The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7346 p490
23 April 2005

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· Council election (10)
· Statutory Committee (2)
· Herbal medicines
· Technicians (2)
· Obesity
· GlaxoSmithKline
· CPD (2)
· The profession
· Registration fees (2)

Letters to the Editor

Obesity

Practice guidance out of date

From Professor R. Corder, MRPharmS

The practice guidance on obesity (PJ, 9 April, p435 PDF (80K)) seems alarmingly out of date. There is good evidence that reducing the glycaemic index and glycaemic load of carbohydrate-containing foods is a key strategy for weight reduction. Potatoes and bread should not be recommended.

In addition, the concept that all fat is bad is considered poor advice. For instance, increasing olive oil intake cuts cardiovascular risk. Advice should concentrate on reducing saturated fat intake, while increasing mono- and polyunsaturated fat consumption.

In many people a diet that is too low in fat can convert large low-density lipoprotein particles into small proatherogenic LDL particles.¹ So the concept of very low fat diets should be ditched.

For more up to date dietary advice readers might like to refer to the Joslin Diabetes Centre website

Roger Corder
Professor of Experimental Therapeutics
William Harvey Research Institute
London EC1

Reference

1. Krauss RM. Atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype and diet-gene interactions. Journal of Nutrition 2001;131(Suppl):340S–343S).

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