Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 54
1 support from this document. Spain is pretty much the
2 fittest country for the moment but it has not got Greece.
3 At the moment it is between 35 and 64.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It never lasts very long, I am afraid.
6
7 MR. RAMPTON: The least obese the lowest blood pressure.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If that is related to physical activity, yes.
10
11 MR. RAMPTON: If it is, one does not know.
12
13 MS. STEEL: It might be related to saturated fat.
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There we are. Anyway, just a little frolic of
16 my own!
17
18 MS. STEEL: (To the witness): When you talk in your statement
19 about:
20
21 "The dangers of making dietary recommendations to the
22 general public being highlighted by the fat that many of
23 the recommendations made by groups over the previous 5 to
24 10 years have subsequently been proved to be inconsistent
25 and, in some cases, erroneous", you would accept that the
26 recommendations about fat and saturated fat to reduced
27 intake of those has remained consistent over a considerable
28 period of time, longer than 10 years?
29 A. Well that is not strictly true because there has been a
30 circular argument about whether butter in the diet is good
31 or bad for you, and that has certainly taken place within
32 the last 10 years, and it has ranged from Norwegian
33 studies, which have shown a lower incidence of coronary
34 heart disease, for example, in people with a substantial
35 intake of butter, to other studies which have suggested
36 that butter is the worst thing that you can be eating so
37 far as coronary heart disease, so it is not strictly true
38 to say that all of the recommendations have actually
39 included a reduction in the intake of fat.
40
41 Q. Whatever type of fat it is, whether it is from butter or
42 margarine or whatever, all the recommendations have
43 consistently been to reduce saturated fat intake to below
44 10 per cent of energy intake and to reduce total fat intake
45 to at least below 35 per cent, somewhere between 30 and 35
46 per cent?
47 A. As I have said, that is not absolutely true in that
48 there has been a circular argument about butter which
49 obviously would increase the amount of saturated fat in
50 your diet.
51
52 Q. Have you seen any recommendations saying that it is a good
53 idea to increase your saturated fat intake above 10 per
54 cent or that it certainly will not do you any harm?
55 A. Well, certainly these articles that appear regarding
56 butter intake raise the question mark about whether it
57 really was necessary to reduce one's saturated fat to such
58 levels.
59
60 Q. The recommendations have not changed?
