REFORM: Is official discouragement of consuming saturated fat on the way out? One can hope:
On May 8, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) made its official comments on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and recommend dropping saturated fat from nutrients of concern due to the lack of evidence connecting it with cardiovascular disease.
However, because past advice from the Academy and others has caused issues with ALL of our body systems, I would also argue that this is actually earth-shattering news . . .
In the last couple of years, there have been a number of articles in the medical literature removing the “villain” label from dietary fat. Now we need to take the next step, and take a harder look at what has likely been the real culprit at work with obesity and diabetes. Remember the bottom of the food pyramid? All those grains we were supposed to eat so we could avoid consuming fat? Well, we need to now turn our attention to those, too.
At the bottom of the post there is a list of links to relevant articles (the first of which is covered in the link above). I reproduce it here:
“Evidence from randomized controlled trials did not support the introduction of dietary fat guidelines in 1977 and 1983: a systemic review and meta-analysis,” [PDF] The BMJ Open Heart
“Are some diets mass murder?” an editorial by Dr. Richard Smith, from The BMJ (formerly The British Medical Journal)
“Association of Dietary, Circulating, and Supplement Fatty Acids With Coronary Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,” from Annals of Internal Medicine
“The evidence base for fat guidelines: a balanced diet,” from The BMJ’s Open Heart
“Relationship of Insulin Resistance and Related Metabolic Variables to Coronary Artery Disease: A Mathematical Analysis,” from the journal Diabetes Care