Experts Question the Assumption that Dietary Fats Cause Obesity

According to today’s news published by CanWest News Service, several modern researchers are insisting that bad rap on dietary fats should be put in question. Butter and lard, which gained a very bad reputation due to the prevailing in the Western world “lipid hypothesis” of obesity and other diseases of civilization, are indeed a part of a healthy diet.

The concept of a once popular Atkins diet that promised dieters a rapid weight loss with a low-carb, high-fat dietary regime, is gaining momentum again among scientists that defend a crucial role of saturated animal fats in maintaining heath and optimal weight. Gary Taubes, one of such researchers, is stating in his current bestselling book “Good Calories Bad Calories” that there is really no solid evidence that animal fats are bad for us. Considering a slice of bread patted with butter, Taubes says that it is not the butter that represents bad calories, contrary to what we have been told, but the bread.

A growing number of scientists and doctors now insist that numerous studies show that it is not saturated fat that is responsible for our current epidemic of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but sugary and starchy carbohydrates.

Dr. Eric Westman from the Duke University of North Carolina is one of the medical researchers who strongly believe that saturated fats are not the root of obesity and other modern diseases. In 2004 and 2005, he conducted two identical studies, both of which revealed that overweight participants were much more successful in losing weight when put on a low-carb, high-fat diet. They lost more body fat, lowered their blood level of triglycerides, and decreased their “bad”, or LDL cholesterol while increasing their “good”, or HDL, cholesterol, compared to a group of obese patients who were consuming a low-fat diet.

Within six month, the low-carb dieters lost the average of 12 pounds more when eating unrestricted amounts of fats and proteins. Their diet included liberal quantities of meats, eggs, cheese, fish, butter and other animal fats, and very limited portions of low-glycemic-index carbs: one cup of non-starchy veggies, such as tomatoes or broccoli, and two cups of salad a day. Their typical breakfast included eggs with bacon, lunch featured meat, cheese, and salad, and more meats with veggies were consumed for dinner. In contract, a menu of the low-fat dieters included a dietary regime of the Food Guide Pyramid, emphasising breads, fruits, and other carbohydrate-rich foods and restricting fats to 30 percent of the total amount of calories.

Another research that has been conducted earlier this year by the Stanford Prevention Research Center showed that people on a high-fat, low-carb diet have lost twice as much body fat as those eating the conventional Western diet with restricted amounts of fat and calories.

The U.S. and Canadian current Food Guide recommends to eat “for health” almost unrestricted carbohydrates - up to nine servings of grains, plenty of fruits and fruit juices, vegetables, including starchy ones, and only two to three portions of LEAN animal products. Should we really be surprised that the U.S. and Canada are the world’s leaders in obesity, diabetes, and cardio-vascular disease?

Kim Suffolk

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