Tag Archive for: low-fat diet

The Bottom Line on a Low-Fat Diet

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In this final look at the opinion article in JAMA, I’m going to cover another statement the author made along with some thoughts on the article and why it matters.

In the article, he suggests that, based on the theory that carbohydrates do not cause weight gain, public health policy was changed to encourage the use of more starch and sugars (1). Specifically he cited Healthy People 2000 Nutrition Goal 2.15, which recommended that food manufacturers “increase to at least 5,000 brand items the availability of processed food products that are reduced in fat and saturated fat . . .

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Low Fat: A Failed Public Policy?

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The recent series of messages on health hooligans was something I’ve wanted to write about for a long time. No sooner did I finish it than I got an email from JAMA announcing an opinion piece on the low-fat diet we’ve been told to follow for over 40 years (1). I spent some time over the past few weeks checking the piece and the research behind it.

The opinion was written by an expert in endocrinology, a physician and researcher. He has the credentials. But he is one of a number of scientists who’ve become critics . . .

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The Link Between Fat Intake and Heart Disease

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The second batch of headlines I referred to Tuesday related to an article published in the journal Open Heart (1). The study was a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials done before the dietary guidelines on fat were put in place in 1977. The studies analyzed showed no reduction of heart disease when subjects were placed on a low-fat diet; therefore the current study’s authors concluded that the original low-fat recommendations in the 1970s had no scientific basis.

Sorry, but we didn’t need randomized controlled trials in this case—and here’s why.

In the late . . .

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The Low Carb Versus Low Fat Battle: No Decision

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Today I’m finishing my review of the study that compared a low-fat diet with a low-carb diet. As Paula can attest, I’ve been muttering under my breath since I read that paper—not to mention the occasional rant. Here’s why.

First, the researchers tried to get the healthiest obese people they could get—completely understandable because the idea is to eliminate confounding variables. The problem is that when every measured variable is normal to begin with, the results are meaningless unless there are huge changes in something such as body weight, cholesterol, or triglycerides. Note . . .

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The Battle Continues: Low Carb Versus Low Fat

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The diet battles never seem to end: “Low carb is the best!” “No, low fat is!” “Shut up. You’re wrong!” And it escalates from there. The research to assess which diet really is the best diet also continues. The latest study has gotten considerable press, so I thought I should review it for you (1).

Researchers at Tulane University in Louisiana recruited 148 of the healthiest obese people they could find. None were diabetics or had any symptoms of heart disease, although it appears hypertension controlled by medication was permitted. Participants were randomly assigned to either a low-fat . . .

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