Why We Thought Fat Was Bad (And Why We Might Be Wrong)
A short history of saturated fat: the making and unmaking of a scientific consensus
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
For decades, doctors told people to avoid butter and meat because they thought it caused heart attacks. But new evidence shows that wasn't true — and the rules were made even when scientists knew the evidence didn't support them.
Surprising Findings
The American Heart Association received $1.7 million from Procter & Gamble (Crisco) in 1948 — the same group that later pushed the diet-heart hypothesis.
People assume the AHA is a neutral health advocate, but its rise to power was funded by a company that sold vegetable oil — the very product it later told everyone to eat instead of butter.
Practical Takeaways
Stop fearing butter, cheese, and meat — focus instead on avoiding ultra-processed foods and added sugars, which have far stronger evidence linking them to heart disease.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
For decades, doctors told people to avoid butter and meat because they thought it caused heart attacks. But new evidence shows that wasn't true — and the rules were made even when scientists knew the evidence didn't support them.
Surprising Findings
The American Heart Association received $1.7 million from Procter & Gamble (Crisco) in 1948 — the same group that later pushed the diet-heart hypothesis.
People assume the AHA is a neutral health advocate, but its rise to power was funded by a company that sold vegetable oil — the very product it later told everyone to eat instead of butter.
Practical Takeaways
Stop fearing butter, cheese, and meat — focus instead on avoiding ultra-processed foods and added sugars, which have far stronger evidence linking them to heart disease.
Publication
Journal
Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Obesity
Year
2022
Authors
Nina Teicholz
Related Content
Claims (10)
Eating lots of saturated fat doesn't always lead to heart disease—it depends on what you eat instead. If you swap it with healthy foods, you might be fine, but if you swap it with junk food, it could be worse.
A group of experts who set dietary rules in 2020 ignored over 20 solid science reviews saying saturated fat doesn’t hurt your heart, because a USDA rule told them they couldn’t use outside research.
In a big 1960s study, people ate less saturated fat to lower their cholesterol, but they didn’t have fewer heart attacks or die less often — and nobody even heard about these results for 40 years.
Even though the experts who advised the government in 2015 admitted they didn’t have solid science to back limiting saturated fat to 10%, they still told people to stick to that limit anyway.
A famous old study that tried to link eating butter and meat to heart disease might have gotten it wrong because it picked countries in a biased way and asked people what they ate during times when they were fasting, which doesn’t show their normal eating habits.