Food fat warnings ‘should not have been introduced’

Official warnings against consuming saturated fats are based on flawed data, claims new research.

Controversial new research has suggested that official warnings against the consumption of saturated fats like those found in butter and full-fat milk are based on flawed evidence and should not have been introduced.

The article published in the BMJ’s Open Heart journal argues that dietary guidelines adopted by British authorities in the early 1980s and still in use today are based on “very limited evidence”.

The British Dietetic Association recommend that men should consume no more than 30g of saturated fat daily while women are advised to consume no more than 20g.

High levels of saturated fats are found in fatty red meats, biscuits and cakes as well as dairy products including butter, cheese and cream.

The reports authors, led by University of the West of Scotland researcher Zoë Harcombe, claim that an analysis of the original evidence used to justify saturated fat warnings has exposed serious flaws in how the original data was gathered.

The new research claims to show that women were excluded from trials to determine the relationship between fat and coronary heart disease and that the risks of saturated fats were not conclusively proven.

The paper also exposes how the original research only focused on unhealthy men and that its findings did not explicitly call for new dietary guidelines to be imposed.

“It seems incomprehensible that dietary advice was introduced for 220 million Americans and 56 million UK citizens given the contrary results from a small number of unhealthy men,” argue the report’s authors.

“Dietary advice does not merely need a review; it should not have been introduced.”

However leading dietitians have warned that the risk of saturated fats should not be underestimated.

Professor Tom Sanders, a professor of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London, said that current dietary recommendations should not be changed on the basis of shortcomings in historical trials.

“The authors are wrong to suggest that advice to decrease saturated fat should not have been introduced. Their conclusion fails to take into account the totality of the evidence. Different types of evidence are available,” he said.

But leading consultant cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra welcomed the study’s findings, arguing that they could help refocus attention on the risk of excess sugar consumption.

“The mantra that low fat is good for you is unhelpful. The scientific evidence is overwhelmingly showing that higher fat consumption than that recommended by the guidelines while also cutting out refined carbs, like sugar and white bread, is actually better for your weight and heart health,” he said.

“What many people don’t realise is that there are many different types of saturated fats. Saturated fats from full fat yogurts and cheese for example may actually be beneficial and reduce the risk of certain types of diabetes.”