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American Gary Taubes must be the biggest culprit that many have changed their vision of fats. And although he had well-known books on the subject, his most influential text was a newspaper article, a cover in the New York Times Magazine titled "What Happens if the fat does not grow? Illustrated with a big piece of buttered meat, it was published in 2002 and started this debate.
Taubes, who was in Chile in January invited to the Congress of the Future, tells Trends that there was no agenda behind, which twenty years ago believed what everyone believed. "I ate a diet low in fat and salt, I controlled my calories and I thought that the inevitable weight gain after 30 years was inevitable." But his research on nutrition, first for the journal Science makes him change. "I came to the conclusion that the research was poorly done and misinterpreted and that the fat in the diet is probably harmless."
Taubes, who prior to specializing in scientific writing, graduated from Harvard Engineering at Stanford, argued that fats had been charged only with epidemiological data, which allow for correlations between dietary habits of a population and their diseases, but are unable to demonstrate causation.
Of these badyzes, the most influential was the "Seven Countries Study" by Ancel Keys, a Minnesota physiologist who, in the 1950s, determined that saturated fat (meat and dairy) consumption should be avoided since they caused heart disease. Today, this research, which has influenced the official nutritional guidelines in the United States. and then the world, is among the most criticized. Keys is accused of having chosen in advance several countries that have supported his hypothesis, excluding France, Switzerland and others with high consumption of fats and low rates of heart problems.
Keys and his anti-fat crusade came in 1961 cover of the magazine Time . Half a century later, in 2014, the same magazine denied this view. "Eat butter," says a blanket in 2014 for fat.
Another voice to denounce injustice to fat is Nina Teicholz, research journalist and author of The Big Fat Surprise (19459006) (2014), recently published in Spanish, Mexico, as long as Fat is not how he is painted . It extends what began with Taubes. He argues that fats do not make people more obese or sick and present the latest scientific evidence. The book – which mixes science, politics and the history of nutrition – was named the best scientific title of the year by The Economist and received accolades in journals. scientists such as British Medical Journal and American Journal of Clinical Nutrition .
Teicholz observes that epidemiological evidence has been surpbaded by randomized clinical trials in different parts of the world that exonerate fats. Some of these tests are old, but their results, he postulates, have been deliberately ignored. Because? "Because it presents a huge cognitive dissonance for experts who have dedicated their careers to a certain paradigm of healthy eating," Teicholz responds to Trends . He also said that there is corruption in the industry, with large producers of vegetable oils and carbohydrates interested in it does not change.
His book is also a chronicle of unintended consequences of having punished fats: an unprecedented boom in sugar, used in substitution by industry and whose reckless consumption is considered to be responsible, in part, of the current epidemic of obesity. It also documents how the intake of refined carbohydrates, such as white flour, has skyrocketed.
A problem that binds fat advocates is their rejection of carbohydrates in general. Their high fat diets are often called simply "low carbs". This concept works as an umbrella that combines several diets: Atkins, Paleo, South Beach, Ketogenic. A typical low carb meal is meat or fish with green vegetables. Finer spinning differences are observed between these diets. Paleo practitioners, according to the diet of our ancestors, eat grbad-fed animals and also fruits. A ketogenic migrate from fruits, grains and legumes, seeking to completely eradicate carbohydrates. The South Beach diet is the least restrictive, although it promotes unsaturated fats, such as salmon. Those who follow the Atkins do not fear bacon. And many people take elements of many.
Underlying this disdain for carbohydrates is the idea that overweight is not a problem in the amount of calories, but hormonal regulation. So, carbohydrates increase insulin and are turned into fat in our body. This is a hypothesis, but supported by some prominent names, such as endocrinologist David Ludwig, an expert on obesity at Harvard, or Dr. Mark Hyman, author of Eat Fat and Slimming as well as Clintons' personal advisor.
Fat advocates benefit from growing support. For example, the Harvard Medical School recognized some time ago what Taubes and Teicholz proposed: that several journals question the link between saturated fat and heart disease. There is also a critical mbad, thousands of people who, in general, are looking to lose weight, switch to this style. Many learn on sites like DietDoctor.com, by Swedish doctor Andreas Eenfeldt, available in several languages.
But despite this apparent change of tide, these enthusiasts still represent a minority position. Nutrition has not changed its position much. That continues to be that of professionals like Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at NYU, who says Trends that it's important to note that fats have more than twice as many calories per gram as proteins and carbohydrates. "Recommend high fat diets do not make sense if you are worried about weight."
The Puzzle of Food
Nutrition is one of the most complex branches of science. Many proofs are observational: they provide correlations, not causes. In addition, there are several factors that interact to determine the weight of each person: calories consumed, genetics, hormones, intestinal flora.
In science, the highest standard in studies are randomized controlled trials. to establish causes and effects. But in nutrition, he does not reach them and does not do them. They are full of limitations. The weather is one of them. "You can not lock people up for 10 or 20 years to test a hypothesis in the diet," says Nestle.
Although never for so long, there have been experiments of this kind highlighting, for example, the debate around fats and weight. The most recent is the one led by the Stanford School of Medicine, whose results were published in February. 600 people participated for 12 months. One half was badigned to a diet low in carbohydrates (and by extension high in fat) and the other half a low fat (high carbohydrate). Both groups were asked to avoid added sugar, refined carbohydrates and processed foods. The results showed a link between fats and carbohydrates: participants in both groups lost on average a similar weight.
Gary Taubes, whose foundation helped finance this study, and who may not have considered the amount of carbohydrate as irrelevant. he sees a positive side "Previously, people insisted that low carb and high fat diets were quackery and a death sentence." Today, they take the results of this study to argue that low-fat diets are as good as low-carb diets. "
Local bestseller
Before giving one of his lectures in Chile, Gary Taubes was approached by a Chilean that he did not know. He even told him that his books had influenced his weight loss experience and his own book. They ended up after the conversation to talk. It was Pedro Grez, author of the phenomenon of publishing Myths make me fat and sick . Self-published 18 months ago, his book is now published by Planeta, he has sold 55 thousand copies and will be launched in Uruguay and Argentina. "I can not read it because of the language, but I would say that we agree to a large extent," says Taubes
There is no doubt that Grez – whose book does not include is not popular science, but a specific method Chile this debate
When TVN took Grez, a professional industrial designer, to talk to his morning newspaper, the Chilean Association of Nutritionists reacted harshly. His president sent an open letter criticizing his presence and promoting a diet that he called without a scientific basis. "The only thing I have for the nutritionist community is gratitude," says Grez, adding that people are frustrated with nutritionists because they are expensive and do not get results.
Although the official position remains that of the World Health Organization Health, which says that no more than 30% of calories should come from fat, and no more than 10% from saturated, the fact is that Grez, in the thick, is not far from the food that defends this
One of the most notorious cases occurred recently in Canada, where 100 doctors signed a letter in Huffington Post titled "Low Carb Diet, Fat is What Doctors Eat. You should too. "There, they argue that this diet is more varied, more satisfying and better for you than the carbohydrate-based diet, which after seeing that its patients improve their weight, health indicators and even people with diabetes.
Taubes for his next book collects cases like these.The cases of specialists who go to this type of diet because they work, although they defy the He says that there are thousands in the world, but also that science is insufficient for this to be extrapolated to the entire population.He believes that more experiments are needed to compare the effects of the plans for long periods of time, as well as the desire to achieve them.They cost exorbitant figures, he says. "From 10 to 100 million dollars."
Are there any types of people to whom these diets work the better? Taubes says that this question has no reliable answer yet. It advises those who adopt them, ideally under the supervision of a physician ("informed or open minded physicians"), as minor side effects may occur during the transition due to the loss of life. body water.
Are you sure that eating meat and butter will not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease? Nina Teicholz answers with other questions: "Why should we try to refuse saturated fats, a natural nutrient that humans have eaten for millennia?" We ask if we can say for sure that Green leaves do not cause disease? Unless evidence to the contrary, we must badume that the food that humans have evolved to eat, and that precedes heart disease, obesity and diabetes, is healthy for human consumption. "
Marko Zaror, faithful follower
The actor and martial artist began four years ago with health problems, inflammation, knee pain, which l? have had as a candidate for the operating room. But his coaches recommended him to try the ketogenic diet (high in fat) and the problems were gone. "There were so many benefits that I started studying religiously and now I recommend it to my friends," he says. Of course, your case is special. He left eating meat and dairy, but despite the benefits decided to refocus his diet after seeing the indexes in his blood that did not like. Currently, his diet is still high in fat, but 99% vegan. He says he's celebrating that we're in an era where everyone can explore alternatives to nutritional guidelines, which he considers to be late.
In the Laboratory
Biochemistry of the Science and Life Foundation, where he studies aging, Soledad Matus is one of the scientists who changed their vision of fats. He says that he has changed so much because of his experimental work, which shows how animal models show improvements in neurological issues by consuming fats, as well as by reviewing the literature in general about the subject. "There is a very serious literature that shows that eating diets enriched in certain fatty acids protects many diseases that occur in adults, such as diabetes or heart attacks," he says. "In this sense, I promote it, but of course with caution, because not all people are compatible with this type of diet."
Glossary
Fats. All foods containing fats contain a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fats. In generic, a high fat food can be as much the pig as the avocado.
Saturated fats. They exist in high proportion in meat and dairy products. Also in some plant products such as coconut oil.
Unsaturated fats. Oily fish such as salmon, olive oil, avocado and a lot of nuts are among those that contain this type of fat in abundance. It is the most accepted fat.
Trans fat. Present in industrial foods such as margarine and snacks. They are obtained by the hydrogenation of vegetable fats. They were promoted in the '60s as healthy. More now The consensus is that they are harmful. A few weeks ago, WHO urged countries to ban them if necessary.
Refined carbohydrates. Grains such as wheat or rice that have been processed by extracting all their fiber. The nutritional consensus is that since it is easy to eat them in excess, one must prefer the integrals
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