Release Date 14 March 2013

Cardiovascular disease is a major killer in the Western world and recent reports have conflicted over whether we should choose butter or margarine to ensure a healthy heart. But can changing our diet really reduce the risk of heart disease?

On Wednesday 20 March 2013 the University of Reading's Professor Julie Lovegrove will present the last public lecture in the series - ‘Dietary dilemmas: Is there an optimum diet to prevent heart disease?'

This lecture will explore the current evidence for the impact of dietary change on our heart health and will question whether a personalised diet based on our genetic makeup would be more beneficial.

Recent research has also indicated that a Mediterranean diet is the best for a healthy heart. Professor Lovegrove, who has recently taken part in Channel 4's ‘Food Hospital' herself, will seek to question whether one particular diet, such as Mediterranean, is really the correct solution for everyone.

University Public Lectures are held at 8pm in the Palmer Building on the University's Whiteknights campus. Lectures are free to attend and no ticket is required. Please visit the Public Lecture Series website for more details or contact the Events team on 0118 378 4313 or email events@reading.ac.uk.

This lecture is part of Reading Science Week and National Science and Engineering Week.

If you're unable to make it on the day, the team will be tweeting live from the lecture - just follow @UniofReading on Twitter and use the hashtag #UoRLectures to make comments or ask questions. You can also get a flavour for previous lectures on Storify, including Dr Christina Hellmich's lecture ‘Who is al-Qaeda?' - http://storify.com/UniofReading.

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