The official advice to eat less fat to avoid dying of heart disease isn't backed up by the long-term studies of large groups of people.
Scientific Claim
Current dietary fat guidelines, which recommend reducing total and saturated fat intake to lower coronary heart disease mortality, are not supported by the available epidemiological evidence from prospective cohort studies.
Original Statement
“Epidemiological evidence to date found no significant difference in CHD mortality and total fat or saturated fat intake and thus does not support the present dietary fat guidelines.”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
overstated
Study Design Support
Design cannot support claim
Appropriate Language Strength
association
Can only show association/correlation
Assessment Explanation
The study shows no association between fat intake and CHD death, but does not prove guidelines are wrong — only that the data do not confirm them. 'Does not support' implies a stronger rejection than the data justify. Based on abstract only - full methodology not available to verify
More Accurate Statement
“The available epidemiological evidence from prospective cohort studies does not show a significant association between total or saturated fat intake and coronary heart disease mortality, and therefore does not confirm the rationale for current dietary fat guidelines.”
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Evidence from prospective cohort studies does not support current dietary fat guidelines: a systematic review and meta-analysis
This study looked at lots of people over many years and found that eating more or less fat—especially saturated fat—didn’t make a noticeable difference in how many people died from heart disease, so the rules telling us to cut fat may not be backed by solid evidence.