The Truth About Fat

 

- Jonny Bowden

A: Once upon a time there was no confusion about healthy eating. We all knew the rules, even if we didn’t always follow them. High complex carbs, heavy on the grains, moderate fish and chicken. Low calorie—even lower fat.

But that was then. Emerging science suggests that we were not only wrong about fat, we were spectacularly, embarrassingly wrong.

It’s clear that our knowledge of what fat is, what it does, and what it does not do needs a serious update. Let’s start by looking at three of the biggest myths related to fat and disease.

MYTH 1: SATURATED FAT CAUSES HEART DISEASE

Actually, it doesn’t. There have been several major, peer-reviewed meta-analyses in the past decade completely debunking the notion that saturated fat is a causal factor in heart disease. In 2010, researchers reviewed 21 studies looking for the relationship of dietary saturated fat to the risk of coronary heart disease. They couldn’t find one. “There is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) or CVD (cardiovascular disease),” they concluded.

This lack of association was confirmed in several other studies, notably a 2014 review in the Annals of Internal Medicine, which found no link between saturated fat consumption and the risk of heart disease or death.

MYTH 2: VEGETABLE OILS ARE GOOD