Journal ‘spreading lies about butter’
A PRESTIGIOUS medical journal has been accused of milking the health benefits of butter.
More than 160 scientists say the British Journal of Sports Medicine has a ‘pro-butter bias’ and encourages people to eat fatty foods.
This advice, they say, is based on the personal views of its editor rather than robust evidence.
The row began last year after an opinion piece by doctors in the journal argued that saturated fat did not clog arteries, blaming carbohydrates rather than meat and dairy products as bad for the heart.
Its lead author cardiologist Aseem Malhotra was branded a ‘ brave iconoclast’, The Times reported.
The scientists want the editor-inchief of the BMJ, which publishes the BJSM, to investigate the allegations and stop publishing ‘odd’ studies based on shaky evidence.
David Nunan, of the centre for evidence-based medicine at the University of Oxford, who organised the protest, said: ‘It’s like the Journal of Atherosclerosis publishing an article about knee injuries.’ Dr Malhotra said: ‘I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.’