THERE’S a famous scene in Woody Allen’s film Sleeper in which two scientists in the year 2173 are discussing the dietary advice of the late 20th century.
“You mean there was no deep fat, no steak or cream pies or hot fudge?” asks one, incredulous. “Those were thought to be unhealthy,” replies the other. “Precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.”
We’re not quite in Woody Allen territory yet, but steak and cream pies are starting to look a lot less unhealthy than they once did. After 35 years as dietary gospel, the idea that saturated fat is bad for your heart appears to be melting away like a lump of butter in a hot pan.
“The idea that saturated fat is bad for your heart appears to be melting away”
So is it OK to eat more red meat and cheese? Will the current advice to limit saturated fat be overturned? If it is, how did we get it so wrong for so long?
The answers matter. According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death, killing more than 17 million people annually, about a third of all deaths. It predicts that by 2030, 23 million will succumb each year. In the US, an estimated 81 million people are living with cardiovascular disease. The healthcare bill is a small fortune.
The idea that eating saturated fat – found in high levels in animal products such as meat and dairy – directly raises the risk of a heart attack has been a mainstay of nutrition science since the …