| How did the "dietary fat is bad" roller | | | | the brain, improve arthritis symptoms and |
| coaster get started? Investigative reporter | | | | skin tone.For the last 20 years the Food |
| Gary Taub in his insightful and through | | | | Pyramid put together by the National |
| research report published in the New York | | | | Institute of Health has expounded the |
| Times Magazine explains what happened."It all | | | | following advice: "Start off with plenty of |
| began in 1977", says Taub, "when a Senate | | | | breads, cereals, rice, pasta, vegetables and |
| committee led by George McGovern published | | | | fruit and go easy on the fats, oils and |
| its 'Dietary Goals for the United States', | | | | sweets."As you can see, the NIH lumps |
| which warned Americans to curb their fat | | | | vegetables, fruit and white flour in the same |
| intake to abate a supposed epidemic of | | | | box and makes the unlikely association of |
| "killer diseases". It peaked in 1984, when | | | | essential fatty acids with sugar. This food |
| the National Institutes of Health officially | | | | pyramid would be closer to accurate if it was |
| recommended that all Americans eat less | | | | turned upside down. The new one published |
| fat.The food industry jumped on the roller | | | | recently isn't much better but at least it |
| coaster with a flood of new low fat products | | | | finally requires manufacturers to list trans |
| to meet the new recommendations. Fat was | | | | fats on the label. Trans fats are far more |
| replaced with sugar or high fructose corn | | | | dangerous than saturated fat. What more could |
| syrup to replace lost flavor. Millions were | | | | you expect from a government bureaucracy?The |
| spent on advertising as the "low fat train" | | | | link between eating fat and getting heart |
| picked up speed.The low fat diet message | | | | disease has never been proven although the |
| effectively ignores the fact that some fats, | | | | N.I.H conducted five major studies and spent |
| such as olive oil, coconut oil and the omega | | | | several hundred million dollars trying to |
| 3 oils such as fish, flax and borage oil are | | | | show a connection. |
| essential for heart health. They also benefit | | | | |