Aseem Malhotra

[[File:Dr Aseem Malhotra.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Malhotra in 2016]]
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'''Aseem Malhotra''' {{lived|1977|}} is a [[United Kingdom|British]] consultant cardiologist, anti-[[sugar]] campaigner and [[cholesterol denialist]]. He promotes a [[Low-carb diet|low-carb high-fat]] fad diet known as the Pioppi diet.<ref>Mellor, Duane. (2017). [https://health.spectator.co.uk/dietitians-like-me-dont-take-the-pioppi-diet-seriously/ "Dietitians like me don't take the Pioppi Diet seriously"]. ''The Spectator''. Retrieved January 10, 2019.</ref><ref name="Snowdon">Snowdon, Christopher. (2017). [https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-pioppi-diet-is-a-superficial-lifestyle-guide-based-on-distorted-evidence/ "The Pioppi Diet is a superficial lifestyle guide based on distorted evidence"]. ''The Spectator''. Retrieved January 10, 2019.</ref><ref>O'Connor, Anahad. (2016). [https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/23/an-unconventional-cardiologist-promotes-a-high-fat-diet/ "An Unconventional Cardiologist Promotes a High-Fat Diet"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved January 10, 2019.</ref> The diet was listed by the British Dietetic Association as one of "Top 5 worst celeb diets to avoid in 2018".<ref>[https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/top-5-worst-celeb-diets-to-avoid-in-2018.html Top 5 worst celeb diets to avoid in 2018]. British Dietetic Association.</ref> Malhotra believes that sugary foods are a main cause of increased death rates from [[COVID-19]].

==Overview==

Maholtra's views on diet and health have been criticised by the British Heart Foundation as "misleading and wrong" and his criticisms of statins have been described as dangerous to public health.<ref name="Boseley">Boseley, S. (2018). [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/30/butter-nonsense-the-rise-of-the-cholesterol-deniers "Butter nonsense: the rise of the cholesterol deniers"]. The Guardian.</ref> One critic noted that Malhotra's "interpretation of the Pioppi Diet does not reflect what the people of Pioppi eat. It is basically an ultra-low carb version of the [[Mediterranean diet]] with a few trendy ingredients, such as coconut oil, thrown in."<ref name="Snowdon"/>

Malhotra advises people to eat more saturated fat and recommends that obese people need not bother exercising.<ref name="Spectator">[https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/ignore-the-quackery-and-get-active/ The dodgy science behind the claim that exercise doesn’t help you lose weight]{{broken}}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/i-stopped-exercising-and-lost-weight/ ‘I stopped exercising and lost weight’]</ref> {{Lie}} In 2015, Malhotra co-authored a short editorial with [[Tim Noakes]] that claimed "physical activity does not promote weight loss", a dubious opinion that was unsupported by scientific evidence.<ref name="Spectator"/> The poorly referenced editorial became a national news story.<ref name="Spectator"/>

According to Anthony Warner:
{{quotebox|Although Malhotra is largely associated with sugar shaming, his lack of understanding of [[science]] runs far deeper than that. For many years he has latched on to deluded [[conspiracy theorists]] everywhere, cosying up to [[Angry Chef]]'s favourite [[Candida]] quack [[Zoë Harcombe]], and even retweeting articles by the repugnant, anti-vax, bullshit-monger [[Joseph Mercola|Dr Mercola]], a man who claims to be able to cure [[autism]] with supplements, and has been repeatedly fined by the [[FDA]] in America for making unsubstantiated claims for the products he sells.<ref>[https://angry-chef.com/blog/the-most-powerful-chef-in-the-universe The Most Powerful Chef in The Universe]</ref>}}

In 2017, Malhotra and colleagues published an article which disputed the link between blood cholesterol levels and occurrence of heart disease. The authors also suggested that "stopping statins may [[paradox]]ically save more lives".<ref>Demasi, M; Lustig R. H; Malhotra A. (2017). [https://archive.is/hra9d The cholesterol and calorie hypotheses are both dead — it is time to focus on the real culprit: insulin resistance]. Archived from ''The Pharmaceutical Journal'' doi:10.1211/CP.2017.20203046.</ref> The article was criticised by the medical community. Cardiologist Tim Chico commented that "high cholesterol has been proven beyond all doubt to contribute to coronary artery disease and heart attack […] to say the cholesterol hypothesis is dead is simply incorrect."<ref>[http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-new-report-on-statins-and-the-cholesterol-hypothesis/ Expert reaction to new report on statins and the cholesterol hypothesis]</ref>

In 2017, Malhotra published an editorial with a controversial title "saturated fat does not clog the arteries".<ref name="editorial">[https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/15/1111 Saturated fat does not clog the arteries: coronary heart disease is a chronic inflammatory condition, the risk of which can be effectively reduced from healthy lifestyle interventions].</ref> Malhotra and colleagues suggested that "coronary artery disease is a chronic inflammatory disease and it can be reduced effectively by walking 22 min a day and eating real food."<ref name="editorial"/> This opinion was widely criticised by the medical community.<ref name="Boseley"/><ref name="sciencemediacentre">[http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-editorial-on-saturated-fat-and-heart-disease/ Expert reaction to editorial on saturated fat and heart disease]</ref> Honorary consultant cardiologist Amitava Banerjee commented that editorial was selective and "failed to cite a rigorous Cochrane systematic review which concluded that cutting down dietary saturated fat was associated with a 17% reduction in cardiovascular events including coronary heart disease on the basis of 15 [[Randomized controlled trial|randomised trials]]."<ref name="sciencemediacentre"/>

==Criticism of ''The Lancet''==

Malhotra has criticised ''The Lancet'', one of the world's oldest and best known medical journals.

The EAT–Lancet Commission, a 3-year project that brings together 37 experts from 16 countries led by ''The Lancet'' in 2019 released research on January 16 that argued dieting and food production will need to change in order to improve health and avoid damage to the planet.<ref>[https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/EAT Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems]</ref><ref>[http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-the-eat-lancet-commission-report-on-healthy-diets-from-sustainable-food-systems/ Expert reaction to the EAT–Lancet Commission report on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’]</ref><ref>[https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/tl-pss011419.php The Lancet: Diet and food production must radically change to improve health and avoid potentially catastrophic damage to the planet]</ref> 

For health purposes their research suggested for people to cut down on the daily consumption of red meat.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/planetary-health-diet-red-meat-methane-cattle-cut-consumption-earth-climate-change-a8731656.html Planetary health diet: Developed countries must cut red meat eating by 80% to protect Earth]</ref> Malhotra, noted saturated fat enthusiast, took offense to this and criticised the journal as "incompetent".<ref>[https://archive.is/XLKLJ Dr Aseem Malhotra on Twitter]</ref> He also wrote to the present editor-in-chief of ''The Lancet'' on [[Twitter]], "Can you please justify to medics, journalists and the public why we should continue to consider @TheLancet as a credible journal?"<ref>[https://archive.is/YeI6O Dr Aseem Malhotra on Twitter]</ref>

==Bashing doughnuts==

Malhotra, though willing to defend and downplay meat's negative health effects as well as really hating sugar, has criticized [[NHS]] staff (along with some other really set-off doctors) for indulging in doughnuts at Barnet Hospital, which they received as a gift for their hard work in dealing with the [[2019-20 COVID-19 outbreak]].<ref>[https://www.breakingnewstoday.co.uk/nhs-trust-blasted-for-celebrating-gift-of-1500-krispy-kreme-doughnuts/ NHS Trust Blasted for Celebrating Gift of 1,500 Krispy Kreme Doughnuts]</ref> In April 2020, Malhotra tweeted:

{{quotebox|Absolutely disgraceful. Feeding junk food to already overweight and obese #NHS staff? I will forward this to CEO of @NHSEngland Simon Stevens personally and I can assure you he won’t be impressed especially as THESE foods a root cause of increased death rates from #COVID19<ref>[http://archive.is/aCZd8 Aseem Malhotra]. Twitter.</ref>}}

Perhaps he can suggest to these people that they limit their doughnut intake to 7 grams per day.

==See also==

*[[Zoë Harcombe]]
*[[Malcolm Kendrick]]

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Malhotra, Assem}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:Cholesterol and statin denialists]]
[[Category:Food woo promoters]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Physicians]]

Categories: Authors, British people, Cholesterol and statin denialists, Food woo promoters, Living people, Physicians