke among the Inuit undergoing a rapid transition towards a western diet and lifestyle has raised questions regarding the health properties of the traditional Inuit diet based on marine animals.10

Coronary atherosclerosis in a pre-contact Inuit mummy dating back 1,600 years*

The Interaction between Blood Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Risk of Stroke

Recently the largest meta-analysis of statin based randomized controlled trials on the effect of lowering LDL cholesterol and risk of stroke was published, including 31 trials with >182,000 participants and >6,200 cases of stroke. Statins significantly decreased the risk of total and ischemic stroke and all-cause mortality, without evidence of publication bias, consistent with findings from animal studies.5 11 There was however a small statistically insignificant increase in incidence of hemorrhagic stroke in the statin group which was not related to either the degree of reduction of LDL or the achieved LDL. The researchers provided the following possible explanation for these findings:

In addition to their lipid-lowering properties, statins may have antithrombotic properties by inhibiting platelet aggregation and enhancing fibrinolysis. The antithrombotic affects of statins could account for a theoretically increased risk of bleeding complications.

All of the very large prospective cohort studies that included >300,000 participants have either found no association between total and LDL cholesterol and risk of hemorrhagic stroke, or an inverse association confined to participants with hypertension, or a positive association confined to participants with low blood pressure.6 12 13 14 15 A prospective study with >787,000 Korean participants and >9,900 cases of stroke found that while serum cholesterol was associated with a higher risk of ischemic stroke, the researchers found suggestive evidence that the inverse association between serum cholesterol and hemorrhagic stroke confined to hypertensive participants was not causal, but acted as a marker of binge drinking.14 The researchers explained:

In our study, increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke in people with low concentrations of blood cholesterol (less than 4.14 mmol/l) was restricted to those with high GGT values [a measure of alcohol intake]; this relation was less evident when alcohol consumption was measured by self report. The measures of blood pressure might not have been a true reflection of risk, as transient high blood pressure associated with binge drinking may have an important role in hemorrhagic stroke. At low concentrations of GGT, low serum cholesterol was not associated with a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke. In effect, low blood cholesterol may act as a marker of the health damaging effects of alcohol, rather than be a cause of hemorrhagic stroke.

There maybe limitations with the studies which only address whether blood pressure considered by hypertension status modifies the association between serum cholesterol and risk of stroke. As with hypercholesterolemia, the definition of hypertension, blood pressure of >140/90 mmHg, far exceeds levels that have been clearly scientifically documented as being optimal. For example, a meta-analysis of 61 prospective studies including >958,000 participants and >11,900 cases of stroke deaths found that lower usual blood pressure was associated with a reduced risk of mortality from stroke and coronary heart disease, without any evidence of a threshold down to at least 115/75 mmHg.16 These findings are consistent with a meta-analysis of 147 randomized controlled trials that administered blood pressure lowering medication.17 This justifies investigating whether optimal blood pressure compared to high-normal blood pressure further modifies the association between serum lipids and the risk of stroke subtypes.

A meta-analysis of 61 prospective studies with >892,000 participants and >11,600 cases of stroke deaths found not only that serum cholesterol was inversely associated with total and hemorrhagic stroke mortality in participants with very high baseline systolic blood pressure (>145 mmHg), but that lower serum cholesterol was actually associated with a significantly lower risk of hemorrhagic, ischemic and total stroke mortality in participants with near optimal or ‘physiological’ baseline systolic blood pressure (less than 125 mmHg)(Fig. 1).6 As most participants in the age range most susceptible to stroke had either high-normal blood pressure or hypertension, the combined results were biased towards finding an inverse association between serum cholesterol and hemorrhagic stroke mortality.

Figure 1. Systolic blood pressure specific hazard ratios for 1 mmol/L lower usual total cholesterol and risk of stroke mortality

If this association is causal and not obscured by other factors such as binge drinking, this may explain why populations with low cholesterol and high blood pressure such as the Japanese have high rates of stroke, in particular hemorrhagic stroke, and populations that maintain physiological levels of both cholesterol and blood pressure throughout life have an observed absence of stroke.18

There is limited suggestive evidence that the atherosclerosis build-up process in the carotid and major cerebral arteries caused by excess LDL cholesterol in-turn reduces arterial blood supply to the brain that would otherwise cause the blood vessels in the brain to rupture in the presence of high blood pressure, thus explaining why elevated cholesterol may lower the risk of cerebral hemorrhage in people with high blood pressure.19 Indeed, a Japanese study found there was an inverse association between cholesterol and hemorrhagic stroke in an earlier cohort when the mean blood pressure was high and atherosclerosis was relatively low, but no association in the later cohort of the same population when mean blood pressure was reduced from hypertensive to high-normal blood pressure.20

Evidence from several but not all observational studies also found that low triglycerides were associated with a statistically significant or non-significant increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke.12 21 22 23 24 25 26 There is limited data regarding whether the association between low triglycerides and hemorrhagic stroke is modified by blood pressure or alcohol intake, but at least one large study found that the association was stronger among participants with high blood pressure.22

As there is convincing evidence that blood pressure increases the risk of stroke at any given cholesterol concentration, it would be advisable that everyone should aim to achieve an optimal blood pressure of less than 115/75 mmHg. Although a number of lifestyle changes including exercise and weight loss can lower blood pressure, a number of dietary changes can also effectively lower blood pressure.27 28 This includes reducing intake of salt and increasing intake of dietary fiber rich foods including whole grains, flavonoid rich foods including berries, soy, cocoa solids, and vitamin C and magnesium.29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 These nutrients derived primarily from whole-plant foods may in-turn explain why intervention and observational studies have found that vegetarian diets, in particular vegan diets have favorable effects on blood pressure.39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

The Better Way to Lower Cholesterol

As statins provide little appreciable protection against cancer, and like all drugs have adverse effects including but not limited to an increased risk of developing type II diabetes and memory loss or impairment, a significantly greater benefit would be achieved by lowering LDL cholesterol with a whole-foods plant based diet combined with regular exercise in order to not only lower the risk of cardiovascular disease but many other chronic and degenerative diseases.47 48 49 50 In Part II I review the evidence of dietary factors and the risk of stroke.


Please post any comments in the Discussion Thread. 

Forks Over Knives and Healthy Longevity: Perhaps the Science is Legit After All

This is the second part of a series of posts that addresses the science regarding plant based diets and the documentary Forks Over Knives and the very serious inaccuracies and omissions that compromise the critiques authored by the cholesterol skeptics, in particular Denise Minger.

Part I: Forks Over Knives: A Missed Opportunity for the Cholesterol Skeptics

Denying the Preponderance of Evidence

Large systematic reviews of the nutritional literature authored by major international health authorities and by panels of leading nutrition researchers, many of which have disclosed ties to livestock industry, have consistently come to the conclusion that diets should be predominately plant based.1 2 3 4 The documentary Forks Over Knives features a number of doctors who have come to the conclusion that the allowance of animal foods in 'small-to-modest' amounts (made by researchers who often have financial ties to the livestock industry) are too permissive and that an optimal diet should be almost entirely composed of minimally refined plant foods. They also conclude that many major chronic and degenerative diseases that affluent populations succumb to can be prevented, and in many cases even reversed by consuming a whole-foods plant based diet. For the vast majority of nutritional researchers the question is no longer as to whether a plant based diet or an animal based diet is more optimal, but as to what the upper tolerable intake is in an optimal diet for foods not derived from minimally refined plant foods.

Many leading nutritional researchers and prominent health authorities actually do agree that the medical literature supports many of the dietary recommendations made by the doctors in Forks Over Knives, but are often unable to make similar recommendations to the public, in part due to socioeconomic factors. For example, Eric Rimm from the Department of Nutrition, Harvard said to Reuters in regards to a major health report produced by the National Academy of Science, which he was an author of that:

We can’t tell people to stop eating all meat and all dairy produces. Well, we could tell people to become vegetarians... If we were truly basing this on science we would, but it is a bit extreme.

Similarly, Walter Willett, the Chair of the Department of Nutrition, Harvard previously said in regards to findings on cancer that:

If you step back and look at the data, the optimum amount of red meat you eat should be zero.

Diethelm et al. published an excellent review addressing the five characteristics of denialism. The first characteristic describes how the cholesterol skeptics attempt to downplay the scientific consensus regarding the disease promoting effects of elevated LDL cholesterol and animal based diets rich in saturated fat:

The first is the identification of conspiracies. When the overwhelming body of scientific opinion believes that something is true, it is argued that this is not because those scientists have independently studied the evidence and reached the same conclusion. It is because they have engaged in a complex and secretive conspiracy.

The cholesterol skeptics will also attempt to downplay the scientific consensus often by insisting that scientists are ignoring certain studies, studies which these denialists fail to mention are compromised by a number of very serious flaws and omissions.5 6 7 Diethelm et al. also explains the motivations behind denialism:

Denialists are driven by a range of motivations. For some it is greed, lured by the corporate largesse of the oil and tobacco industries. For others it is ideology or faith, causing them to reject anything incompatible with their fundamental beliefs. Finally there is eccentricity and idiosyncrasy, sometimes encouraged by the celebrity status conferred on the maverick by the media.

Perhaps the cholesterol skeptics persistent denialism can be explained by conflicts of interest associated with the sales of merchandise or the desire for celebrity status on the internet. Brownell et al. reminds us how serious and real conflicts of interest are, describing the tactics used by the tobacco industry, who for decades attempted to dismiss the 'junk' science linking smoking to lung cancer and other associated diseases, whose personal gain from this caused millions of people to perish. They asserted:8

A striking event occurred in 1994 when the CEOs of every major tobacco company in America stood before Congress and, under oath, denied believing that smoking caused lung cancer and that nicotine was addictive, despite countless studies (some by their own scientists) showing the opposite.

This merits exploration as to whether the cholesterol skeptics motivations are any different than these other denialists, and whether many of the hundreds of peer-reviewed papers they also dismiss as 'junk' science are actually informative and contain potentially life-saving findings.

Hormone Free, Pasteurised Animal Foods and Primitive Populations

Cholesterol skeptics will often claim that the results of any study suggesting harmful effects of animal foods were obscured due to participants consuming unnatural foods produced by intensive farming practices. The cholesterol skeptics however provide scant evidence regarding the perpetrated health benefits of replacing whole plant foods with naturally produced animal foods. Studies cited throughout both Part I of this review and this current post demonstrate that the association between replacing minimally refined plant foods with animal foods and poorer health expectancy can largely be explained by the fact that animal foods are typically naturally rich in methionine, dietary heme, saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, ruminant trans-fat, and hormones, and deficient in dietary fiber, antioxidants, carotnoids and phytochemicals, just to name a few.

A number of studies that have actually found some of the strongest associations between animal food intake and an increased risk of chronic diseases were actually carried out in populations where livestock is primarily grass fed and administration of hormones to livestock are banned by law, such as in Uruguay.9 10 11 12 These studies cannot simply be explained as exceptions as they are consistent with evidence from before the widespread use of intensive farming practices that produce unnaturally raised livestock.

In 1892 the renowned French geographer, Reclus noted that:13

...cancer is most frequent among those branches of the human race where carnivorous habits prevail.

In 1908, Williams published an extensive review of the medical literature and documentation from a large number of populations around the world in regards to the causation of cancer, and came to conclusions that were consistent with Reclus's findings:14

Careful study of the life-history of centenarians and of persons of advanced age who, as we have seen, are very rarely the victims of cancer shows that they are generally of spare figure, medium height, and that they eat frugally, taking but little meat and alcohol....In this connexion, it may be well to recall the fact, that although cancer is remarkably rare in vegetarian communities, yet complete exemption cannot be claimed for such ; and the like is true of herbivorous, as compared with carnivorous animals. In spite of these facts, which indeed are only such as might have been expected from the essential nature of the problem, there cannot be the slightest doubt in face of the overwhelming evidence I have adduced in the course of this work that the incidence of cancer is largely conditioned by nutrition.

In 1925, Kuczynski described the poor health of a population who subsisted on a diet based predominantly on organic pasteurized animal foods. As later described by Stamler:15

Kuczynski (1925) reported on an Asian population at the opposite end of the dietary spectrum - nomadic Kirghiz plainsmen who habitually consumed large amounts of meat and milk. He noted high incidence of obesity, premature extensive atherosclerosis, contracted kidney, apoplexy, and arcus senilis. Their urbanized kinsmen, subsisting on more varied fare, did not exhibit such severe vascular disease.

In 1932, Raab noted in regards to the distribution of atherosclerosis, that:

…the relative rarity of atherosclerosis and hypertension among the chiefly vegetable-consuming inhabitants of China, Africa, Dutch East India, and the enormous frequency of arteriosclerosis and hypertension among the peoples of Europe and North America who consume large quantities of eggs, butter...

In 1934, Rosenthal reviewed 28 papers from observations carried out around the world, and reached a conclusion that was consistent with Raab’s findings, noting that:16

…in no race for which a high cholesterol intake (in the form of eggs, butter and milk) and fat intake are recorded is atherosclerosis absent...

In 1940, based on years of clinical practice and reviewing medical reports, Bertelsen who is considered the father of Greenland epidemiology stated in regards to the mortality patterns amongst the Greenland Inuit that:17 

...arteriosclerosis and degeneration of the myocardium are quite common conditions among the Inuit, in particular considering the low mean age of the population. 

In 1904, Bertelsen proved the existence of cancer in the native Inuit, diagnosing a case of breast cancer. During the following decades researchers documented that the existence of cancer was exceedingly common among the Inuit despite their relatively short life expectancy.18　Consistent with Bertelsen’s findings, an Inuit predating western contact who was mummified in approximately 1475, 450km north of the Arctic Circle was shown to have evidence of cancer, likely of the breast.19 It has also been documented that numerous preserved pre-contact Inuit who were mummified dating all the way back to 1,500 years ago had a severe degree of atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis, consistent with studies of Inuit living in the 20th century.20 21 22 23 Other evidence of poor health among the pre-contact Inuit includes iron deficiency anemia, trauma, infection, dental pathology, and children with downs syndrome and Perthes disease.24 25

A large number of the examined mummies from ancient Egypt have also provided clear evidence of atherosclerosis in ancient civilizations. Unfortunately some researchers have previously confused the diets of the mummified elites of ancient Egypt who exhibited atherosclerosis with the plant based diets of the lower classes of Egypt.26 More recent research on the interpretations of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and isotope analysis of hair samples from the mummies has provided strong evidence that the elites of Egypt, being those primarily mummified consumed a diet rich in meat and saturated animal fat.27 28 29 The researchers asserted that:

It is important to point out that there was a marked difference between the mainly vegetarian diet most Egyptians ate and that of royalty and priests and their family members whose daily intake would have included these high levels of saturated fat. Mummification was practised by the elite groups in society, ensuring that their remains have survived to provide clear indications of atherosclerosis; by contrast, there is a lack of evidence that the condition existed among the less well-preserved remains of the [mainly vegetarian] lower classes.

The following videos (Videos 1-6) are from the very inspirational Primitive Nutrition Series produced by Plant Positive, providing further details that address the very serious flaws and omissions that compromise the claims from advocates of animal based diets regarding primitive population studies.

Video 1. Primitive Nutrition 27: The Eskimo Model, Part I

Video 2. Primitive Nutrition 28: The Eskimo Model, Part II

Video 3. Primitive Nutrition 29: The Masai Model, Part I

Video 4. Primitive Nutrition 30: The Masai Model, Part II

Video 5. Primitive Nutrition 31: The Native Australian Model

Video 6. Primitive Nutrition 32: Ancient and out of Fashion

Taking Unfounded Wheat Claims with a Grain of Salt

At least eight large prospective studies consisting of a total of over 1,125,000 participants found that intake of foods containing whole grains or grain fiber were associated with a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality, even in studies where the primary consumed grain was wheat or other gluten containing grains.30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 These results are very impressive in light of the fact that the definition of whole grains in these studies were typically considered as foods containing as little as 25% whole grain, and that grain fiber intake in most developed nations is largely derived from refined grains, potentially underestimating the benefits of actual whole grain intake.39

A meta-analysis of 7 prospective studies found that intake of foods containing whole grain was associated with a 21% decrease of cardiovascular disease, and a pooled analysis of 11 prospective studies that used dietary validation methods found a 10 g/d increment of grain fiber was associated with a 25% decrease risk of death from coronary heart disease.40 41 Meta-analyses and systematic reviews have also found that foods containing whole grain and grain fiber significantly decreases the risk of colorectal cancer, type II diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.42 43 44 45 Furthermore, multiple studies have found that replacing animal foods with whole grains significantly decreases the risk of type II diabetes.46 47

Denise Minger has been criticised for failing to carry out multivariate analyses in order to adjust for multiple confounding variables simultaneously in her critiques of the China Study. A Swedish blogger carried out a multivariate analyses with multiple response variables from the raw China Study data, finding contrasting results to that of Minger s, primarily that animal protein and fat were associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease, whereas green vegetables, dietary fiber and grains, including wheat were associated with a decreased risk (Fig. 1). (48 49 50 English version from Google Translate)  These findings certainly raise questions as to whether Minger's oversimplified analysis holds up to her claims that 'wheat is murder'. When compared to Minger’s analyses, these findings are far more consistent with the findings from major cross-country studies, with the exception of vegetable fat (from PUFA and MUFA), which is typically associated with a decreased risk after controlling for saturated fat.51 52 53 54 These findings are also consistent with the observation that the large majority of the world’s population were largely free from coronary heart disease while consuming their traditional diet centered on tubers, legumes, and grains including wheat prior to adopting a western dietary pattern.55 56 57

Figure 1. Various foods and nutrients and risk of ischaemic heart disease in a multivariate regression analysis with multiple response variables for ages 35-69 in China Study II

Often overlooked by the promoters of wheat free diets is that well fermented wheat eliminates the great majority of gluten and has shown to be tolerable by celiac patients.58 Furthermore both epidemiological studies and randomized controlled trials have found that whole grain wheat does not  promote weight gain or impair satiety and is likely beneficial.59 60 61 62 63 Lastly, the fact that many of the authors of some of the most popular weight loss diet books that advocate the restriction of wheat and grain intake in favor of animal foods have remained over-weight despite apparently following their advocated diets for decades raises further questions as to whether such diets are the most optimal for weight loss and healthy longevity (Video 7). 

Refer here for a very informative review that documents the very serious inaccuracies, omissions, and oversimplifications presented in the book Wheat Belly.

Video 7. Low Carb vs. Plant-Based

Lowering Serum Cholesterol on a Plant Based Diet

Evidence from over 100 randomized controlled trials, large meta-analyses of mendelian randomization studies, and prospective studies consisting of several million individuals have firmly established a causal relationship between lowering LDL and non-HDL cholesterol and a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and all-causes mortality, without evidence of a threshold beyond which a lower concentration does not provide additional benefit.64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 

Regardless of the overwhelming evidence, Denise Minger suggested that the cholesterol levels among Dr. Esselstyn’s patients (serum cholesterol, >100mg/dl; LDL, >48mg/dl) are unhealthy and 'super-low'. It has already been established for decades that these 'super-low' cholesterol levels are actually well above levels required in order to support normal growth and development, and are the typical levels that were likely maintained for tens of millions of years throughout human evolution.72 73 These are also the typical concentrations found in free-ranging non-human primates, and among these primates consuming only food founds in their natural habitat higher cholesterol concentrations have been associated with atherosclerosis despite having cholesterol concentrations that Minger may define as 'super-low'.74 These lines of evidence refute the claims suggesting that foods found in nature promote optimal health regardless of their effect on LDL and serum cholesterol. Furthermore, individuals born with extremely rare conditions that cause life-long LDL levels of <15 mg/dl display normal growth and actually experience increased longevity.75 Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein who were awarded a Nobel Prize for their research on the metabolism of LDL cholesterol elaborated on in this topic in their Nobel Prize lecture:76

In view of the 10 to 1 gradient between concentrations of LDL in plasma and interstitial fluid, a level of LDL-cholesterol in plasma of 25 mg/dl would be sufficient to nourish body cells with cholesterol. This is roughly one-fifth of the level usually seen in Western societies.  Several lines of evidence suggest that plasma levels of LDL-cholesterol in the range of 25-60 mg/dl (total plasma cholesterol of 110 to 150 mg/dl) might indeed be physiologic for human beings. First, in other mammalian species that do not develop atherosclerosis, the plasma LDL-cholesterol level is generally less than 80 mg/dl. In these animals the affinity of the LDL receptor for their own LDL is roughly the same as the affinity of the human LDL receptor for human LDL, implying that these species are designed by evolution to have similar plasma LDL levels. Second, the LDL level in newborn humans is approximately 30 mg/dl, well within the range that seems to be appropriate for receptor binding. Third, when humans are raised on a low fat diet, the plasma LDL-cholesterol tends to stay in the range of 50 to 80 mg/dl. It only reaches levels above 100 mg/dl in individuals who consume a diet rich in saturated animal fats and cholesterol that is customarily ingested in Western societies.

Minger made an unreferenced suggestion that Dr. Esselstyn’s patients while having no additional coronary events over several decades while adhering to the prescribed diet, may have somehow achieved better results if they consumed a diet that raised their HDL and lowered their triglycerides. She also made an unreferenced suggestion, perhaps referring to epidemiological studies that lowering cholesterol can increase the risk of developing a number of diseases, including cancer and neurological disorders. As is typical with the cholesterol skeptics, Minger will often dismiss any epidemiological study with findings suggesting adverse health effects of animal based foods as being largely uninformative, insisting that 'correlation isn’t causation'. Therefore this merits exploration into how epidemiological studies compare to randomized controlled trials used to prove 'causation' relating to Minger's concerning comments about serum lipids.

As already mentioned in the first post, a meta-analysis of 108 randomized controlled trials of various medical and dietary based lipid modifying interventions found that lowering LDL cholesterol significantly decreased the risk of coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality, while modifying HDL or triglycerides provided no clear benefit after controlling for LDL cholesterol.77

More recently a meta-analysis of mendelian randomization study of 170,000 participants found that inheriting genetic variants that are associated with life-long elevated HDL do not affect the risk of coronary heart disease.78 Another recent meta-analysis of mendelian randomized study with over 312,000 participants found that inheriting any of the nine studied genetic variants associated with life-long reduced LDL, but do not alter other known risk factors equally predicted a three-fold greater decreased risk of coronary heart disease per unit lower of LDL than statins do when started later in life (Video 8).79 Furthermore, this study and others found that individuals who inherit a variant of the statin drug targeted HMGCR gene that is associated with life-long reduced LDL, have an equal degree lower risk of coronary heart disease as individuals who inherited any of the other 8 studied gene variants.80 81 

These studies provide convincing evidence that the primary mechanism in which statins lower coronary heart disease can be explained by it effects on lowering LDL cholesterol. These studies also provide convincing evidence that the benefit of lowering LDL depends on both the timing and the magnitude of the LDL reduction, and that the benefits associated with lower LDL are largely independent of the mechanism in which LDL is lowered. This in-turn supports the benefits of a plant based diet combined with exercise, the safest way to significantly lower LDL cholesterol, beginning as early in life as possible (Video 8).

Video 8. Long Term Reduction in Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Beginning Early in Life 

In contrast to prospective epidemiological studies that focused on only base-line HDL, the results from prospective studies that tested the effect of HDL modification and the risk of cardiovascular disease have not been so consistent, for which the largest study failed to find any association after controlling for other risk factors.82

If raising HDL can actually modify cardiovascular risk, then this data provides convincing evidence that it is important to consider the mechanism of HDL rather than the concentration alone. For example it has been shown that diets high in saturated fat impairs the anti-inflammatory properties of HDL compared to polyunsaturated fat, and that high fiber low-fat diets convert HDL from pro to anti-inflammatory HDL.83 84 85 In addition animal fat contains dietary cholesterol and ruminant trans-fat which has been shown to raise the LDL/HDL ratio in randomized controlled trials.86 87 88 Therefore the preponderance of evidence demonstrates that attempting to raise HDL in the presence of an increased saturated animal fat intake as advocated by cholesterol skeptics will only increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

It is well established that carbohydrate foods stripped of their nutritional value elevate triglycerides, but also that nutrient dense carbohydrate foods do not produce such an elevation, especially when the carbohydrate is largely derived from dietary fiber and resistant starch.89 90 91 92 93 94 This evidence strongly suggests that the elevated levels of triglycerides in a number of Dr. Esselstyn’s participants was a marker of excessive intake of refined carbohydrates that Minger claimed that they had eliminated from their diet. Minger appears to have confused Dr. Esselstyn's recommendations in his recent book with those provided to his initial set of patients well over two decades ago. Dr. Esselstyn did not specify in his papers that his initial set of patients were asked to eliminate refined carbohydrate foods, which may have played a large role in their diets considering that carbohydrate intake was increased to approx. 80% of total energy. The success seen among Dr. Esselstyn's initial set of patients therefore can probably not be explained by a reduced intake of nutrient poor carbohydrate foods.95

In regards to the cholesterol skeptic's typical claims about low serum cholesterol and an excess risk of cancer, an editorial authored by the American Cancer Society attributed this association to reverse causation, refuting the suggestion of a causal relationship:96

Many epidemiologic studies published in the 1980s documented an association between low circulating cholesterol and higher overall cancer incidence and mortality. This association has been attributed to reverse causation, that is, undiagnosed cancer causing a reduction in cholesterol levels. Reverse causation is strongly supported by observations that cholesterol levels decline before cancer diagnosis and that associations between low cholesterol and cancer incidence and mortality weaken when the first few years of study follow-up are excluded. In addition, a meta-analysis of randomized trials of cholesterol-lowering statins found no effect on risk of cancer, although only short-term effects could be addressed due to the short duration of most trials.

More recently several mendelian randomization studies have demonstrated that individuals who inherit genetic variants associated with life-long reduced LDL do not have an excess risk of cancer, compensating for the relatively short-term cholesterol-lowering trials.97 98 99

Minger’s own words, 'Yikes! Did we slip and fall back into the ’80s?' more accurately describes her own misleading statements than that of the doctors in Forks Over Knives. Several recent prospective studies with up to 37 and 40 years follow-up, sufficient to potentially eliminate the possibility of reverse causation found that elevated serum cholesterol was associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer or prostate cancer death.100 101

In regards to low cholesterol and neurological disorders, a mendelian randomization study found that individuals who inherit genetic variants associated with life-long reduced LDL do not have increased depressive symptoms.102 Also, randomized controlled trials have found that vegetarian diets which are associated with lower cholesterol are also associated with improved moods compared to omnivorous diets.103 104 105 Other randomized controlled trials found that psychological symptoms including depression, hostility and anger improved significantly on a cholesterol lowering, complex-carbohydrate rich diet compared to baseline or carbohydrate restricted diets.106 107 Conversely, systematic reviews and meta-analyses of epidemiologic studies have found an association between dairy intake and an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, and saturated fat and an increased risk of dementia.108 109 110 111

For the evidence regarding diet and serum lipids and the risk of stroke please refer to Part I and Part II of my review addressing this subject.

The World Wars Revisited

During the British blockade in World War I, the food imports that Denmark heavily relied upon were cut off and the population was forced to sell a large portion of their livestock due to the inefficient conversion of livestock feed into meat. Following a transition towards more of a plant based diet the Danish capital experienced a significant decrease in mortality from chronic disease and all-causes during the period of significant regulation towards the end of the war.112 113

As previously discussed in Part I of this review, in World War II a number of Scandinavian and Low Countries of Europe experienced deprivations of animal foods together with a significant decline in cardiovascular mortality. In contrast, in the United States heart disease mortality increased together with an increased intake of dairy and eggs. In regards to the scarcity of war time tobacco as a potential confounding variable, smoking was very rare among Scandinavian women prior to the war yet cardiovascular mortality decreased similarly in both men and women. Furthermore in nations such as Denmark and Great Britain where there was a similar scarcity of tobacco as other Scandinavian countries but intake of cholesterol rich food was not significantly altered, there was no significant change in cardiovascular mortality. It was also observed that the decline of cardiovascular mortality was in the order of the nations that experienced shortages of animal fats earlier in the war.114 115 116 Another valuable finding was the observation that children born in Norway and other parts of Scandinavia during or shortly after the war experienced lower than expected rates of a number of cancers during the following decades, suggesting the importance of a plant based maternal diet.117 118

During the food shortages in West Germany under the Allied occupation from 1945-48 there was an observed absence of advanced forms of atherosclerosis, diabetic complications and cardiovascular mortality compared to the pre and post occupation period, as well as compared with the parts of Southern Germany that did not experience severe food shortages. This was attributed primarily to a cholesterol lowering diet that was low in energy, animal fat and animal protein and rich in foods high in dietary fiber. Other major modifiable risk factors were unable to explain the changes in cardiovascular disease as these were modified only slightly between 1948-50 when the sharp increase in heart attacks was observed.119  

In regards to dietary intake of Norway during the war, Minger cited evidence from a chart of food intake of men from 50 families in Oslo which included foods obtained outside of rationing from illegal sources. As the authors pointed out, these illegally obtained foods were 'mostly of bread and flour', suggesting that the data for animal food intake cited by Strom and Jensen in Part I of this review was not compromised by the exclusion of illegally obtained foods. Nevertheless, Minger referred to the almost two fold increase of flour, meal and groats during the war as being only a 'slight' increase. The chart suggests that among these men, compared to the 1936-37 pre-war period, intake of meat, eggs and added fats had significantly decreased by at least early 1941 and declined throughout the year. This provides further evidence that refutes Minger s claims that intake of animal foods did not decline until late 1941. However, compared to 1936-37 total dairy intake among these men was observed to be slightly higher in 1941 but then declined from early 1942, primarily from high fat sources.120

Table 1. Dietary intake of food groups for Oslo men from 50 families, 1936-45

In regards to dairy intake in Norway, Denise Minger claimed that:

There’s no doubt about it: In 1941, when cardiovascular disease started plummeting, Norwegians were eating more total dairy (light blue line) than they were before the war, when the death rate was higher. 

Minger derived this data from these same Oslo men from 30 to 50 families (Table 1) and graphed the intake of dairy intake using the per-war years of 1936-37 and the war years of 1941-45. Regarding the dietary intake of these Oslo men Minger clearly contradicted herself by first stating that 'it’s hard to say how accurately this represents the food intake of Norway’s whole population', and then stating 'There’s no doubt about it', as if she is certain that this data accurately reflected the intake of the entire Norwegian population. When examining the observed dietary changes of these Oslo men and cardiovascular disease statistics, it may be more informative to provide statistics specifically for Oslo men, rather than the entire nation as Minger has done, as the observed rates of cardiovascular mortality were significantly different between Oslo men and Oslo women, as well as between Oslo and the entire nation.121 122

In Oslo the observed heart attack rate of men was actually slightly higher in 1941 compared to 1936-37, but then plummeted in 1942 simultaneously with the decreased intake of dairy, particularly from high fat sources. The observed increased heart attack rate in Oslo men in 1945 with an increased intake of diary in early to mid-1945 among these Oslo men (Figs. 2, 3).

Figure 2. Analysis of hospitalized cases of myocardial infarction (heart attack) in a sub-group that was estimated to much more accurately reflect that of the general population in Oslo, Norway 1935-49

Figure 3. Dairy intake and myocardial infarction in Oslo men, 1936-45

Although Minger correctly points out that Dr. Esselstyn did not mention the significant increased intake of fish in Norway during the war years, her claim that the Norwegian diet was 'marine based' appears somewhat fishy. According to the tables of food intake for the Oslo men that Minger focused on, intake of the major starch groups, including flour, meal and groats, bread, potatoes, and roots and vegetables was approximately 1 kg/day, roughly 4 times that of fish intake. Fish intake can not explain the large decline of cardiovascular morality in Scandinavia and the low countries of Europe. In Finland where the observed decline in arteriosclerosis mortality was even greater than in Norway, availability of fish was actually lower throughout most of the period where wartime rates of mortality were plummeting, and also declined throughout the late 1980s and 1990s when mortality was again plummeting.123 124 125 126

Several recent meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, including the highest quality double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials failed to show that fish oil decreased the risk of cardiovascular events, including subgroup analyses when compared to oleic or n-6 rich vegetable and mixed oils.127 128 129 Furthermore, large prospective studies have found that benefits of fish are only apparent when displacing less healthy foods such as red meat, and that further benefit was found when fish was replaced with whole plant foods (Fig. 1).130 131 132 133 The lack of cardiovascular benefits associated with the consumption of fish oil maybe in part explained by the fact that the majority of marketed fish and fish oils regardless of labelled claims contain high levels of environmental pollutants, such as mercury and PCBs.134 135 136 137 Several studies have found an association between mercury exposure and an increased risk of all-cause mortality, and a recent review elaborated on the numerous detrimental effects of mercury exposure and risk of vascular diseases:138 139

The overall vascular effects of mercury include increased oxidative stress and inflammation, reduced oxidative defense, thrombosis, vascular smooth muscle dysfunction, endothelial dysfunction, dyslipidemia, and immune and mitochondrial dysfunction. The clinical consequences of mercury toxicity include hypertension, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmias, reduced heart rate ariability, increased carotid intima-media thickness and carotid artery obstruction, cerebrovascular accident, generalized atherosclerosis, and renal dysfunction, insufficiency, and proteinuria. 

A number of studies have also found evidence of ill-effects of prenatal exposure to mercury from fish on child neurodevelopment.140 Nevertheless, there is suggestive evidence of benefits from long chain omega 3 fatty acids, particularly for those with low circulating levels which could be obtained more efficiently through the consumption of microalgae oil to minimise the risk of exposure to harmful toxins.141

The Primitive Nutrition Series

The following videos (Videos 9-12) are from the Primitive Nutrition Series produced by Plant Positive that address some of the very serious flaws and omissions in Denise Minger's interpretation of the China Study.

Video 9. Primitive Nutrition 62: China Studies, Part I

Video 10. Primitive Nutrition 63: China Studies, Part II

Video 11. Primitive Nutrition 64: China Studies, Part III

Video 12. Primitive Nutrition 65: China Studies, Part IV

The following videos (Videos 13-19) were created as a response to Denise Minger's statements about the Primitive Nutrition Series. In regards to video 16 and the plausibility of removing countries from cross-country comparisons due to the time lag between the war-time decrease in coronary heart disease mortality and the data from 1950 obscuring the diet-heart relationship, Minger correctly pointed out that Denmark did not experience a reduction of heart disease mortality during the war. As previously explained, unlike the other Scandinavian countries, there was no significant decrease in cholesterol rich foods in Denmark, nor was there a decrease in cardiovascular mortality.142

Although the explanation of time-lag may have weakened the diet-heart relationship, the large distribution of mortality rates among countries with high fat intake can largely be explained by differences in availability of saturated fats, which were lower in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. When researchers specifically looked at availability of saturated fat, there were no longer any significant exceptions in the data from the 1950s, with saturated fat explaining almost 70% of the variance of heart disease between countries (Fig. 4).143 Hegsted et al. used a multiple-regression equation using later data and found that almost all variance of coronary heart disease mortality between countries (r=0.92) could be explained by a combination of saturated fat which was positively associated, and polyunsaturated fat and alcohol which were inversely associated with risk (Fig. 5).144

Figure 4. Association of international death rates of coronary heart disease with percentage intakes of total and saturated-types of fat

Figure 5. Mortality predicted by consumption of saturated and polyunsatured fat and all sources of alcohol versus observed coronary heart disease mortality

In regards to the data from the 22 countries, Minger cautioned her readers about interpreting the results of diet and the risk of coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality due to the significant differences in socioeconomic factors between the countries. Less favorable socioeconomic factors are associated with an increased coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality, and would have potentially biased the results towards finding a positive association between plant based nutrients and mortality as it was the developing nations that typically consumed more plant based foods.145 146 147 148 Minger also stated that the GDP per capita for each nation is a 'pretty good way to estimate standard of living'. However, many of the countries with moderate intakes of saturated fat rather than total fat, such as Denmark and Sweden, and higher intakes, such as the U.K and Canada had similar high levels of medical care and GDP per capita, yet the countries with higher intakes of saturated fat had significantly higher mortality rates of coronary heart disease (Fig. 4).149 150

It is not the least bit surprising that while criticizing Ancel Key’s findings in regards to the association between animal based nutrients and all-cause mortality, Minger failed to inform her readers that in the Seven Countries Study prospective study that was not confounded by such significant differences in socioeconomic factors, saturated fat was associated with a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality in the 10, 15 and 25 year follow-ups.151 152 153

Video 13. "Vegan Propaganda"

Video 14. Response to Denise Minger 1: Scrupulous

Video 15. Response to Denise Minger 2: Not Benefiting from Hindsight

Video 16. Response to Denise Minger 3: Cherry Picking

Video 17. Response to Denise Minger 4: China Revisited

Video 18. Response to Denise Minger 5: Wheat and Carbs

Video 19. Response to Denise Minger 6: Number Needed to Treat

The Fictional Independent Correlation

The cholesterol skeptics frequently cite research that they claim shows no independent association between consuming higher intakes of animal foods and chronic and degenerative diseases by examining these specific foods in isolation, while ignoring what sources of energy these are typically substituted for. These observations are misleading because they ignore the law of thermodynamics where in the general population a decrease of one source of energy will generally lead to an increase in other sources in order to maintain energy balance. In order to provide a more informative analysis of the association between diet and risk of developing diseases, it is therefore essential to study effect of substituting different foods on health outcomes. This was elaborated on in a large research panel organised by Walter Willett:154 155

For example, it may not be useful, as is usually done, to compare a specific food to all other sources of energy, which are usually mainly refined starches, sugars, red meat, and fat-rich dairy products in typical Western diets.

Not surprisingly meta-analyses and systematic reviews that do not compare foods with appropriate alternatives often fail to even find a relationship between refined grains and the risk of cardiovascular disease, weight gain and all-cause mortality, even though it is well documented that replacement with whole grains reduces risk.156 157 While such an over-simplistic approach is apparently sufficient for the cholesterol skeptics to claim that animal foods are safe to consume in almost unlimited quantities, they demonstrate very little interest to judge the health properties of other foods, such as refined grains using the same methods, as doing so would provide little rational for their unfounded claims. Unfortunately this enormous loop-hole has invited a very unwelcome opening for the industries and advocates of fad diets to exploit the medical literature in order to promote the consumption of disease promoting foods. Meta-analyses funded by the associated industries have used this loop-hole to downplay the damaging effects of saturated fat and soft drink consumption, but have nevertheless been refuted by other researchers who demonstrated that the studies that used better methodology found an increased risk of disease.158 159

Studies that focus on substituting food are far more informative and provide increasing evidence for replacing animal foods, particularly red meat and saturated fat rich foods with minimally processed plant foods (Fig. 6).160 161 162 163 164 Note that the definition of whole grains in the studies represented in Figure 6. are grains with at least 25% whole-grain or bran content by weight, permitting up to 75% of the grains as being essentially refined.165

Figure 6. Type II diabetes associated with replacement of other food groups for red meat from repeated dietary data surveys from over 200,000 men and women in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and Nurses’ Health Study I & II

The results of many of the referenced epidemiological studies are likely conservative estimates due to imprecise dietary measurement methods that are prone to attenuation bias (regression dilution bias). For example, it is well documented that observational studies significantly underestimate the strong relationship between diet and serum lipids that has been firmly established by hundreds of tightly controlled feeding studies.166 167 168 It was estimated over four decades ago that in order to estimate within 20% of the actual dietary intake, there is a requirement of at least 22 days of 24-hour dietary recalls for a number of macronutrients including saturated fat, and at least 45 days for dietary cholesterol.169 Inaccurately measuring intraindividual variation has been shown to lead to a miss-classification of subjects into ranges of usual dietary intakes, and biasing correlation coefficients towards null.170 Despite excessively referring to epidemiological studies that use some of the most imprecise dietary measurement methods such as single 24-hour dietary recalls as being of 'high quality' or 'good science', the cholesterol skeptics constantly dismiss any epidemiological studies that produce results contradicting their claims as being flawed and entirely uninformative rather than recognising that the results were likely conservative estimates.171 172 

In a recent post Denise Minger discussed a prospective study which found a significant association between higher-protein, lower-carbohydrate diets and an excess risk of cardiovascular disease among Swedish women. She attempted to downplay the study by pointing out the limitation that dietary intake was only measured by a dietary survey focusing on the 6 month period prior to the 16 year follow-up. She suggested that dietary and lifestyle changes throughout the follow-up period may have obscured the results towards finding this excess risk, ignoring the evidence presented by the researchers indicating the exact opposite:173

The long interval between exposure and outcome is a source of concern, because certain participants may change their dietary habits during the intervening period. However, this is more likely to generate non-differential misclassification and, thus, attenuate the evaluated association. In fact, we saw a tendency for the incidence rate ratios to decline with longer follow-up.

Minger also failed to mention the researchers discussion within the paper explaining how the findings from this study were consistent with numerous other prospective studies, including the Nurses's Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professional's Follow-up Study (HPFS) which measured diet up to six times throughout the follow-up period.174 175 176 177 178

The NHS and HPFS are well known for the use of virtually the highest quality dietary measurement methods used in any large scale epidemiological study, including detailed food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) that have been updated every 4 years for over 20 years and validated against multiple-day food records of at least 14 days in a year. A number of cholesterol skeptics have attempted to downplay the quality of the NHS and HPFS, particularly when a recent paper was published describing a significant association between red meat intake and an increased risk of all-cause mortality. They criticised this paper in part due to the variance of dietary intake between the FFQ and the multiple-day food records, clearly ignoring the fact that the researchers found that the association between red meat and excess mortality was actually significantly strengthened in a sensitivity analysis using data from multiple FFQ against the multiple-day food records in order to account for measurement error. Not surprisingly the researchers also found that when compared to multiple FFQ, the association was weakened when using data only from only the single base-line FFQ. Furthermore, no other foods associated with red meat intake could explain this association with excess mortality, and the only nutrients that partly explained this association were those that are naturally found in red meat, including saturated fat, dietary cholesterol and dietary heme. This strongly suggests that the excess mortality was associated with constituents naturally found in red meat, and refutes the claims that the results were obscured by other unhealthy foods associated with red meat intake.179 

Another important factor is that it has been observed that participants often change their dietary and lifestyle habits, including refraining from consuming meat and saturated fat due to illnesses or unfavourable risk factors that ultimately become life threatening.180 This frequently causes researchers to observe participants with a high risk of developing diseases as having lifestyles and consuming diets that are portrayed as being healthy, a phenomenon known to bias the benefits of smoking cessation towards null.181 It is also important not to neglect that many of the recommendations to avoid consuming a number of toxic substances, including tobacco are not based off results from controlled clinical trials investigating hard disease end points, but often purely based off epidemiologic, metabolic and laboratory studies. Ignoring the totality of the evidence simply due to a lack of large clinical trials can result in absurd consequences, including a missed opportunity for healthy longevity.

A Bid Farewell to the Confusionist's

Denise Minger’s biases have become exceptionally clear throughout her posts compromised by very serious and evidently intentional inaccuracies and omissions regarding the evidence supporting the health benefits of plant-based diets. She has also demonstrated her biases through descriptive statements such as ‘How to Win an Argument with a Vegetarian’ and ‘wheat is murder’, as well as with the posting of completely irrelevant photos of vegans that she appears to be ridiculing (Video 13). 

Minger constantly attempts to refute that she is bias in favor of promoting animal foods by claiming that this cannot be true simply because she was previously a vegan, and still eats a primarily plant based diet. Such claims should be considered with extreme caution in light of the fact that a number of other confusionists, including several honorary members of the Weston A. Price Foundation, such as William Douglas and Barry Groves who were opposed to smoking tobacco until they apparently discovered as they have described it, that the consensus that smoking is disease promoting was derived from ‘prejudices based on false science and government propaganda’, that there is a ‘broad spectrum of therapeutic and preventive applications of tobacco smoking for human medicine’, that ‘tobacco smoke contains no carcinogens’, and even that nicotine can ‘Help you live longer’.182 183 184 Perhaps the real reason Minger consumes a plant based diet is simply because she is well aware of the health benefits over a diet rich in animal foods.

Lastly, it is not scientifically justified to assume that someone's diet is optimal just because they perceive themselves as being healthier after a dietary change. Humans simply do not have the ability to feel the initial stages of development of atherosclerosis and cancer, nor feel the cancerous N-nitroso compounds form in their digestive tract and their serum cholesterol rise after digesting an animal rich meal. There is usually a significant time lag of up to several decades between dangerous lifestyle changes and the maximum risk of developing the associated diseases (Video 7).185 186 Furthermore, sudden cardiac death which has been associated with high protein and ketogenic diets is a leading cause of death in the developed world, a disease where there are typically no associated symptoms up until one hour prior to death.187 188 189 190 Dr. Michael Gregor outlines sudden cardiac death in a video regarding the remarkable findings from the China Study explaining how no one needs to succumb to this (Video 20).

Video 20. China Study on sudden cardiac death

Please post any comments in the Discussion Thread.