> With hearts, you open up and you see clogged arteries, for example. It doesn't get much simpler than "too much fat is bad for your heart".
The fat clogging our arteries doesn't necessarily come from dietary fat.
A lot has changed when it comes to heart disease. For example, not even the USDA supports the claim that excessive dietary cholesterol is linked to heart disease anymore. Their new official stance is that you shouldn't worry about it at all, no upper limit, eat as much as you want.[1]
Contrast that with the last 50 years we've all spent having conversations and making comments about how dangerous egg yolks and meat are because of the cholesterol, and all the foods promoted for being cholesterol-free or low-cholesterol. Cocoa Puffs getting the American Heart Association checkmark on the box because they're low-cholesterol.[2]
It's very difficult to get good information on this because the food industry spends billions selectively funding research to muddy the waters and spread misinformation the same way tobacco companies did in the '50s and '60s. Their 2 biggest goals on this front are:
1. Defend refined sugar and carbohydrates against claims that they're unhealthy/toxic. These are the most profitable commodities because they're the most shelf-stable, they're easy to shape dye and flavor into just about anything, and they're extremely cheap because of food subsidies.
2. Promote the idea that our health and well-being as it relates to nutrition, is entirely determined by one's ability to balance calories in vs calories out. If that's all it is, then all of their products are exonerated from all negative health effects, and they can shift the burden of blame onto their own customers.
I'm all for personal responsibility and companies having the right to produce delicious junk food and consumers having the right to purchase and consume as much of it as they want, but I think we'd all be better off if the food industry stopped funding nutritional research.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/07/gover...
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/21/health/nutrition/beware-fo...
The fat clogging our arteries doesn't necessarily come from dietary fat.
A lot has changed when it comes to heart disease. For example, not even the USDA supports the claim that excessive dietary cholesterol is linked to heart disease anymore. Their new official stance is that you shouldn't worry about it at all, no upper limit, eat as much as you want.[1]
Contrast that with the last 50 years we've all spent having conversations and making comments about how dangerous egg yolks and meat are because of the cholesterol, and all the foods promoted for being cholesterol-free or low-cholesterol. Cocoa Puffs getting the American Heart Association checkmark on the box because they're low-cholesterol.[2]
It's very difficult to get good information on this because the food industry spends billions selectively funding research to muddy the waters and spread misinformation the same way tobacco companies did in the '50s and '60s. Their 2 biggest goals on this front are:
1. Defend refined sugar and carbohydrates against claims that they're unhealthy/toxic. These are the most profitable commodities because they're the most shelf-stable, they're easy to shape dye and flavor into just about anything, and they're extremely cheap because of food subsidies.
2. Promote the idea that our health and well-being as it relates to nutrition, is entirely determined by one's ability to balance calories in vs calories out. If that's all it is, then all of their products are exonerated from all negative health effects, and they can shift the burden of blame onto their own customers.
I'm all for personal responsibility and companies having the right to produce delicious junk food and consumers having the right to purchase and consume as much of it as they want, but I think we'd all be better off if the food industry stopped funding nutritional research.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/07/gover...
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/21/health/nutrition/beware-fo...