This week, we bring you a brief look back at the last month of real-food-more-fat in the news:
- JAMA publishes an important summary of the growing interest in ketogenic diets for weight loss and type 2 diabetes in its theme issue, "Reimagining Obesity in 2018."
- The Atlantic reports on a new study that illuminates the startling association between high blood sugar-INCLUDING pre-diabetic levels-and cognitive decline. Results suggest "Alzheimer's is another potential side effect of a sugary, [starchy] Western-style diet." Also this month, The BMJ published a new essay by Gary Taubes: "What if sugar is worse than just empty calories?" It explores the (still ambiguous) science and policy implications.
- Time reports on a study that shows obesity shaves almost a year from US life expectancy. "Drug and alcohol abuse are often blamed for reductions in life expectancy... [but] the country faces multiple challenges when it comes to longevity and public health," including record rates of obesity.
- US News and World Report ranking of "best diets" favors conventional darlings, like the DASH diet, in spite of insipid evidence and uninspiring results. Read Nina Teicholz and Gary Taubes' op-ed in the LA Times contesting this same-old-same-old analysis.
- Along the vein of same-old-same-old, The New York Times runs a feature piece, "Good Fats, Bad Fats," reinforcing the Harvard School of Public Health's stance that dietary saturated fats should be replaced with vegetable oil to prevent heart disease. Big Fat Surprise author, Teicholz, comments that the article "seems to sweep the controversy under the rug and represents only one side of the debate. This does a disservice to good science reporting and to [Brody's] readers-who deserve to know that on the question of saturated fats and heart disease, the matter is far from settled."
Want more?
Tune in next week for success stories, reports on emerging science, and links to longer reads and interesting articles.
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This news gathering is from our collaborator Jennifer Calihan, who also blogs at Eat the Butter. Feel free to sign up for her weekly newsletter.