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Did you see that article by a cardiologist in the British Medical Journal?
Which one?
The one saying that it's time to end the myth
that saturated fat is bad for the heart.
Yes, but there was another news story a few days later.
You mean the one about the 'fat pledge' by food companies?
Yes. The UK Government was getting them to
cut the saturated fat in the food they produce.
Hm. I know.
There's a lot of contradictory advice around.
It's very difficult to know what's based on science
and what's based on marketing.
Exactly. How's anyone supposed to know what to eat?
And I heard this afternoon that what we eat
also affects other major illnesses,
like dementia and diabetes.
Really?
Yes.
I was watching a series of interviews.
They were with people who've been researching this for years.
Most people still are not really aware
that what's driving the obesity epidemic
is sugar.
It's not fat.
Money is controlling the message that's getting out to us
about what's healthy and what's not.
People have not been given good advice about what constitutes healthy eating.
If you keep your carbohydrates low and you make use of fat stores,
you can then get a separate source of energy, which can have benefits in the brain.
We became phobic about things like nuts and oily fish and so on.
So our intake of essential fats, which is a brain nutrient, definitely went down.
We became phobic about cholesterol.
I think that most modern diseases can be traced back to nutritional deficiencies.
Most people are under the impression that
saturated fats and cholesterol go through the bloodstream,
simply get stuck to the inside wall of the artery ...
Reducing cholesterol levels in the brain may not be a good idea, particularly in older people.
... and then somehow build up over time,
eventually causing a blockage and then a heart attack.
Well, that's not really how it happens.
I think this is really a very disturbing situation
in the modern world that is causing people to be unhealthy
while they think they are making healthy choices.
Nowadays, there's a blood test called 'cholesterol'
which leads to the prescription of a statin to millions of people.
Very good model for making money!
I am absolutely terrified to think about
all of the disability that we're going to see, looking forward
with these people who have been long term on statin drugs.
I think that what's happening right now
is this focus on amyloid protein and tests for amyloid protein
may be exploiting the same marketing model.
I think that people who give money to Alzheimer's charities
should be made aware that they're not going
to research things however promising they are
if they aren't going to be resulting in a drug.
Most people suspect that there may be a problem with the way that the pharmaceutical companies
can influence medicine.
We need to see a much much more ambitious research endeavour
to better understand the disease mechanism.
I wanted to understand for myself what is causing heart disease.
And, in my journey, I ended up, I believe
discovering what is causing Alzheimer's as well.
I can show them to you if you like.
OK, but I'm too tired now.
Maybe tomorrow.
You can find out what Alph shows Chah-Lee
in the film
You must be nuts!