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iq 37 by Daniel Semper, on Flickr

A Reuters article appeared on February 10, 2010 which read (in part):

Research by Britain’s Medical Research Council (MRC) found that lower intelligence quotient scores were associated with higher rates of heart disease and death, and were more important indicators than any other risk factors except smoking…

The researchers, led by David Batty of the MRC and Social and Public Health Science Unit in Glasgow, Scotland, said there were “a number of plausible mechanisms” which might explain why lower IQ scores could raise the risk of heart disease—in particular a person’s approach to “healthy behavior.”

A New York Times article then disseminated the information and expanded the information:

“Scores on those kinds of reaction time tests are also predictive of heart disease,’’ Dr. Batty said. “If you have a better functioning brain, you may have a better functioning heart — physiologically, maybe the integrity of the whole body is superior.”

In thinking about this study, several things occurred to me. The correlation of IQ to heart disease could have a common beginning: poor nutrition in childhood. We know, for example that mother’s milk provides nourishment to the brain of the exact right sort at the exact right time. A malnourished brain will not function as efficiently as a well-nourished brain, and the same is true of the heart.

Cholesterol, a critical nutrient for the development of the brain, is being restricted in diets from infancy on. In the US, an estimated 20% of infants per year receive soy formula. Soy formula does not provide critical nutrition for normal brain growth. Many sources are still recommending low-fat diets in infancy, including egg substitutes and margarine, and more serious restrictions after the age of two. The American Heart Association recommends non-fat and low-fat dairy for all children, once weaned.

I am greatly disturbed by comments on the reports of the study’s findings that seem to find causality between low IQ and heart disease, as if heart disease is a problem of the “feeble minded.” The reasoning seems to be that person scoring lower on a thinking skills test is too dumb to know not to smoke or how to eat right, and therefore is more susceptible to heart disease. The focus then turns to “dumbing down” health education rather than providing nutritional support for those most in need: be sure the pamphlet on preventing heart disease is written to a third-grade reading level when you recommend margarine and vegetable oils. It’s almost like seeing a big, red fire truck at the scene of several fires and therefore coming to the conclusion that the big, red fire truck somehow starts the fire. To this nonsense, I simply say, “Prove it.”

The fact is, thousands of years of human history stand behind butter, eggs, animal fats and full-fat dairy. If these are the “killer foods” some would have us believe, how would the human race have survived to this day? Why is it that the exponential rise in heart disease correlates so closely to the rise in vegetable oils and sugar consumption and the reduction of animal fats?

We could wait for more studies, more evidence, more money to pour down the drain, or we could act. My family is acting. We’ve switched to raw, full-fat milk, butter, coconut oil and unprocessed food. This blog is my journey on that path.

This post is part of Prevention Not Prescriptions, a blog carnival guaranteed to raise your IQ at least a point!