5 Myths About Fat

Misinformation has made this macronutrient much maligned. We'd butter set the record straight.

- By Kate Rockwood

MYTH #1

Fat is terrible for your heart.

MYTHBUSTER Nope. In fact, many fats (such as omega-3 fats, some polyunsaturated fats, and virtually all monounsaturated fats) are very useful in preventing heart disease and improving memory, says Karol Watson, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of cardiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. These healthy fats-found in foods such as avocados, seeds, nuts, and fatty fish like salmon and tuna-may help lower total cholesterol and reduce inflammation, both risk factors for heart disease. The low-fat-everything diet craze of the '80s was fueled by the wrongheaded belief that because some fats are bad for you, all fat must be bad. The ones to watch out for are trans fats (typically labeled as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils) as well as most seed oils like corn, soybean, cottonseed, and grape-seed oils, which have high levels of the omega-6 linoleic acid. These raise bad cholesterol, which causes plaque to form in the arteries, and lower the potentially good kind. As for saturated fats-found in meat, butter, milk, cheese, and baked goods-the verdict is more complicated. Saturated fats raise levels of both good and bad cholesterol, so their impact on health is less clear. While the thinking about saturated fats is changing, current guidelines recommend keeping these to 10% or less of your daily calories.

MYTH #2

High-fat foods are bad for your cholesterol.