In today’s episode, we will investigate and review the fundamentals of scientific nutrition so that you can more easily and confidently navigate and comprehend the myriad of dietary trends, media headlines, and conflicting nutritional recommendations that we are exposed to in our everyday lives. At the end of this episode, I hope for you to have a stronger understanding of how science can be used to study food, nutrition, and health, with particular attention to the various dietary study designs, and the relative strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of each.
2014 Cochrane Review: Dietary salt Reduction and cardiovascular outcomes
Adler AJ, Taylor F, Martin N, Gottlieb S, Taylor RS, Ebrahim S. Reduced dietary salt for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD009217. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009217.pub3
2020 Cochrane Review: The effect of a low salt diet on blood pressure
Graudal NA, Hubeck-Graudal T, Jurgens G. Effects of low sodium diet versus high sodium diet on blood pressure, renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, cholesterol, and triglyceride. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD004022. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004022.pub5.
Negligible effect of dietary cholesterol of serum cholesterol and lipoproteins.
Fernandez ML. Dietary cholesterol provided by eggs and plasma lipoproteins in healthy populations. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2006;9(1):8-12. doi:10.1097/01.mco.0000171152.51034.bf.
The PREDIMED study, a landmark trial focusing on the effects of the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular outcomes and risk factors.
Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvadó J, et al. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet [retracted in: N Engl J Med. 2018 Jun 21;378(25):2441-2442]. N Engl J Med. 2013;368(14):1279-1290. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1200303.
The PURE prospective cohort study demonstrating a higher risk of total mortality associated with high carbohydrate intake, and lower total mortality associated with low carbohydrate intake.
Dehghan M, Mente A, Zhang X, et al. Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study. Lancet. 2017;390(10107):2050-2062. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32252-3.
A subsequent prospective cohort study published in the Lancet Public Health, demonstrating higher mortality in individuals consuming low carbohydrate dietary patterns.
Seidelmann SB, Claggett B, Cheng S, et al. Dietary carbohydrate intake and mortality: a prospective cohort study and meta-analysis. Lancet Public Health. 2018;3(9):e419-e428. doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(18)30135-X
Prospective cohort studying examining organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in women in the United Kingdom
Bradbury KE, Balkwill A, Spencer EA, et al. Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom. Br J Cancer. 2014;110(9):2321-2326. doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.148
Negative trial of the MIND Diet for prevention of cognitive decline in patients with a family history of dementia
Barnes LL, Dhana K, Liu X, et al. Trial of the MIND Diet for Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Older Persons. N Engl J Med. 2023;389(7):602-611. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2302368.
Comparison of a healthy “low-carbohydrate” and low-fat diet regarding weight loss
Gardner CD, Trepanowski JF, Del Gobbo LC, et al. Effect of Low-Fat vs Low-Carbohydrate Diet on 12-Month Weight Loss in Overweight Adults and the Association With Genotype Pattern or Insulin Secretion: The DIETFITS Randomized Clinical Trial [published correction appears in JAMA. 2018 Apr 3;319(13):1386] [published correction appears in JAMA. 2018 Apr 24;319(16):1728]. JAMA. 2018;319(7):667-679. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.0245
