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ATTITUDES ABOUT FAT HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME

For over forty years, nutritionists and scientists thought that saturated fat was worse for you than other fats. This was based on conclusions reached by Dr. Ancel Keys, who analyzed heart disease and diet statistics from seven countries and concluded that saturated fat contributed to heart disease. Studies since then have suggested that the idea of replacing saturated fat with vegetable oils was, at best, incorrect. It was thought that eating a diet high in saturated fat would be terrible for your heart, but modern science disagrees. Butter, coconut oil, and other natural saturated fats are being understood to be part of a healthy diet. Some scientists are even suggesting that saturated fats are healthier than the unsaturated industrial vegetable oils, like canola or soybean, that are in most processed foods. These studies suggest that the dangers of saturated fat’s effect on blood cholesterol levels is overblown. There is also an indication that some vegetable oils may be bad for the lining of the blood vessels when consumed in high quantities over time. It’s important to understand that science evolves over time, and food and nutrition science is no different. Eggs were considered unhealthy and to be limited for decades because of their cholesterol level, but they have since been shown to be extremely healthy in modern diets. Similarly, there has been fear about MSG (monosodium glutamate), which is a popular seasoning in Eastern cuisine. In the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, it was villainized for essentially no good reason, but modern food science has proven there is no reason to be afraid of it.

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Eating in Moderation and Intermittent Fasting