The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Heart experts criticised for saturated fat claim
Heart experts have been criticised for claiming it is “plain wrong” to believe that saturated fat clogs up arteries.
Three specialists argued that eating “real food”, taking exercise and reducing stress are better ways to stave off heart disease than cutting out dietary saturated fat.
Writing in a respected journal, they maintained inflammation is the chief threat to arteries and there is little evidence linking saturated fat consumption with heart disease, diabetes and premature death.
But the editorial, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, attracted scathing criticism for being “muddled” and “misleading”.
The authors, led by Dr Aseem Malhotra, from Lister Hospital, Stevenage, wrote: “Despite popular belief among doctors and the public, the conceptual model of dietary saturated fat clogging a pipe is just plain wrong.”
Dr Malhotra and colleagues Professor Rita Redberg, from the University of California at San Francisco, and Pascal Meier from University Hospital Geneva in Switzerland and University College London, cited a “landmark” review of evidence that appeared to exonerate saturated fat.
Leading the critics was Professor Alun Hughes, associate director of the Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at University College London.
He said: “This editorial is muddled and adds to confusion on a contentious topic. The authors present no really new evidence, misrepresent some existing evidence, and fail to adequately acknowledge the limitations in the evidence that they use to support their point of view.”
Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said the claims about saturated fat were “unhelpful and misleading”. Baby humpback whales “whisper” to their mothers to avoid attracting unwanted attention from predators and marauding males, scientists have discovered.
The quiet communication reduces the chances of being overheard by killer whales and sexually rampant male humpbacks looking for an opportunity to mate.
Humpback whales are known for their loud, haunting songs. But a study using microphone tags showed that, while swimming with their mothers, newborn whales uttered intimate grunts and squeaks that could only be heard at close range.
Dr Simone Videsen, from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, who led the research in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, said: “We ... heard a lot of rubbing sounds, like two balloons being rubbed together, which we think was the calf nudging its mother when it wants to nurse.
“Killer whales hunt young humpback calves outside Exmouth Gulf, so
“Shipping noise could easily mask these”
by calling softly to its mother, the calf is less likely to be heard by killer whales, and avoid attracting male humpbacks who want to mate with the nursing females.”
The findings highlight the importance of keeping humpback “nursery” waters as quiet as possible, say the scientists, whose findings appear in the journal Functional Ecology.
“Because mother and calf communicate in whispers, shipping noise could easily mask these quiet calls,” said Dr Videsen.
The team tagged eight humpback calves and two mothers with suction cup devices that recorded both their sounds and movements for up to 48 hours before detaching and floating to the surface.
Humpback whales breed in the tropics during winter and then migrate thousands of miles to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Dr Videsen said: “We know next to nothing about the early life stages of whales in the wild, but they are crucial for the calves’ survival during the migration to feeding grounds.”