LONDON: Urging people to follow low-fat diets and to lower their cholesterol is having “disastrous health consequences”, a health charity warns.
The National Obesity Forum and the Public Health Collaboration call for a “major overhaul” of current dietary guidelines. They say the focus on low-fat diets is failing to address Britain’s obesity crisis. Instead, they call for a return to “whole foods” such as meat, fish and dairy, as well as high-fat healthy foods including avocados, arguing that “eating fat does not make you fat”.
The report – which has caused a huge backlash among the scientific community – also argues that saturated fat does not cause heart disease while full-fat diary – including milk, yoghurt and cheese – can actually protect the heart.
Processed foods labelled “low fat”, “lite”, “low cholesterol” or “proven to lower cholesterol” should be avoided at all costs and people with type 2 diabetes should eat a fat-rich diet rather than one based on carbohydrates. The report also said sugar should be avoided, people should stop counting calories and the idea that exercise can help you “outrun a bad diet” is a myth.
The authors also argue that the science of food has also been “corrupted by commercial influences”. Just as big tobacco companies bought the “loyalty of scientists” when a link was made between smoking and lung cancer, the influence of the food industry represents a “significant threat to public health”, they argued.
They said the recent Eatwell Guide from Public Health England (PHE) was produced with a large number of people from the food and drink industry.
Professor David Haslam, chairperson of the National Obesity Forum, said: “As a clinician, treating patients all day every day, I quickly realised that guidelines from on high, suggesting high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets were the universal panacea, were deeply flawed. Current efforts have failed – the proof being that obesity levels are higher than they have ever been.”
Dr Aseem Malhotra, consultant cardiologist and founding member of the Public Health Collaboration, a group of medics, said dietary guidelines promoting low-fat foods “is perhaps the biggest mistake in modern medical history”.
But Professor John Wass, the Royal College of Physicians’ special adviser on obesity, said there was “good evidence that saturated fat increases cholesterol”.
“What is needed is a balanced diet, regular physical activity and a normal healthy weight.”
Professor Simon Capewell, from the Faculty of Public Health, said: “We fully support Public Health England’s new guidance on a healthy diet. Their advice reflects evidence-based science that we can all trust. By contrast, the report from the National Obesity Forum is not peer-reviewed. Furthermore, it does not indicate who wrote it or how is was funded. That is worrying.”
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE, said: “In the face of all the evidence, calling for people to eat more fat, cut out carbs and ignore calories is irresponsible.”