Day 021 - 29 Jul 94 - Page 07
1 Salt, I think the evidence on that has got stronger in the
last couple of years since this was actually published.
2 I think the links between salt and hypertension and
between hypertension and stroke are gradually becoming
3 stronger. Certainly in the British diet the amount of
salt that we consume is much higher than is actually
4 needed to fulfil the requirement for salt.
5 With fibre, again I think the evidence is not all that
strong, as far as fibre per se is concerned, and it may
6 well be that benefits that come from a diet which is high
in fibre also, at least, are due to other constituents
7 that are present in the foods that have a high fibre
content in them. But, again, in relation to advice to an
8 individual in changing the diet, it is important to
understand that food is only one of the factors that is
9 involved in this.
10 We also need to consider in relation to heart disease the
question of whether or not a person smokes, the amount of
11 exercise they take and, arguably, the amount of stress
they are subjected to. So that the diet has got to be
12 seen in the broader context of lifestyle.
13 Q. Go to the DRVs: You did not mention cholesterol; do you
have any general points on cholesterol?
14 A. Cholesterol is rather different because there has been
greater emphasis on reducing cholesterol in the diet in
15 America than there has in Britain, and the reason for that
is that when this question, when this issue first arose
16 there was a fairly widespread belief that dietary
cholesterol has a major influence upon the level of
17 cholesterol in the blood.
18 Subsequently, it has been found this is not
necessarily true, although there may be certain
19 individuals where dietary cholesterol has a major
influence on the blood cholesterol. As far as making
20 recommendations to the population as a whole, the view is
taken in Britain -- again I would tend to go along with
21 this -- that dietary cholesterol is not something that
should be given a high priority, although we have to bear
22 in mind that the major sources of dietary cholesterol are
also important sources of saturated fat. So, if we
23 actually reduce saturated fat the chances are, ipso facto,
we will also reduce the amount of cholesterol in the diet.
24
Q. The DRVs, the dietary reference values?
25 A. Yes, again I should perhaps -----
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just listen.
27 MR. MORRIS: I get confused. I do not really want to go
heavily into the EARs, the RNIs and the DRVs because we
28 will be here all day, but the recommendations, yes, what
is your advice to McDonald's about the recommendations in
29 general, before we go into the specifics, which you base,
for example, your chart on?
30 A. Which chart is this?
