DCUK Sid Bonkers now having discussions with himself it's official !

Nice to see Sid the anti saturated fat champion and worlds greatest statin aficionado up and about this morning. I was also pleased to see he is "making his own discussions" that's good, because no one these days listens to Sid, other then err...Sid. Sid has talked complete bollocks for years, in fact I reckon the only reason he has not been banned from the flog, is because he makes the mods look half way bright.

Today's rant is against Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, a GP who has studied heart disease and statins for many years. As Sid likes to state in almost every post, he takes his advice from the British Heart Foundation, this is the outfit who push margarine big time, because they take lots of money from Unilever (Flora Margarine). So, If Malcolm's knowledge and expertise falls short of Sid Bonkers exacting criteria, what about Dr. Aseem Malhotra a UK cardiologist. 

"Dr Malhotra makes the case that while saturated fats have been removed from many products, they have been replaced with sugar to improve the taste. In his opinion, it is the consumption of sugars, rather than fats, that is chiefly responsible for the obesity "epidemic", as well as the increase in related diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

"Recent studies have found no significant association between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular risk, writes Dr Malhotra. Instead, saturated fat has been found to be protective of the heart.

He points out that dairy foods provide important dietary sources of nutrients that have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, such as vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus." Link to information here.

And on statins.

"Dr Malhotra said ‘For those individuals at low risk it is clear that the benefits of statins are modest at best. ‘They should not offer the illusion of protection that will enable many individuals to continue to engage in unhealthy lifestyle behaviours.’

He said the blanket prescription of statins to those at low risk of heart disease should be replaced by ‘patient-centred information’ which would allow people to make more informed decisions.

At present scaremongering is too common, with exaggeration of the benefits of statins or risks of coming off them despite disabling side effects. The editorial says randomised control trials may seriously underestimate side effects such as muscle pain.

At least 17 per cent of patients had an adverse effect in a large uncontrolled observational study.

Even Pfizer’s own patient leaflet on Lipitor ( Atorvastatin) cites ‘common side effects that may occur in up to 1 in 10 patients include ‘sore throat, nausea, digestive problems, muscle and joint pain, and increase in blood sugar levels’, says the editorial." Link to information here.

So, we have a very well known and respected cardiologist saying "no significant association between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular risk" and "Patients should be told a healthy diet can give similar benefits to taking cholesterol-lowering drugs" OK, Sid won't ever change his tune, but my advice is think twice before taking statin drugs and don't ditch that lovely butter for that Frankenstein abomination called margarine.

Eddie