The December 24/31, 1997 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reports a study that concludes "Intakes of fat, saturated fat, and monosaturated fat were associated with reduced risk of ischemic stroke in men."
Reduced risk of stroke from higher intakes of fat!? Although this inverse association has been previously observed in Asian and Asian- American populations, this is the first time this inverse association has been observed among Caucasians.
The result is somewhat surprising, especially considering that the public health establishment has been feeding the public the opposite message for the last 20 years.
Added to the recent study reporting that margarine is more of a heart disease risk than butter, your confidence in what is known about dietary fat and health may be shaken.
And it should be.
In the accompanying editorial to the study about stroke and fat intake, University of Maryland researchers said:
Clinicians have to recognize that dietary guidelines can only be based on evidence available at the time they are formulated. At present, most of this evidence in humans is observational and consequently, an imperfect basis for causal inference. Large-scale experimental studies that would provide more compelling data (such as the Women's Health Initiative) cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take decades to complete. Each study can only address the effects of a single nutritional change. Thus, it is still necessary to base advice to patients on dietary information that is less than certain and incomplete.
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