THERE is a gap in the current Love MY Palm Oil Campaign launched by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC). Be it articles written in travel magazines, print media, internet portals, advertorials, or campaign held in the Parliament, one glaring omission is the failure to tackle the prevailing perception that saturated fat in palm oil is detrimental to health. The campaign makes no mention and avoids the issue of saturated fat.

The campaign puts emphasis, and rightfully so, on the red palm oil which is high in betacarotiniods and tocotrienols, or rich in vitamins A and E, making it superior to other edible oils like soybean, corn, and canola oils. The campaign makes no mention of saturated fat and its relation to health. The fear of saturated fat is misplaced and haunts our society, and seemingly those in the MPOC too.

The cholesterol theory in relation to atherosclerosis, or more specifically referred to as the lipid hypothesis, postulates that hypercholesterolemia is a major causative factor in atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Correcting it will significantly reduce the burden of disease and its clinical consequences. The hypothesis relates to serum lipids, and not dietary lipids. The line between serum lipids and dietary lipids is narrow, and the two often merged. This is due to the understanding that consuming high dietary lipids will raise the cholesterol level in blood. For over half a century, the WHO and most countries in the world have been advising a low fat diet.

It began in the 1950’s when Prof Ancel Keys, a nutritionist, first postulated that fat causes heart disease after observing American diet. His popularity with the food industry gained him secondment to the WHO, and chanced to travel to Europe where he observed Europeans consumed almost similar amount of fats, but predominantly vegetable fats. In the 1960’s Keys redefined the fat dietary intake association with heart disease to saturated fat. From then on saturated fat has been perceived as the culprit for heart disease.

Based on epidemiological evidence at the time, the USA and UK in 1977 and 1983 respectively issued dietary fat guideline focusing on reducing dietary fat intake to address problems with heart disease. Countries all over the world followed suit. Despite strict compliance to the dietary advice, lowering serum cholesterol, and managing known risk factors to heart disease, prevalence of heart diseases has been on the rise. To the scientific community in the coronary heart disease field, this phenomenon is a paradox. Conversely, high consumption of coconut and palm oils, both high in saturated fat, among people in Southeast Asia does not show higher than normal incidence of heart disease.

It took another three decades to realise a grave mistake. Zarcombe et al (2014) in a systematic review and meta-analysis on evidence from randomised clinical trials (a gold standard in evidence-based medicine) concluded that the dietary fat guideline issued by US and UK was not evidence-based. Succumbed to severe criticism, the two countries reversed their dietary fat advice stating that food high in saturated fat had no bearing on heart disease.

Even with the latest scientific revelation, the people’s mindset does not change easily after decades of indoctrination and misinformation concerning saturated fat. A whole generation has been engulfed into the misconception of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) as “bad cholesterol” and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) as “good cholesterol”, without seriously realising that the so-called bad and good cholesterol are synthesised in our own liver for the myriads of physiological functions. Confusion is also seen when the term saturated fat has been mistakenly interchanged with cholesterol.

Even a pronouncement by the authoritative British Royal Pharmaceutical Society that the cholesterol hypothesis of heart disease was dead did not seem to raise alarm. Demasi et al (2017) made compelling arguments pointing to the many flaws in previous studies on lipid/cholesterol hypothesis of heart disease.

Currently accepted cholesterol-based theory of heart disease is not able to adequately answer the key questions in cardiology.

Question 1: Why cholesterol deposits are formed in the arteries and not at the veins while the same cholesterol level circulates in the arteries and veins?

Question 2: Why is coronary sclerosis the most frequent form of atherosclerosis? In the about 98km long human vascular system, cholesterol deposits are predominantly found in the coronary arteries.

Question 3: Why is atherosclerosis characteristic of humans while it is practically unknown in the animal world except for a few species that are not able to produce vitamin C internally (i.e. primates and guinea pigs)?

Space limitation for this column does not allow for argument expansion on this subject. For a more detailed explanation readers are invited to google search for the journal article, “Atherosclerosis and the cholesterol theory: a reappraisal”, by Wong et al (2016). In it is described the work of my associates in the Dr Rath Research Institute on transgenic mice that mimic human metabolism and pathophysiology – the loss of endogenous vitamin C synthesis and the production of lipoprotein(a) as compensation. This scientific breakthrough research provides many answers where the lipid hypothesis of heart disease is unable to answer, including the millions still left far behind in continuing to belief that saturated fat causes heart disease.

Members of the MPOC are expected to know the latest scientific development and knowledge pertaining to cardiovascular disease. Ignorance of such knowledge keeps the gap in the current Love MY Palm Oil Campaign open.  – April 25, 2019.

* Captain Dr Wong Ang Peng is a researcher with an interest in economics, politics, and health issues. He has a burning desire to do anything within his means to promote national harmony. Captain Wong is also a member of the National Patriots Association.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.