You’ve been told eating fatty foods will lead to an early death.
So you made the switch to a low fat diet to protect yourself from heart disease.
But after years of following doctor recommendations and buying fat free yogurt, your lab work clearly shows that your risk factors have gone up, not down.
What happened?
Conventional wisdom says you should reduce your fat intake as much as possible. But modern research has blown the lid off this misleading idea — although it has a long road ahead to undo years of dated research.
I’ll be the first to point out that not all fats are good for you. Polyunsaturated seed oils, for example, are directly correlated with weight gain and chronic disease, and make up the lion’s share of our ultra-processed food supply.
That said, eliminating all fat can potentially shorten your lifespan.
And the myth of the low fat diet has brought hundreds of people to my operating table.
A history of the low fat diet craze
You can hardly walk through the grocery store without seeing low or reduced fat products. Turn on the TV and you’ll likely see ads for low fat yogurts, coffees, or salad dressings.
But this wasn’t always the case.
It all started with studies in the 1940s showing weak correlations between dietary fat and heart disease. By the 1960s, the low fat diet had become a popular recommendation from doctors prescribing weight loss strategies.
The fat free craze continued to grow in ads and popular media. The 1980s saw the adoption of the first American food pyramid, which limited a ‘healthful’ diet to no more than 30% of daily calorie consumption from fat.
Today, dietary fat is firmly ingrained as a bad actor in the American psyche. And no wonder; we’ve spent the past 80 years villainizing it as the root of all health-related evils.
But despite a growing trend of fat free products lining our grocery store shelves, Americans experience some of the lowest health outcomes of all developed countries. Worse, our rate of chronic disease is higher than any other point in history.
Reducing our fat intake hasn’t made us healthier. Instead, it’s crippled our metabolic health.
And the numbers tell a clear story that you deserve to see for yourself.
Why reduced or low fat diets make Americans fatter
For years we’ve been taught that any fat in our diet will lead to early death. But not only is this unsubstantiated by research, it’s been making Americans sicker for over 50 years.
The food pyramid’s suggestion of a reduced fat diet was a major part of this.
In a study of food consumption from 1800 to 2019, we see that:
- Processed food consumption rose from less than 5% to approximately 60%
- The consumption of sugar, flour, and vegetable oils increased dramatically
- Polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils rose while saturated fats from animals declined
The same study found that saturated fats from animals were inversely correlated with chronic disease. This means the more saturated fat you eat, the less likely you are to acquire noncommunicable illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, or heart disease.
This data tells us two things. One, eating certain fats (like vegetable oils) is bad for our hearts. Two, eating fewer healthy fats (such as beef tallow) increases our risk for chronic disease.
A diet devoid of all fat comes with even more dangerous effects. Years of research show us that low to no fat diets lead to:
- Imbalanced hormones
- Improper vitamin absorption
- Poor skin quality
- Unstable mood swings
- Feeling unsatiated (hungry all the time)
- Increased cravings for sugar
Women on low fat diets also experience complications with pregnancy, and may have a lower chance of conception than women eating higher levels of saturated fat.
Relying on a low fat diet will not make you thinner, happier, or healthier. Instead, it could make you more irritable, destabilize your metabolic health, and increase your chances of ending up on my operating table.
How to migrate away from low fat diets
Has the lie of a low fat diet negatively affected your eating habits? You’re not alone. Millions of Americans have dutifully followed the questionable food pyramid — only to find they’re fatter, sicker, and less metabolically healthy than before.
But increasing your intake of healthful fats doesn’t have to be a complicated process. In fact, you can begin making the switch on your next trip to the grocery store:
- Start by purchasing a full fat version of foods you’re already eating. Try Greek yogurt instead of sweetened conventional yogurt, and whole milk instead of skim milk. I recommend phasing out processed foods over time and eating whole, real foods to reclaim your metabolic health.
- Throw away any bad fats that may be lingering in your pantry. Near-food objects like vegetable oils and margarine should be replaced by avocado oils, coconut oils, and olive oils. Just make sure to purchase a brand with 100% oil purity.
- Find replacements for unhealthy fatty foods like peanut butter and hot dogs. Instead, opt for almond or cashew butters and plenty of ruminant animal proteins (like lamb, beef, or bison).
Incorporating healthy fat into your diet doesn’t have to be a difficult process. However, it may seem like an overwhelming shift as you start to eat against the grain.
Just remember that health is not a race or a goalpost — just a system that requires a sustainable pace. Take every day one step at a time, and continue to invest in solid education. It’s never too late to take back your health or reclaim your metabolic wellness.
If you’re looking for additional support as you change your dietary habits, you’re welcome to take my online course the Seven Principles of Metabolic Health. I explain the mechanisms behind metabolic health and explore all the important groundwork, then provide some actionable tips on your journey to better health.