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“I Was Wrong, You Were Right”

April 26 20:31 in Failed low fat diets, Gary Taubes, Saturated fat, Weight loss stories

Taubes

Not many things impress me more than a scientist who dares to change his opinion. An excellent example is the influential Danish scientist Arne Astrup.

After earlier believing that fat was bad and carbs (even high-GI carbs) were good Astrup has now changed his mind. One of the reasons is the large DIOGENES study that he published in The New England Journal of Medicine recently.

The study proved that a diet with more protein, less carbs and a lower GI is better for maintaining a weight loss. Advice similar to the official guidelines (with more carbs) made participants regain the most weight.

Carbs and obesity

Astrup used to be critical of Gary Taubes (who has long maintained that too much carbs is the villain behind the obesity epidemic). But now he did not mind admitting that he had changed his mind. I was there when they met at the ASBP obesity conference in San Diego yesterday. Astrup said “I was wrong, you were right” to Taubes, regarding carbs and obesity. He didn’t mind me quoting him on that either.

To clarify, Astrup does not believe that a strict low-carb diet is a good idea for the entire population. A little less carbs with a lower GI, and a bit more protein would be sufficient he believes. But Astrup had nothing against stricter low-carb diets for treating obesity etc.

Saturated fat

I thought that Astrup would still be afraid of natural saturated fat, but he has updated his position here as well. After all the recent studies showing that refined carbs are worse for the heart than saturated fat, and now even that polyunsaturated omega-6 fat is worse, Astrup believes that focusing on saturated fat is wrong.

If there’s any benefit in replacing saturated fat with monounsaturated or omega-3 fat it’s hardly of any major importance. There are much more important things to focus on, such as eating less refined carbs (sugar and white flour), enough protein and avoiding trans fats. Natural saturated fat is nothing to be afraid of.

When people like Astrup manage to update their opinions there’s plenty of hope for the future. Let’s hope more and more experts will follow in his footsteps.

The Darkest Secrets of the Food Industry

March 28 9:44 in Industrial food-like products, Salt, Saturated fat, Sugar/fructose, The Obesity Epidemic

Do you want to know the darkest secrets of the food industry? Read the great new book Salt Sugar Fat, like I’m doing right now.

The author, Pulitzer prize-winner Michael Moss, was just on the Daily Show. Watch it above.

A short comment on the book: While it’s mostly great it’s also partly stuck in the failed dogma of yesterday. Natural saturated fat is still a villain. The main solution? FRUITANDVEGETABLES. Yawn. But if you ignore that the book is absolutely fascinating. Mostly for the insights we get into the minds of the people running the processed food industry.

Highly recommended: Salt Sugar Fat – How the Food Giants Hooked Us.

More: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Swedes Consuming Low-Fat Dairy Products Gain More Weight!

February 13 8:19 in Failed low fat diets, The Obesity Epidemic

The choice of people who later get fat

A newly published Swedish study has examined what Swedes eat and what happens to their weight. In the 90′s a few thousand middle aged men in rural Sweden participated in a baseline survey on their eating habits, and were followed up 12 years later in a study on how their weight had changed.

The results? People with a fear of fat (avoiding butter and drinking low-fat milk etc.) had a clearly increased risk of being obese twelve years later.

On the other hand, those who consumed a lot of saturated dairy fat (butter, whole milk and heavy whipping cream) were significantly more likely to remain thin twelve years later.

As always, correlation does not prove causation, so this study should be taken with a grain of salt. However, Swedes following the failed low-fat guidelines, consuming low-fat products like low-fat milk and low-fat margarine, were more likely to become overweight. Possibly because they were left hungrier and ate more of other, worse things.

Is anyone surprised?

The result of this study is of course predicted by Eenfeldt’s law.

The study

Holmberg S, et al. High dairy fat intake related to less central obesity: A male cohort study with 12 year’s follow-up. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2013 Jan 15. [Epub ahead of print]

Good Night, Low-Fat Diet

February 7 10:18 in Failed low fat diets, Heart Disease, Industrial food-like products, Omega 6, Saturated fat

Omega-6 margarine spread might just kill you

The old fear of natural saturated fat (such as butter) has been on its way out for a long time. Repeated reviews of science have in recent years not shown any evidence that eating butter is anything but healthy. In Sweden (where I live) lots of people have understood this and sales of skim milk, low-fat margarine and other low-fat products have plummeted.

Here is another nail in the coffin for the fat-phobia and the low-fat hysteria. A review of previously unpublished (hidden) numbers from an older study shows that today’s margarines may not only be unnecessary. They may be directly harmful to the heart.

A disaster

The study involved nearly 500 men with heart disease. Half of them were randomly assigned to increase polyunsaturated omega-6-fat intake, including in the form of margarine (similar to Promise light spread* in the US), and were advised to reduce saturated fat (such as butter). The other half was left alone and allowed to continue eating as before.

When the study was stopped after three years there were significantly more deaths in the group that consumed omega-6-rich margarine. The risk of dying during the study was elevated by a whopping 62%. Those who escaped counseling on margarine clearly lived longer.

Now it’s revealed that the risk of death from heart disease also was significantly elevated, by as much as 74%(!), in the group that was given margarine.

Good night, fat phobia

When you add this previously hidden disastrous result to all other studies that have been done, there isn’t the slightest evidence that omega-6-rich margarine is good for your heart. On the contrary: The numbers are very close to (p=0.06) showing a statistically significant harmful effect from this margarine. A probable increased risk of dying from heart disease as a result of consuming margarine instead of butter.

Adults can of course avoid buying the junk. But not all get to choose. Where I live potentially heart damaging omega-6-rich margarine is the only alternative allowed in many day care centers and schools, citing official fat-fearing dietary advice.

Time to wake up, official dietary guideline authorities?

From the British Medical Journal

*/ Promise light spread contains 1900 mg of omega-6 and only 300 mg of omega-3 per serving.

How to Lose Weight, Part 2 of 17

September 7 2012 19:12 in Low Carb High Fat, Weight Loss

Do you want to lose weight? Here’s part 2 of a 17-part series of blog posts. You can read all the posted tips on the How to Lose Weight-page.

The first and most important advice was to choose a low carb diet. Here’s the second:

2. Eat When Hungry

Don’t be hungry. The most common mistake when starting a low carb diet: Reducing carb intake while still being afraid of fat. The problem is that carbs and fat are the body’s two main energy sources. It needs at least one.

Low carb AND low fat = starvation

Avoiding both carbs and fat results in hunger, cravings and fatigue. Sooner or later people can’t stand it and give up. The solution is to eat more natural fat until you feel satisfied. For example:

Butter
Full-fat cream
Olive oil
Meat (including the fat)
Fatty fish
Bacon
Eggs
Coconut oil, etc.

Always eat enough, so that you feel satisfied, especially in the beginning of the weight-loss process. Doing this on a low carb diet means that the fat you eat will be burned as fuel by your body, as your levels of the fat storing hormone insulin will be lowered. You’ll become a fat burning machine. You’ll lose excess weight without hunger.

Do you still fear saturated fat? Don’t. The fear of saturated fat is based on obsolete theories that have been proven incorrect by modern science. Butter is fine food. However, feel free to eat mostly unsaturated fat (e.g. olive oil, avocado, fatty fish) if you prefer. This could be called a Mediterranean low carb diet and works great too.

Eating when hungry also implies something else: If you’re not hungry you probably don’t need to eat yet. When on a LCHF diet you can trust your feelings of hunger and satiety again. Feel free to eat the number of times per day that works best for you.

Some people eat three times a day and occasionally snack in between (note that frequent snacking could mean that you’d benefit from adding fat to your meals, to increase satiety). Some people only eat once or twice a day and never snack. Whatever works for you. Just eat when you’re hungry.

How to Lose Weight

August 28 2012 18:04 in

Do you have trouble losing weight? Or would you like to lose it faster? Here are the 17 best tips for you.

For some people losing all of their excess weight is easier said than done. But there are many common errors people make. Correcting them can restart or speed up your weight loss.

Based on a decade of experience treating obese patients, reading studies, going to obesity conferences and discussing this topic with the [...]

Continue Reading →

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Yep! People Eating Butter are Thinner and Healthier

July 24 2012 9:36 in Saturated fat

Good news. A big new review of all relevant scientific studies shows that people eating high fat dairy (like butter) are at least as thin and healthy as others:

Kratz M, et al. The relationship between high-fat dairy consumption and obesity, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease. European Journal of Nutrition, Online First™, 18 July 2012

This perfectly matches all the other up-to-date reviews showing no connection between natural saturated fat and heart disease.

Time to retire the low fat fad?

Stunning: Saturated Fat and the European Paradox

June 17 2012 9:46 in Heart Disease, Saturated fat

Wow. This is mindblowing.

Have you heard about the French Paradox? French people traditionally eat a lot of saturated fat, like butter – yet they generally have less heart disease than other populations. A lot of brainpower has been wasted to explain this – do perhaps the red wine protect them?

It’s not a paradox. Continue Reading →

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Fear of Cream at the Nutrition Conference

June 14 2012 8:45 in Conferences

Here’s a picture of the dessert table at the nutrition conference last week. All the fruit is gone but the cream is left behind.

The old fear of saturated fat remains. Because they couldn’t all be eating strict Paleo, could they?

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