The Historical Record Dietary history further argues against the


cholesterol-causes-heart-disease hypothesis. Prior to 1970, the inhabitants of the isolated Polynesian atoll of Tokelau subsisted on coconuts and fish. More than 70 percent of their calories came from coconut, and more than 50 percent from fat (90% of which was saturated fat). There was virtually no cultiva- tion of crops on the islands. There was no heart disease nor any of the other degenera- tive or inflammatory diseases.


By the mid 1960s, the New Zealand


government (which had assumed administra- tion of the islands) became concerned about potential overpopulation on the atolls. It initiated a voluntary migration program to move half the population to the mainland. In the decades that followed, fish and


coconuts practically vanished from the mi- grants’ diets, replaced virtually overnight by bread, potatoes, and meat. Fat and saturated fat consumption also dropped, replaced by carbohydrates, “…the difference being due to the big increase in sucrose consumption” (according to the Tokelau Island Migration Study). There was an almost immediate increase in weight and blood pressure, and a decrease in cholesterol levels. There devel- oped an “exceptionally high level incidence [of] diabetes, gout, osteoarthritis, as well as hypertension.” In fact, as Gary Taubes notes in his best-selling book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, “The migrant experience had led to an increased incidence over the entire spectrum of chronic diseases.” This is hardly a unique exposé. The historical and scientific record is replete with


12 Natural Nutmeg February 2012


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52