We spent decades avoiding fat. Were we wrong?
Three nutrition experts agree that blanket low fat advice was a mistake. But they differ on what should replace it. The 40-year fat experiment didn't work. Now what? For decades, the message was simple: eat less fat. So millions of people switched to skimmed milk, fat-free salad dressing, and low fat snack bars. The result? "We spent 40 years stripping fat out of food and replacing it with refined starch and sugar, then acted surprised when obesity rates tripled, and type 2 diabetes skyrocketed," says bariatric surgeon Dr. Hector Perez. All three experts Medical News Today consulted agreed the old low fat orthodoxy is dead . But they differ on what comes next. Perez calls low fat advice "obsolete and naïve," noting that fat-free products are often loaded with sugar. Dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick points to a recent study showing diet quality matters more than whet...
