#1 Low-Carb Fear: Saturated Fat
Will saturated fat clog my arteries and give me a heart attack? No. This is one of the biggest nutrition myths of the last few decades.1 Fortunately, during the last several years more and more experts and organizations have realized that natural saturated fats are completely OK and healthy.
Saturated fat is found in real foods that we’ve consumed throughout evolution.2 It’s natural to eat saturated fats, it’s found in lots of natural foods, even human breast milk is full of it.
During the last ten years or so, many reviews of all available science have come to the conclusion that there’s no connection between saturated fat and heart disease.3 This fact has also been recognized in many high-quality newspapers, such as TIME.4 It’s simply been a mistake.
Don’t fear fat. Updated experts don’t.
Watch doctors explain why saturated fat is good
The only other myth that comes close to being as harmful is the idea that we should fixate on calories for weight control – and that it doesn’t matter what we eat.
Watch doctors explain why weight control is not all about calories
Together, the myths about saturated fats and calories may be in large part responsible for the simultaneous epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes. ↩
For example butter, lard, tallow, meat, coconut oil, cream, cheese etc. ↩
Here are three of the most recent meta-analyses showing no connection between saturated fats and heart disease:
- Open Heart: Evidence from Randomised Controlled Trials Does Not Support Current Dietary Fat Guidelines: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2016)
- Annals of Internal Medicine: Association of Dietary, Circulating, and Supplement Fatty Acids With Coronary Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2016)
- PLOS ONE: Is Butter Back? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Butter Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Total Mortality (2016)
TIME: Eat Butter. Scientists Labeled Fat the Enemy. Why They Were Wrong.