Nexus - 0902 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Actually, an active anti-saturated fat bias started as far back as Only months before these press conferences, millionaire Phil 1972 at the CSPI. But beginning in 1984, this very vocal con- Sokolof, the head of the National Heart Savers Association sumer activist group started its anti-saturated fat campaign in (NHSA), purchased the first of a series of anti-saturated fats and earnest. In particular at this time, the campaign was against the anti-tropical fats advertisements in major newspapers. No one "saturated" frying fats, especially those being used by fast-food has found an overt connection between Sokolof (and his NHSA) restaurants. Most of these so-called saturated frying fats were tal- and the ASA, but the CSPI bragged about being his adviser. low-based, but also included was palm oil in at least one of the hotel/restaurant chains. V. USE OF COCONUT OIL IN THE PREVENTION AND Then, in a critical "News Release" in August 1986—"Deceptive | TREATMENT OF HEART DISEASE Vegetable Oil Labeling: Saturated Fat Without The Facts"— The research over four decades concerning coconut oil in the CSPI referred to "palm, coconut and palm kernel oil" as "rich in diet and heart disease is quite clear: coconut oil has been shown artery-clogging saturated fat". CSPI further announced that it had to be beneficial in combatting/reducing the risk factors in heart petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to stop allowing disease. This research leads us to ask the question, "Should labelling of foods as having "100% vegetable shortening" if they coconut oil be used both to prevent and treat coronary heart dis- contained any of the "tropical oils". CSPI ease?" This is based on several reviews of also asked for the mandatory addition of the scientific literature concerning the feed- the qualifier, "a saturated fat", when ing of coconut oil to humans. coconut, palm or palm kernel oil was Blackburn et al. (1988) reviewed the named on the food label. published literature of "coconut oil's effect In 1988, CSPI published a booklet called on serum cholesterol and atherogenesis" "Saturated Fat Attack". This booklet con- and concluded that when "fed physiologi- tains lists of processed foods "surveyed" in cally with other fats or adequately supple- Washington, DC, supermarkets. The lists The research over four mented with linoleic acid, coconut oil is a were used for developing information neutral fat in terms of atherogenicity". about the saturated fat in the products. decades concerning After reviewing this same literature, Section III is entitled "Those Troublesome coconut oil in the diet Kurup and Rajmohan (1995) conducted a Tropical Oils" and it contains statements . study on 64 volunteers and found "no sta- encouraging pejorative labelling. There and heart disease tistically significant alteration in the serum were lots of substantive mistakes in the is quite clear: total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL booklet, including errors in the description cholesterol, HDL cholesterol/total choles- of the biochemistry of fats and oils and coconut oil has been terol ratio and LDL cholesterol/HDL cho- completely erroneous statements shown to be beneficial lesterol ratio of triglycerides from the about the fat and oil composition of . . . aseline values". A beneficial effect many of the products. In combatting/reducing of adding the coconut kernel to the the risk factors in At the same time that CSPI was diet was noted by these researchers. heart disease. conducting its campaign in 1986, the Kaunitz and Dayrit (1992) American Soybean Association reviewed some of the epidemiologi- began its anti-tropical oils campaign cal and experimental data regarding by sending inflammatory letters, etc., coconut-eating groups and noted that to soybean farmers. The ASA took the “available population studies out advertisements to promote a show that dietary coconut oil does "[tropical] Fat Fighter Kit". The not lead to high serum cholesterol ASA hired a Washington, DC, "nutri- nor to high coronary heart disease tionist" to survey supermarkets to mortality or morbidity". detect the presence of tropical oils in They noted that, in 1989, Mendis foods. et al. reported undesirable lipid Then, early in 1987, the ASA peti- changes when young adult Sri tioned the FDA to require labelling of "tropical fats". In mid- Lankan males were changed from their normal diets by the substi- 1987 the Soybean Digest was continuing an active and increasing tution of corn oil for their customary coconut oil. Although the anti-tropical oils campaign. total serum cholesterol decreased 18.7% from 179.6 to 146.0 At about the same time, the New York Times (June 3, 1987) mg/dL and the LDL cholesterol decreased 23.8% from 131.6 to published an editorial, "The Truth About Vegetable Oil", in which 100.3 mg/dL, the HDL cholesterol decreased 41.4% from 43.4 to it called palm, palm kernel and coconut oils "the cheaper, artery- 25.4 mg/dL (putting the HDL values very much below the accept- clogging oils from Malaysia and Indonesia" and claimed that US able lower limit of 35 mg/dL) and the LDL/HDL ratio increased federal dietary guidelines opposed tropical oils, although it is not 30% from 3.0 to 3.9. These latter two changes are considered clear that this was so. The “artery-clogging" terminology was quite undesirable. right out of CSPI. Mendis and Kumarasunderam (1990) also compared the effect Two years later, in 1989, the ASA held a press conference with of coconut oil and soy oil in normolipidemic young males, and the help of the CSPI in Washington, DC, in an attempt to counter —_ again the coconut oil resulted in an increase in the HDL choles- a press conference held on March 6 by the palm oil group. The terol, whereas the soy oil reduced this desirable lipoprotein. ASA "Media Alert" stated that the National Heart, Lung, and As noted above, Kurup and Rajmohan (1995), who studied the Blood Institute and National Research Council "recommend con- addition of coconut oil alone to previously mixed fat diets, had sumers avoid palm, palm kernel and coconut oils". reported no significant difference from baseline. Only months before these press conferences, millionaire Phil Sokolof, the head of the National Heart Savers Association (NHSA), purchased the first of a series of anti-saturated fats and anti-tropical fats advertisements in major newspapers. No one has found an overt connection between Sokolof (and his NHSA) and the ASA, but the CSPI bragged about being his adviser. decades concerning coconut oil in the diet is quite clear: coconut oil has been in combatting/reducing the risk factors in NEXUS ¢ 17 The research over four and heart disease shown to be beneficial heart disease. FEBRUARY — MARCH 2002 www.nexusmagazine.com