UK researchers expose the heart health advice “experts” never should have given

It looks like the health “experts” here in the US aren’t the only ones resistant to change—even in the face of unequivocal evidence.

The other day I came across a research paper from the UK. And its conclusion was one that’s starting to sound familiar across the globe. After reviewing data from the past 32 years, the researchers determined that there’s NO solid evidence to support current dietary advice to cut fat as a primary means of avoiding heart disease.

In fact, the authors of the review didn’t mince words: “[Current] dietary advice not merely needs review; it should not have been introduced.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Unfortunately, the British health authorities are dragging their heels just as slowly as their American counterparts when it comes to actually making any real changes to their dietary recommendations.

In response to this study, one prominent UK health foundation commented: “There is certainly a strong argument that an overreliance in public health on saturated fat as the main dietary villain for cardiovascular disease has distracted from the risks posed by other nutrients, such as carbohydrates. Yet replacing one caricature with another does not feel like a solution.”

Why doesn’t it “feel like” a solution? And how many more people have to die of heart disease before it does?

Then, a chief nutritionist at Public Health England added something even more preposterous: “This paper is not critical of current advice on saturated fats, but suggests that the advice was introduced prematurely in the 1980s, before there was the extensive evidence base that exists today.”

He goes on to support current advice based on the decades-old myth that eating too much saturated fat can raise cholesterol levels. Which, he asserts, “increases the risk of heart disease.”

Well, if it’s evidence the so-called “experts” want, there’s plenty out there. In fact, I’ve written about quite a bit of it right here in the Reality Health Check.

Like the study showing that fat plays an important role in a healthy diet.  And the one showing that folks who avoid carbs and eat more fat—even saturated fat—actually lose more weight and have fewer cardiovascular risks than those who follow low-fat, carb-heavy diets.

Those are just two examples I’ve written about…There are dozens more. (You can find them by entering “fat” into the Search function at the top right corner of this page.)

The bottom line, whether you live in the US, UK, or anywhere else: There is more than enough evidence proving that fat is healthy, sugar kills, and carbohydrates are best served as vegetables. And it’s time medical authorities around the world open their eyes to all the new research.

As for your part: ignore those dusty old guidelines, and get out there and enjoy foods like a gooey cheese omelet and a juicy steak. And stick with me: I’ll continue to bring you real science—not outdated dogma.

Sources:

“Fat guidelines lacked solid scientific evidence, study concludes,” The Guardian, 2/9/15

“Evidence from randomised controlled trials did not support the introduction of dietary fat guidelines in 1977 and 1983: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Open Heart 2015; 2(1)