Eat Right, Get Sick?

When you're doing everything "right", you expect results, right?

An interesting study, Nutrient Intake, Body Composition, Blood Cholesterol and Glucose Levels among Adult Asian Indians in the United States, published in this month's Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, found that "[d]espite having a dietary intake that meets the National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III recommendations, this group [adult Asian Indians] was at a higher risk for chronic disease, by virtue of increased BMI and % BF along with an altered metabolic profile (high BP and TC and low HDL-C)."

Their dietary habits were impressive and much better compared with the Standard American Diet - fat intake was just 25% of calories, protein 14% and carbohydrates provided 64% of calories. Their BMI was an average 25.5, just a tad "overweight" for the group as a whole.

Alarming however were findings that body fat percentage was higher than desired (20% men, 36% women); Total Cholesterol-to-HDL ratios were high (4.86 men, 4.11 women), blood glucose was elevated (122mg/dL men, 105mg/dL women), and their blood pressure was high.

This was, again as the researchers concluded "depite having a dietary intake that meets the National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III recommendations."

The researchers couldn't bring themselves to connect-the-dots to their subjects' diet contributing to - even causing - the metabolic disturbance; of course it has to be something else, it couldn't be their diet; afterall, their diet met the NCEP-ATPIII recommendations!