In the history of societal tolerance of dietary fat, we left off at 2015, when an unrepentant Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) was still shaking its head over saturated fat (the kind in meat and dairy products). “The Saturated Fat Studies: Buttering Up the Public,” written by Michael Greger, M.D., was published that year.
Dr. Greger talked about a systematic review and meta-analysis which had “concluded that current evidence does not clearly support cardiovascular guidelines that encourage cutting down on saturated fat.” In other words, the trend had shifted to the approval of saturated fat. At the same time, the elimination of animal fats was entrenched as the focus of chronic disease prevention programs all over the world.
But the CSPI labeled promotion of this type of fat as a ploy engaged by the global dairy cabal to increase its sales. The campaign to stop saturated fat acceptance had already gathered a lot of momentum. But the dairy industry was not sleeping. Big Animal Fat “set up a major, well-funded campaign to come up with proof that saturated fat does not cause heart disease.”
Allegedly, they only picked scientists already favorable to their cause, and lined them up for numerous public speaking about the virtues of saturated fat, which worked. Their mission was to characterize the dairy industry’s chief problem as “[n]egative messages and intense pressure to reduce saturated fats by governments and non-governmental organizations.”
Bad news for the Bigs
Dr. Greger noted that…
The top contributors of cholesterol-raising saturated fat are cheese, ice cream, more cheese, chicken, then non-ice cream desserts like cake and pie, and then pork.
Meanwhile, the most impressive authorities in the U.S. and Europe still recommended less and less animal fat. Making it only 10% of the average person’s caloric intake would be good, but a smaller ratio would be better. The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recommended that it should comprise only 5% or 6% of calories.
In a followup article, Dr. Greger emphasized that many studies from everywhere proved that eating saturated fat makes a person’s blood cholesterol rise, with generally bad results, such as “cardiovascular events like heart attack.” Still, admittedly, people have different setpoints and might consume the same amount of dietary fat yet have different cholesterol levels and a different number of heart attacks.
Nevertheless, he wrote:
But while our genetics may be different, our biology is the same, meaning the rise and drop in cholesterol is the same for everyone… All I can say with certainty is that if you eat less, your cholesterol will likely improve.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “The Saturated Fat Studies: Buttering Up the Public,” NutritionFacts.org, 2015, modified 2019
Source: “The Saturated Fat Studies: Set Up to Fail,” NutritionFacts.org, 2015
Image by Northwest Retail/CC BY-SA 2.0
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