View source for D. Mark Hegsted

{{short description|American nutritionist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = D. Mark Hegsted
| image             = File:DM Hegsted.jpg
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| birth_name        = David Mark Hegsted
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1914|03|25}}
| birth_place       = [[Rexburg, Idaho]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2009|06|16|1914|03|25}}
| death_place       = [[Westwood, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| fields            = 
| workplaces        = [[Harvard University]]
| alma_mater        = [[University of Idaho]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br> {{nowrap|[[University of Wisconsin]] ([[PhD]])}}
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = [[Alice H. Lichtenstein]]
| known_for         = Hegsted equation
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = 
| signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt     = 
| footnotes         = 
| spouse            = 
}}
'''David Mark Hegsted''' (March 25, 1914 &ndash; June 16, 2009) was an American [[nutritionist]] who studied the connections between food consumption and [[heart disease]]. His work included studies that showed that consumption of [[saturated fat]]s led to increases in [[cholesterol]], leading to the development of dietary guidelines intended to help Americans achieve better health through improved food choices.

==Early life and education==
Hegsted was born on March 25, 1914, in [[Rexburg, Idaho]].<ref name=NYTObit>Pearce, Jeremy. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/health/09hegsted.html "D. Mark Hegsted, 95, Harvard Nutritionist, Is Dead"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 8, 2009. Accessed July 9, 2009.</ref> He graduated in 1936 from the [[University of Idaho]] and was awarded a [[Doctor of Philosophy]] in [[biochemistry]] in 1940 from the [[University of Wisconsin]].

==Career==
He came to the Department of Nutrition at the [[Harvard School of Public Health]] in 1942 after spending a year at [[Abbott Laboratories]] as a research chemist. He was named as a professor of nutrition in 1962 and remained at Harvard until 1978.<ref name=HarvardObit>Roache, Christina. [http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2009-releases/d-mark-hegsted-national-force-in-science-of-human-nutrition-dies.html "D. Mark Hegsted, National Force in Science of Human Nutrition, Dies"], [[Harvard School of Public Health]] press release dated June 19, 2009. Accessed July 9, 2009.</ref>

===Hegsted equation===
Research performed by Hegsted in the early 1960s studied the relationships between changes in diet and serum levels of cholesterol. The equation he developed showed that dietary cholesterol and saturated fats from sources such as eggs and meat in the diet raised harmful cholesterol levels, [[monounsaturated fat]]s had little effect and [[polyunsaturated fat]]s from sources such as nuts and seeds lowered levels. Results from these studies were published in 1965 in the ''[[American Journal of Clinical Nutrition]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hegsted |first1=D. M. |last2=Mcgandy |first2=R. B. |last3=Myers |first3=M. L. |last4=Stare |first4=F. J. |date=1965-11-01 |title=Quantitative Effects of Dietary Fat on Serum Cholesterol in Man |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523201318 |journal=The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition |language=en |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=281–295 |doi=10.1093/ajcn/17.5.281 |issn=0002-9165|doi-access=free |pmid=5846902 }}</ref> to what was described by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "great acclaim". In combination with research performed independently by [[Ancel Keys]], these results led to recommendations advocating decreased dietary consumption of saturated fats.<ref name=NYTObit/>

The '''Hegsted equation''' is a method used to predict the effects of diet on total serum cholesterol:{{Equation box 1|cellpadding|border|indent=:|equation=<math> \Delta \text{Cholesterol} \; (\text{mg/dl}) = 2.16\Delta \text{S} - 1.65\Delta\text{P} + 0.068\Delta \text{C}_{\text{mg/day}} </math>|border colour=#0073CF|background colour=#F5FFFA}}

Where <math>\text{S}</math> = saturated fatty acids (% of total calories), <math>\text{P}</math> = polyunsaturated fatty acids (% of total calories), and <math>\text{C}</math> = dietary cholesterol.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |author=Grundy, S M and Denke, M A |date=July 1990 |title=Dietary influences on serum lipids and lipoproteins: Table 1 |url=http://www.jlr.org/content/31/7/1149.full.pdf+html |journal=The Journal of Lipid Research |volume=31 |page=1150 |doi=10.1016/S0022-2275(20)42625-2 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Later career===
In 1978, he was hired by the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] as Administrator of the [[Food and Nutrition Service]], serving until 1982. He was hired by [[Harvard Medical School]] in 1982 as Associate Director for Research at the New England Regional Primate Research Center.<ref name="NYTObit" />

After his death, researchers uncovered connections to research funded by the [[sugar industry]] in which Hegsted was critical of connections between sugar consumption and heart disease.<ref name=NYT01>O'Connor, Anahad, [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/well/eat/how-the-sugar-industry-shifted-blame-to-fat.html "How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat"], ''The New York Times'', September 12, 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-12.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kearns|first1=CE|last2=Schmidt|first2=LA|last3=Glantz|first3=SA|title=Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research: A Historical Analysis of Internal Industry Documents.|journal=JAMA Internal Medicine|date=12 September 2016|pmid=27617709|doi=10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.5394|volume=176|issue=11|pages=1680–1685|pmc=5099084}}</ref> The significance of this work in shaping future nutrition policy is disputed,<ref name=really>{{cite journal |title=Was there ever really a 'sugar conspiracy'? |vauthors= Johns DM, Oppenheimer GM |journal=Science |volume=359 |issue=6377 |pages=747–750 |doi=10.1126/science.aaq1618 |year=2018|pmid= 29449481 |bibcode= 2018Sci...359..747J |s2cid= 206665248 }}</ref> and the ''Dietary Goals for the United States'' asks Americans to, "Reduce the consumption of refined and other processed sugars by about 45 percent to account for about 10 percent of total energy intake".<ref>Goal 3 in {{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/CAT79715358/CAT79715358_djvu.txt|title=Dietary goals for the United States|author= United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs|year=1977 |accessdate=January 12, 2019|publisher= Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off. via Internet Archive}}</ref>

Hegsted's efforts to encourage the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] to inform the public about changes in diet included his involvement in drafting ''Dietary Goals for the United States'', a 1977 report from the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs]] that suggested that increased consumption of fruits, grains and vegetables could help cut the risk of heart attacks and other diseases. It was the predecessor of the [[Dietary Guidelines for Americans]] updated twice each decade by the federal government.<ref name=NYTObit/>

Hegsted was elected as a member of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences]]. The author of over 400 published papers and other works, he served as editor of ''Nutrition Reviews'' from 1968 until 1978. He served on bodies advising the [[National Institutes of Health]] and the [[United States National Research Council|National Research Council]] in the United States, and internationally to the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] and the [[World Health Organization]].<ref name=HarvardObit/>

==Death==
A resident of [[Westwood, Massachusetts]], Hegsted died there at age 95 on June 16, 2009. Hegsted and his wife, Maxine Scow Hegsted, had two children, Christina Hegsted and Eric Hegsted.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/med00138/catalog D. Mark Hegsted Papers, 1952-1999 (inclusive), 1960-1978 (bulk). H MS c54. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.]
* [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/hegsted-d-mark.pdf Nevin S. Scrimshaw, "D. Mark Hegsted", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2014)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegsted, David Mark}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:American nutritionists]]
[[Category:Diet food advocates]]
[[Category:American dietitians]]
[[Category:Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty]]
[[Category:Lipid hypothesis researchers]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:People from Rexburg, Idaho]]
[[Category:People from Westwood, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:University of Idaho alumni]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin&ndash;Madison alumni]]