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?

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