BY BRENT FOX

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com



It's not just a question of avoiding fats and eating more fruit and vegetables.

Diet and nutrition is a complicated chemistry, and - with smoking cessation and exercise - minor changes can help prevent heart disease, type-2 diabetes and some cancers.

It's never too late to change your ways.

Harvard University epidemiology and nutrition professor Dr. Walter Willett was the 28th distinguished speaker for the Huggins Science Seminar at Acadia University Oct. 18. He is also chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

Willett has authored a number of books, including Eat, Drink and Be Healthy.

Willett told the capacity crowd at the Irving Centre auditorium international studies of nutrition-related disease show “the large differences among them are not due to genetic factors, but to diet and lifestyle.�

He noted people who have migrated from one culture to another - such as to North America - soon reflect local conditions. As well, “national diets are changing; new foods are coming into diets and people are changing their diets.�

The popular idea fats are bad, and milk, all carbohydrates and fruits and vegetables are good; don't always hold true Some fats are beneficial; some carbohydrates certainly are not.



Confounding factor

“We can't really circle animal fat as a risk factor,� he acknowledged of some diseases, “but it is a confounding article.�

For example, soybean oil is good, but not when it is hydrogenated. Butter was replaced in many diets in recent decades, but by margarine containing hydrogenated oils or trans fats.

“Trans fats are metabolic toxins.�

In fact, the good and bad cholesterol ratio is twice as bad as the result of trans fats than saturated fats from animals. But, for breast cancer, “animal fat is relative to high risk, but only in estrogen positive.�

As well, hormones are used in American meat production.

“You have to look at the whole package,� he said, “some of which we don't understand yet.�

The aim has to be to replace trans fats with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. In fact, with ordinary vegetable oils in salad dressing, people can use more of it.

“Dump that salad dressing on the salad,� he quipped.

Though Omega-3 fatty acids won't prevent heart disease, he said, it will reduce the risk of sudden death from a heart attack by 80 per cent.

As well, once vilified because of the fat and protein content, nuts are seen as good food.

“Cardio vascular disease is 30 per cent less with fruit and vegetable consumption,� he said. Five servings brings the maximum benefit for cardio-vascular disease, through their potassium and folic acid.

And, there’s some benefit from moderate alcoholic beverage consumption.



Adult milk consumption

As for milk and dairy consumption by adults, Willett said it doesn't really have much effect on reducing bone fractures. Men who drink it have three times the chance of contracting aggressive and fatal prostate cancers.

Reduced vitamin D, in sunshine and milk, helps increase risk of colon cancers, as well as MS and asthma. He suggested dietary supplements to help increase vitamin D intake.

Refined carbohydrates, such as white rice, potatoes, sugar and flour; tend to digest quickly - and could overwhelm insulin levels.

“Glyceme education is big in heart disease,� he noted. “Glycemes will likely be the next big issue.�

Willett said, “it's never too late� to turn things around in your life. “If you're 71 and alive and kicking, you can change your diet and benefit from it.�

Willett's nutrition pyramid is founded on daily exercise and weight control, with whole grains and plant oils on top. Above those are vegetables in abundance and fruit. Next are nuts and legumes, with fish, poultry and eggs above them, and dairy or calcium supplements above them. On top - therefore least desirable - are red meats and butter, as well as refined carbs and potatoes.