Dr. Jerry Stamler

The trial was led by Jerry Stamler, friend and colleague of Ancel Keys.

Stamler was sure that given the knowledge of previous failures, the Anti-Coronary Club, and the history of President Eisenhower's heart attacks, they he knew how to prevent cardiovascular disease.

He wrote; "There may not be an explicit formulation of the [diet - heart] "hypothesis", in Ancel Keys or my multiple publications, the reason being – I am quite sure – that it was superfluous, since we were already standing on the shoulders of those whose initial work made the hypothesis self-evident."

Jerry Stamler's confidence that they had the right targets was misplaced.

Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial

MR FIT

12000 men - $115 million – Over 7 Years

Four Interventions Made

Low Fat Diet – less meat, no butter

No deserts – only skim milk

Low Cholesterol –

– Less than 2 eggs a week

Blood Pressure Control - medication

Stop Smoking – 21% Stopped

Have you been told similar things?

Jerry Stamler's experiment was at first seen to be very successful. When the McGovern Senate Committee met him, that was still the case. They were very impressed.