A fat tax is being suggested as a possible way to improve the health
of New Zealanders by encouraging people to replace some saturated fats
with polyunsaturated fats. Some butter could be replaced with grapeseed or safflower oil, meat
with omega-3 rich fish, and potato chips with nuts or seeds, while the
tax could add $1 to a pack of butter. Rachel Foster and Associate Professor Nick Wilson from Otago
University in Wellington looked at five meta-analyses to estimate how
the risk of cardiovascular disease could be reduced by eating less
saturated fats. They also used data from the New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey
2008/09 to determine whether a change to the amount of fat eaten would
be warranted and feasible.
Their conclusion was that replacing 5 per cent of daily energy
consumed as saturated fat with polyunsaturated fats would be expected to
reduce cardiovascular events by about 10 per cent.
On average New Zealanders were getting almost 34 per cent of daily
energy as fat including 13 per cent as saturated fat. That compared to
recommendations that dietary intake of fat be no more than 30 to 35 per
cent of daily energy, with less than 10 per cent of daily energy from
saturated or trans fats, the study said.
While the meta-analyses used in the study found benefits from replacing
saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats, they did not find any
significant association between saturated fat intake alone and
cardiovascular disease. Replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates also
did not reduce the risk of coronary events. (My Bold)
This story sent in by our friend in New Zealand Lynda, thank you. Stand by for a very sad story regarding GM foods and how they are leading to suicide and starvation for many farmers around the world, sent in to us by our friend Jill (Indy).
Eddie
More on this lunacy here.
3 comments:
Recommended read
Jeff
What a mad world this is. Butter is far better than the chemical spreads.
Kate
Yes, the lunacy continues over here... this made me so angry today!! Take all the good butter away and people fake industrial oil. That will be good for them. And the bit you have in bold.. incredible. No link between saturated fat and heart disease but hey, we'll tax it anyway.
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