Wikipedia's first sentence called it “catchphrase”. Today it says “apparently paradoxical epidemiological observation that israeli jews have a relatively high incidence of corona”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Israeli Jews The Israeli paradox was an apparently paradoxical epidemiological observation that Israeli Jews have a relatively high incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD), despite having a diet relatively low in saturated fats , in apparent contradiction to the widely held belief that the high consumption of such fats is a risk factor for CHD . The paradox was that if the thesis linking saturated fats to CHD is valid, the Israelis ought to have a lower rate of CHD than comparable countries where the per capita consumption of such fats is higher. Since 1996 when observations were published CHD rates in Israel (which were even at the time lower than USA or France) have significantly fallen. In 2020 and since Israel has one of the lowest age-standardized mortality rates attributable to cardiovascular causes. The observation of Israel's paradoxically high rate of CHD although outdated is still used by some seed oil critics along with other disputed paradoxes. The most famous of these paradoxes is known as the " French paradox ": France enjoys a relatively low incidence of CHD despite a high per-capita consumption of saturated fat. The Israeli paradox implied two possibilities which are now largely disproven. The first is that the hypothesis linking saturated fats to CHD is not completely valid. The second possibility is that the link between saturated fats and CHD is valid, but that some additional factor in the typical Israeli diet, lifestyle or genes creates another CHD risk—presumably with the implication that if this factor can be identified, it can be isolated in the diet or lifestyle of other countries, thereby allowing both the Israelis, and others, to avoid that particular risk.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1292356324.
The opening as it stood in 2015
The Israeli paradox is a catchphrase , first used in 1996, to summarize the apparently paradoxical epidemiological observation that Israeli Jews have a relatively high incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD), despite having a diet relatively low in saturated fats , in apparent contradiction to the widely held belief that the high consumption of such fats is a risk factor for CHD . The paradox is that if the thesis linking saturated fats to CHD is valid, the Israelis ought to have a lower rate of CHD than comparable countries where the per capita consumption of such fats is higher. The observation of Israel's paradoxically high rate of CHD is one of a number of paradoxical outcomes for which a literature now exists, regarding the thesis that a high consumption of saturated fats ought to lead to an increase in CHD incidence, and that a lower consumption ought to lead to the reverse outcome. The most famous of these paradoxes is known as the " French paradox ": France enjoys a relatively low incidence of CHD despite a high per-capita consumption of saturated fat. The Israeli paradox implies two important possibilities. The first is that the hypothesis linking saturated fats to CHD is not completely valid (or, at the extreme, is entirely invalid). The second possibility is that the link between saturated fats and CHD is valid, but that some additional factor in the Israeli diet or lifestyle creates another CHD risk—presumably with the implication that if this factor can be identified, it can be isolated in the diet and / or lifestyle of other countries, thereby allowing both the Israelis, and others, to avoid that particular risk.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 627926785.
The opening as it stood in 2020
The Israeli paradox is a catchphrase , first used in 1996, to summarize the apparently paradoxical epidemiological observation that Israeli Jews have a relatively high incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD), despite having a diet relatively low in saturated fats , in apparent contradiction to the widely held belief that the high consumption of such fats is a risk factor for CHD . The paradox is that if the thesis linking saturated fats to CHD is valid, the Israelis ought to have a lower rate of CHD than comparable countries where the per capita consumption of such fats is higher. The observation of Israel's paradoxically high rate of CHD is one of a number of paradoxical outcomes for which a literature now exists, regarding the thesis that a high consumption of saturated fats ought to lead to an increase in CHD incidence, and that a lower consumption ought to lead to the reverse outcome. The most famous of these paradoxes is known as the " French paradox ": France enjoys a relatively low incidence of CHD despite a high per-capita consumption of saturated fat. The Israeli paradox implies two important possibilities. The first is that the hypothesis linking saturated fats to CHD is not completely valid (or, at the extreme, is entirely invalid). The second possibility is that the link between saturated fats and CHD is valid, but that some additional factor in the typical Israeli diet, lifestyle or genes creates another CHD risk—presumably with the implication that if this factor can be identified, it can be isolated in the diet or lifestyle of other countries, thereby allowing both the Israelis, and others, to avoid that particular risk.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962399789.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Paradox of high CHD incidence among Israeli Jews The Israeli paradox is an apparently paradoxical epidemiological observation that Israeli Jews have a relatively high incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD), despite having a diet relatively low in saturated fats , in apparent contradiction to the widely held belief that the high consumption of such fats is a risk factor for CHD . The paradox is that if the thesis linking saturated fats to CHD is valid, the Israelis ought to have a lower rate of CHD than comparable countries where the per capita consumption of such fats is higher. The observation of Israel's paradoxically high rate of CHD is one of a number of paradoxical outcomes for which a literature now exists, regarding the thesis that a high consumption of saturated fats ought to lead to an increase in CHD incidence, and that a lower consumption ought to lead to the reverse outcome. The most famous of these paradoxes is known as the " French paradox ": France enjoys a relatively low incidence of CHD despite a high per-capita consumption of saturated fat. The Israeli paradox implies two important possibilities. The first is that the hypothesis linking saturated fats to CHD is not completely valid (or, at the extreme, is entirely invalid). The second possibility is that the link between saturated fats and CHD is valid, but that some additional factor in the typical Israeli diet, lifestyle or genes creates another CHD risk—presumably with the implication that if this factor can be identified, it can be isolated in the diet or lifestyle of other countries, thereby allowing both the Israelis, and others, to avoid that particular risk.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1170493700.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “catchphrase”. Today it says “apparently paradoxical epidemiological observation that israeli jews have a relatively high incidence of corona”. Read the current article and compare.
2015
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2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2015, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
catchphrase
Now
apparently paradoxical epidemiological observation that israeli jews have a relatively high incidence of corona
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
