Ancel Keys

Ancel Benjamin Keys (January 26, 1904 – November 20, 2004) was an American scientist. He is known for his research on human nutrition. On January 13, 1961, Keys was featured on the cover of the Time magazine.

Controversies

Keys cherrypicked data in order to make it seem like saturated fats were the reason why heart disease was increasing. He criticized some work against sugars. When fellow scientist John Yudkin said that sugar plays a major role in heart disease, Keys wrote:

It is clear that Yudkin has no theoretical basis or experimental evidence to support his claim for a major influence of dietary sucrose in the [cause] of CHD; his claim that men who have CHD are excessive sugar eaters is nowhere confirmed but is disproved by many studies superior in methodology and/or magnitude to his own; and his "evidence" from population statistics and time trends will not bear up under the most elementary critical examination. But the propaganda keeps on reverberating ...

Multiple studies have proved Keys wrong.

Death

Keys died at 100 years old on November 20, 2004.

References

  1. ↑ "The TIME Vault: January 13, 1961". Time. Retrieved 2021-06-12.[permanent dead link]
  2. ↑ Guys, The Food (2 May 2015). "Sugar vs. Cholesterol: John Yudkin vs. Ancel Keys". www.mtpr.org. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  3. ↑ Keys, Ancel (1971). "Sucrose in the Diet and Coronary Heart Disease". Atherosclerosis. 14 (2): 193–202. doi:10.1016/0021-9150(71)90049-9. PMID 4940760.
  4. ↑ Keys, Ancel (1975). "Coronary Heart Disease - The Global Picture". Atherosclerosis. 22 (2): 149–192. doi:10.1016/0021-9150(75)90001-5. PMID 1103902.
  5. ↑ Malik, Vasanti S; Schulze, Matthias B; Hu, Frank B (August 2006). "Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 84 (2): 274–288. doi:10.1093/ajcn/84.1.274. ISSN 0002-9165. PMC 3210834. PMID 16895873.
  6. ↑ Brody, Jane E. (23 November 2004). "Dr. Ancel Keys, 100, Promoter of Mediterranean Diet, Dies". The New York Times.