Bad things are now good things

I've always believed in science.

Science is able to put to rest old myths, legends, and folklore and prove ideas, concepts, and narratives to be either true or false. If you're not sure how old the earth is, for example, you turn to science and carbon dating to tell you.

Much of the world believes what science tells us but sometimes they get it wrong too, especially with what we should and shouldn't eat.

For decades, health experts have issued stark warnings that foods high in fat and cholesterol cause heart disease and other illnesses. But new research has determined that these guidelines, which prompted millions to shun red meat and eggs, were not supported by good evidence and were, in fact, in error (Feb. 27 edition of The Week).

In the late 1970s, Americans were encouraged to reduce their fat intake to about 30 percent of their total daily calories. But after reviewing the research available at that time, a team of British scientists has concluded there was never any evidence that eating less fat would help reduce the risk of heart disease.

In fact, when Americans were told to avoid meat, dairy, and fat, they increased their consumption of simple carbohydrates such as sugar, white bread, pasta and processed foods which are the real causes of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. So we were being pushed toward foods rather than away from foods that could kill us.

At the same time, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is no longer classifying cholesterol as a 'nutrient of concern.' The decision, which reverses four decades of government advice, reflects recent research suggesting that eating foods high in cholesterol does not significantly raise cholesterol levels in the blood or increases the risk of heart disease.

I wrote a few weeks ago about "luck" having more to do with getting cancer than any kind of 'lifestyle' we might choose and here again we see similar evidence because genetics has a much greater effect on cholesterol levels than diet. Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic said it best in USA Today newspaper. "We got the dietary guidelines wrong. They've been wrong for decades."

Other research indicates the same errors with other foods. Coconut Oil was once considered to be so loaded with saturated fat that it should be avoided at all costs. Recent studies say on the contrary, unrefined coconut oil offers terrific health benefits, even though it IS saturated fat.

Coffee has caffeine and caffeine is bad for you was the old way of thinking. The new wisdom is that coffee is loaded with antioxidants and other nutrients that improve your health.

Doctors have long believed that drinking high-fat milk leads to obesity. But a study conducted at Harvard University found that despite recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics that children drink skim or low-fat milk after age two, doing so did not make for leaner or healthier children. In fact, the study found just the opposite. Kids who drank skim milk were likely to be fatter than those who drank whole milk.

We've all been told for decades that salt kills! It raises blood pressure, causes hypertension and increases the risk of premature death. In fact, salt is essential to health and too LITTLE salt can lead to premature death.

It used to be believed that chocolate gave you pimples, made you fat and created heartburn. Today we know that dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants. So we went from chocolate being bad for you in the 90's to chocolate being good for you in the second decade of this century primarily because of the study conducted at Cambridge University in 2011 that concluded that chocolate "probably" lowers strokes rates, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. A more recent student found that regular chocolate consumers are often thinner than non-chocolate eaters. (alternet.org/personal health)

We used to think that popcorn was junk food. Now we know it is a whole grain, loaded with nutrients, provided you don't drown it in butter. And air-popped popcorn is the healthiest of all, containing only 30 calories per cup.

Some more old wisdom was that eggs clog your arteries and increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and early death and the new wisdom says eggs are nearly the perfect food. Last year, a meta-analysis of 17 studies on egg consumption and health discovered that eggs did not contribute at all to heart disease or stroke in healthy people. The key is to eat eggs from free-range, happy and healthy chickens.

So now you can go to the grocery store and grab all those items you thought were on the "Do Not Eat" list and eat to your heart's content.

At least until a new report comes out refuting this one!