Ancel Keys

Ancel Keys
Keys in 1945
Born
Ancel Benjamin Keys

(1904-01-26)January 26, 1904
Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
DiedNovember 20, 2004(2004-11-20) (aged 100)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Education
Known for
Spouse
Margaret Haney
​
(m. 1939)​
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsUniversity of Minnesota
Academic advisorsAugust Krogh

Ancel Benjamin Keys (January 26, 1904 – November 20, 2004) was an American physiologist who studied the influence of diet on health. In particular, he hypothesized that replacing dietary saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat reduced cardiovascular heart disease.[1][2] Modern dietary recommendations by health organizations,[3][4] systematic reviews,[5][6] and national health agencies[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] corroborate this.

Keys studied starvation in men and published The Biology of Human Starvation (1950), which remains the only source of its kind. He examined the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and was responsible for two famous diets: K-rations, formulated as balanced meals for combat soldiers in World War II, and the Mediterranean diet, which he popularized with his wife Margaret.

  1. ^ Montani JP (January 2021). "Ancel Keys: The legacy of a giant in physiology, nutrition, and public health". Obesity Reviews. 22 (S2): e13196. doi:10.1111/obr.13196. PMID 33496369.
  2. ^ Sparling PB (March 2020). "Legacy of Nutritionist Ancel Keys". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 95 (3): 615–617. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.12.012. PMID 32138891.
  3. ^ Sacks FM, Lichtenstein AH, Wu JH, Appel LJ, Creager MA, Kris-Etherton PM, Miller M, Rimm EB, Rudel LL, Robinson JG, Stone NJ, Van Horn LV (July 2017). "Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association". Circulation. 136 (3): e1–e23. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510. PMID 28620111. S2CID 367602.
  4. ^ "Global Nutrition Policy Review 2016–2017" (PDF). World Health Organization. p. 55. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  5. ^ Hooper, Lee; Martin, Nicole; Jimoh, Oluseyi F.; Kirk, Christian; Foster, Eve; Abdelhamid, Asmaa S. (August 21, 2020). "Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020 (8): CD011737. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub3. ISSN 1469-493X. PMC 8092457. PMID 32827219.
  6. ^ Kim Y, Youjin J, Giovannucii EL (2021). "Association between dietary fat intake and mortality from all-causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies". Clinical Nutrition. 40 (3): 1060–1070. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2020.07.007. PMID 32723506. S2CID 220852791.
  7. ^ "Choosing foods with healthy fats". Health Canada. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  8. ^ "Cut Down on Saturated Fats" (PDF). United States Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  9. ^ "Fat: the facts". United Kingdom's National Health Service. April 27, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "Fat". Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council and Department of Health and Ageing. September 24, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  11. ^ "Getting the Fats Right!". Singapore's Ministry of Health. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  12. ^ "Health Diet". India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  13. ^ "Making healthier food choices". New Zealand's Ministry of Health. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  14. ^ "Know More about Fat". Hong Kong's Department of Health. Retrieved September 23, 2019.