Experts say yes to fat

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Fat and cholesterol have long been considered nutritional sins. But that now seems out of date. In a nutritional recommendation, experts have even completely overturned the previous limit for fat. Because the right fat can even be healthy.

Low-fat and low cholesterol is in and is considered healthy. Corresponding recipes can be found on the Internet, the range of light products in the supermarket is increasing and even fast food restaurants have recently started offering low-fat fries. But experts from “fat” America are countering this trend.

Fat - no problem

Every five years, the experts of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) renew the nutritional recommendations for Americans based on current study results: Most of this year's analysis is well known: a lot of fruit, vegetables, whole grain products and fish but little meat, sugar, salt - and Fat would be added automatically. But the DGAC left that out for the first time. And not only that: The committee completely dropped the old maximum fat limit of 35 percent of daily calorie intake. The recommended limit for us is currently 30 percent.

"Limiting total daily fat intake to a certain value is scientifically unsustainable," says cardiologist and epidemiologist Dariush Mozaffarian. New studies have clearly shown that foods rich in healthy fats - such as nuts, vegetable oils, and fish - protect against cardiovascular disease.

In addition, many light products, such as low-fat sausage or fat-free salad dressings, are not healthier and sometimes even unhealthy than the full-fat variant, because they often contain a lot of sugar and other additives, says the expert. "Healthy or unhealthy - it is the food that counts, not the fat content."

Dietary cholesterol - not all that dangerous

The experts are not only giving the all-clear for fat, but also for dietary cholesterol. There is a particularly large amount of it in eggs and butter, for example. For a long time it was considered to be the cause of heart attacks and strokes. However, recent studies have shown no significant association between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Instead of the previously recommended maximum of 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day - there are no longer any limits in the American dietary recommendation.

German experts agree

The German Nutrition Society (DEG) has also updated its guideline to reflect the new findings. She now questions the relationship between total fat intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, stroke, cancer and obesity. She also considers it unlikely that cholesterol intake is responsible for increased HDL cholesterol and triglycerol levels in the blood.

Fat - but the right one

The results sound tempting, but of course that doesn't mean that you can now eat tons of fries, chips and burgers without a guilty conscience. According to the DAGC experts, the aim should be a balanced diet with a lot of unsaturated fatty acids, as found mainly in vegetable oils, and few saturated fatty acids. The latter are particularly found in animal products and should not exceed ten percent of the total calorie intake, according to the DGAC.

It should not be forgotten that fat has a high energy density and is therefore very rich in calories. In addition, fat is the bad taste carrier and often tempts you to add more.

Sources:

Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Advisory Report of the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Sectretary of Agriculture

German Nutrition Society: Evidence-based guideline: "Fat intake and prevention of selected diet-related diseases", 2nd version

Press release from Tufts University from June 22nd, 2015

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