There are even studies showing, quite clearly, that reducing saturated fat is harmful. Two dietary substances appear to have surfaced that do seem to be consistently beneficial in protecting against heart disease. 76 1: Omega 3 fatty acids.

This type of fat appears to have two effects that may be protective. Firstly, it has a reasonably strong anti-coagulant effect, a bit like aspirin. Secondly, it seems to protect against heart arrhythmias. (Omega 3 fatty acids, it should be added, have no effect on LDL levels.) You tend to find Omega 3-type fats in fish. So, although it rather sticks in my craw, I feel I must recommend that Omega 3 fats are probably good for you.

Moderate alcohol consumption does appear to reduce the risk of dying of heart disease by about twenty per cent, on average. The type of alcohol is more or less irrelevant (although wine and beer seem better than spirits). However, extremely heavy or binge drinking seems to have the opposite effect. This may be due to the fact that after a very heavy drinking session, the blood-clotting system can 'rebound' making blood clots more likely to form.

As multiple intervention against risk factors for coronary heart disease in middle-aged men at only moderate risk seem to have failed to reduce both morbidity and mortality such interventions become increasingly difficult to justify. This runs counter to the recommendations of many national and international advisory bodies which must now take the recent findings from Finland into consideration. Not to do so may be ethically unacceptable.

If the public's diet is going to be decided by popularity polls and with diminishing regard for the scientific evidence, I fear that future generations will be left in ignorance of the real merits, as well as the possible faults in any dietary regimen aimed at prevention of coronary heart disease.