Are the "cholesteral deniers" talking "Butter Nonsense?"

A vocal minority of scientists are challenging the current medical orthodoxy on the subject of saturated fats and cholesterol.

The majority view among doctors, scientists and dieticians is that, although eating butter and cheese in moderation is OK as part of a balanced diet, to quote Professor Louis Levy who is head of nutrition science at Public Health England,

 "There is good evidence that a high intake of saturated fats increases your risk of heart disease. We need to think about where the sources of saturated fats are and how we can reduce them. The largest contributions are dairy products, including butter, and meat and meat products."

Public Health England, the World Health Organisation, the British Heart Foundation and the great majority of medical experts and organisations all say that moderate amount of the above products can form part of a healthy, balanced diet, too much of the above can cause the liver to produce excess amounts of LDL "bad cholesterol" which can clog the arteries and increase your risk of heart disease.

There is a fierce debate going on among the professionals; I've given the majority view above but you can find a summary of the arguments of both sides here.

Worth mentioning that there are a few things both sides appear to agree on.

1) For most people it would be a very good idea to cut down your sugar intake, don't eat a lot of junk food, and take regular exercise

2) Too much of anything is bad for you: keep the overall amount you eat under control (watch your portion sizes!)

October meeting of the Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee

The next meeting of the Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee will be held this coming Monday (8th October 2018) at 10.30 am in the council chamber at County Hall Kendal, LA9 4RQ. View directions here.

The meeting is open to the tiny minority of the public whose employment and mobility position enables them to get to Kendal during office hours to watch.

 (In my humble opinion, this far into the 21st century it is disappointing that these health scrutiny meetings and other important meetings of significant potential interest to the public are not live-streamed on the internet. I have expressed this opinion in the council chamber and will continue to do so until we finally get there.)

The main items on the agenda are:

6.) Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy

To consider a presentation by the Director of Public Health, Cumbria County Council. This outlines the draft framework for the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy and provides feedback from the Committee prior to it going out for consultation.

7). Committee Briefing Report

8). Update on Potential Merger Between Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust

To receive an update from North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust. The Committee to examine the work which has taken place by the Trust Boards and the planning arrangements for the strategic business case.

9). Future of Learning Disabilities and Mental Health Services in Cumbria

To consider a report by the Cumbria Partnership Foundation Trust. This report sets out the progress in developing the Outline Business Case for proposed changes to the provision of Mental Health Services in Cumbria.

10). Community Hospitals Update

To consider a joint report by North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group and Cumbria Partnership Foundation Trust. The report provides an assessment of how the new models are operating and an analysis of how the patient pathway operates within those new models and feedback from patients.

11). Healthcare for the Future Update

To consider a report by the Chief Operating Officer, NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group. This report enables the Committee to monitor the implementation of changes, the audit’s being undertaken, the Co-Production Steering Committee and the Independent Review Panel.

12). The North Cumbria Integrated Care System and Links with the North East

To receive a presentation by the Chief Operating Officer for NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group and the Director for Integration for the North Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS).

Items 6), 8) and 11) make sense but deserve careful scrutiny.

Items 9), 10) and 12) could result in proposals which may be highly controversial

All things considered I think it is a great pity that there are unlike to be more people attending the meeting other than the councillors and officers who are members or presenting reports than you can count on the fingers of one hand - and that includes "Healthwatch" representatives and journalists.

We need to raise the profile of this committee's important work.

The full agenda including the reports on the items above can be found on the county council website here.