AHA responds to Israel diet/weight loss study

Saturday July 19, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- In response to a widely reported Israeli study of three common diets and their effects on weight loss, the American Heart Association (AHA) stated on July 17 on its website that the organization has no longer recommended the low fat diet used in the study.

The low fat diet used in the study allowed for no more than 30% of the total calories from fat. The dietary guidelines were recommended in 2000. The study began in 2005 and the organization revised its recommendation in 2006. The  AHA said it does not advocate for restricting the total fat in the diet.

Instead the AHA now stressed that consumers should avoid trans fat which is man-made and widely used in bakery products, and saturated fat typically found in meat products and in tropical oils, such as coconut and palm oil. (Editor’s note: trans fat can be formed in oily food containing unsaturated oils during a thermal process).

The AHA said that the diet it currently recommends contains fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, lean-meats, poultry, and fish twice a week.

The AHA cited studies as showing that diets high in saturated and trans fats are strongly linked with high risk of heart disease, and that diets rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are strongly correlated with a lower risk of heart disease.

A whole foods, plant-based diet that Dr. Dean Ornish uses to help people protect against heart disease has been proved to be effective at stopping or reversing the progression of cardiovascular disease . The diet can also help maintain a healthy weight. 

The diet includes minimal amounts of added fat, high amounts of fruits and vegetables (particularly legumes, soy, and green vegetables), whole grains in their natural forms, and small amounts of fish, chicken, nuts and seeds.  But the diet excludes trans fat, meat such as red meat, pork, and bacon, added sugars, refined carbohydrates such as pasta made of refined grains, sweets, and pastries.

A health observer affiliated with foodconsumer.org suggests that the diet used by Dr. Ornish is probably the best consumers can use to help weight loss and maintain a healthy weight. The diet is nutrionally sound, and with this diet consumers do not have to count the calories they eat.

By Sue Mueller, and edited by Heather Kelley.
Jul 19, 2008 - 10:16:39 AM