Dr Andrew Jenkinson book

[bazhorn]

Good morning everyone. First Post. I had a mild heart attack a month ago which took me by surprise.

I'm struggling with the change of diet, especially finding it difficult cutting down on salt. However, I have given up sugar (well sucrose, anyway - I still have fruit) and have found it quite easy (former sugar addict).

Has anyone read "Why we eat (too much)" by Dr Andrew Jenkinson? What do you think of it, in relation to heart health?

It is aimed at weight loss primarily, but there is a lot that is relevant to heart disease. The author seems to dispute the demonising of saturated fat, going into details about ldl cholesterol particle sizes, etc, and comes down very heavily indeed on sugar, as the uber villain. Seed oils are in the firing line too. There is a lot, however, that chimes with mainstream advice (eg importance of fibre etc). I've only touched on some of the issues discussed in the book - there are many more, including shining a light on poor and negligent research (in the opinion of the author) on fat and sugar carried out decades ago making its way into the mainstream.

I've read some of these ideas before - Dr Robert Lustig "Fat chance - the hidden facts about sugar" and "the Sweet Poison" by David Gillespie (hence my giving up sugar).

I may be wrong but I'm not seeing much discussion about these somewhat 'heretical' ideas (well certainly about saturated fat and seed oils, at any rate) in the mainstream bodies of, say, the NHS, or BHF.

Is there a mainstream response to this? I've googled and can't find anything other than book reviews from the media.

The authors of the above seem to make a very convincing argument indeed, seemingly backed up by solid research. Dr Jenkinson is a consultant in bariatric and general surgery at University College London hospital by the way.

Please don't expect me to stand up for the authors and their opinions as I'm just a layman with no medical training or any familiarity with all current research - I'm just interested in people's opinions on this, as I can't find much online!