Sorry this is not about almond flour!
From an interview with Nina Teicholz author of The Big Fat Surprise
Dr L: It seems the prevailing thinking on fat is that some fats, like olive oil, are the best for our health. You discovered in your research that the Mediterranean Diet is not what it’s cracked up to be. How did it come to pass that we all worship at the altar of olive oil?
Nina: The Mediterranean Diet originated from a survey of the eating habits of long-living Cretan peasants in the 1950s, who seemed to eat very little meat or dairy. However, they were surveyed shortly after WWII, when their economy was in ruins. Also, their diet was sampled during
Lent, when animal foods were severely restricted. The data was therefore not any good and never grew any better. In fact, the reason that the Mediterranean Diet became celebrated and famous is that researchers fell in love with the sun-kissed, enchanting Mediterranean—and most of their studies and travel were funded by the olive-oil industry. It’s amazing how researchers, including some of the most respected people in the field today, thrived on the Mediterranean Diet conference junket. The actual science is far from impressive: it can only show that this diet is superior to the failed, low-fat diet (and what diet isn’t?).Tested against a higher fat diet, the Mediterranean regime looks far less impressive for weight loss or heart disease . Also, no one’s ever been able to pinpoint any special, disease-fighting powers of olive oil—which turns out not to be an ancient foodstuff after all but a relatively recent introduction to the Mediterranean diet.
http://www.drfranklipman.com/big-fat-surprise-a-conversation-with-nina-teicholz/
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and most of their studies and travel were funded by the olive-oil industry'
The funding of the Seven Countries study was largely from US government and other government grants,. One grant from an olive oil company seems to translate into 'most'
http://sevencountriesstudy.com/about-the-study/sponsors
' However, they were surveyed shortly after WWII'
There is no doubt that the Cretan diet reflected the early1960s (not the immediate post war diet) Keys dietary pattern was however very similar to that reported by a 1948 survey by the Rockefeller foundation At that time (1948) food was indeed short and some of the participants complained that they hadn't enough to eat at times. By the 1960s things had changed somewhat (same in the UK which had rationing until 1953)
(Marian Nestle Mediterranean diets, historical research and overview1995)
'
Also, their diet was sampled during Lent, when animal foods were severely restricted.'
If the dietary surveys were only collected during lent, from whence comes the 40% fat of the Cretan diet. What about the olive oil? All animal products and olive oil were restricted to weekends during lent.
If Keys had actually just surveyed during Lent then he may have found that those who followed orthodox practice and kept all the fasts had lower levels of LDL cholesterol but similar levels of HDL to those that didn't .
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC156653/
See below for how the diet was actually sampled
' olive oil—which turns out not to be an ancient foodstuff'
Well not Homeric times, when it was very expensive and used as a condiment Later as more groves were planted it was ubiquitous and of course used for lighting, massage and for food. Frying was introduced in the 5th century BCE and it became far more widely used for cooking.
Have a look also at the number of references about olive oil being used for food in the Old Testament .Many of these date again to the 5th cent BCE
'Tested against a higher fat diet, the Mediterranean regime looks far less impressive for weight loss or heart disease'
I would like to see her long term trial testing a Med diet against a higher fat diet. I believe she mentions the Shai trial favourably in her book but not it's longer term follow up making it (as far as I know the longest such trial) Here are the results of the follow up to the Shai trial . Which had the most weight loss in the longterm?
Which markers were deteriorating?
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1204792
Keys did indeed like the Med lifestyle and retired to Tuscany dying there at 100 years of age.
Here is a recent account from his chief project officer saying how the data was collected.
[QUOTE
The critics also accuse Keys of suppressing evidence collected during the studies in Crete. They claim that he rejected the results of hundreds of individual diet questionnaires and that his characterization of the diet was inaccurate because it was based on a survey that took place during Lent. Both charges are false and misleading.
]Keys determined early that occasional questionnaires about foods we eat were unreliable, useful only for detecting significant departures from a population’s typical eating habits. Although individual questionnaires were recorded, the study did not rely on them for the regional comparisons. Instead, Keys collected actual foods eaten for a full week among randomly selected families and chemically analyzed their nutrient content in the standardized laboratory in Minnesota. Repeat food collections were scheduled in different seasons during different years to provide a valid estimate of the nutrients consumed by an entire population. Events such as religious holidays and crop failures have an effect on what people eat at a given time and are part of the bigger picture of a community’s eating pattern. Avoiding variations in eating at different parts of the yearly cycle would have been the real “cherry-picking[/QUOTE].”
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/267581481.html
(if you don't read any of the other references read this one)
