How Much Fat Do We Need?
'In its 2002 Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs, which replaced the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances, or RDAs) the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that 20 to 35% of our calories be consumed as fat. This advice is significantly skewed to the high side by the financial and lobbying influence of the U.S. dairy and meat lobbies. In his book The China Study, Dr. T. Colin Campbell sheds some light on this longstanding problem. In 1982, while serving on a National Academies of Science expert panel, Campbell coauthored a report entitled Diet, Nutrition and Cancer. This was the first public scientific panel to openly question the wisdom of certain widely accepted nutritional standards. In particular, the panel recommended a substantial reduction in fat intake. Campbell writes, “The first guideline in the report explicitly stated that high fat consumption is linked to cancer, and recommended reducing our fat intake from 40% to 30% of calories.” The report acknowledged that the 30% goal was an arbitrary cutoff point that represented a “moderate and practical target,” but the data could easily have justified a greater reduction in recommended fat intake. A more healthful “greater reduction,” however, was not to be. As Campbell describes, “The director of the USDA Nutrition Laboratory told us that if we went below 30%, consumers would be required to reduce animal food intake and that would be the death of the report.” In spite of such continuous industry pressure, some public agencies have succeeded in publishing lower guidelines. For example, a 2003 report on diet and chronic disease, commissioned by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization recommends a diet consisting of 15 to 30% fat. Private sources offer an even more conservative perspective on healthful levels of fat consumption: Udo Erasmus, author of Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, has extensively researched the topic of fat consumption and health. What’s more, he sells fat for a living. Yet in his book he recommends we eat just 15–20% of our calories as fat. The Pritikin Longevity Center, a facility that holds the finest heart disease reversal record of any such organization in the U.S., recommends a dietary fat consumption of 10%. Dr. Dean Ornish, a renowned cardiologist and author, also guides his heart patients to greater health and disease reversal through his near-vegetarian dietary program that includes not more than 10% fat. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, surgeon at the famed Cleveland Clinic and author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, also recommends a low-fat cooked vegan diet where approximately 10% of calories come from fat. Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and author of several books on vegan nutrition, is another proponent of approximately 10% fat for health. Many other doctors and PhDs famous for their work in nutrition have written extensively on the health benefits that predictably accompany a drastic reduction in dietary fat consumption. These include John McDougall, Michael Klaper, Alan Goldhamer, William Harris, Ruth Heidrich, Michael Greger, and Matthew Lederman and Alona Pulde, among others. All of these professionals, as well as many dietitians, nutritionists, sports scientists, and other health experts agree that the magic percentage could be as high as the teens, but not much higher. Only industry-influenced government bodies recommend that we should limit fat consumption to 30% of our total calories. I would steer clear of any health “professional” or diet plan that claims that consuming 20% or more of our calories from fat is healthful (or even acceptable). Several years ago, I read an interview in an airline magazine with the then-current director of nutrition for the U.S. Olympic Team. In it, she stated that the relative percentages of fat, protein, and carbohydrates in an athlete’s diet should not vary, regardless of whether the athlete runs the mile or the marathon, lifts weights or plays table tennis, shoots skeet or puts the shot. She stated that without a doubt, the only nutritional change she would recommend from athlete to athlete would be the number of calories consumed, not the choice of food or caloronutrient ratio. She went on to assert that fruit is like magic food for athletes. The International Olympic Committee, in its book Food, Nutrition and Sports Performance, concluded that a diet based on fruits and vegetables was the healthiest for athletes and would result in the best possible performance.'
'In its 2002 Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs, which replaced the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances, or RDAs) the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that 20 to 35% of our calories be consumed as fat. This advice is significantly skewed to the high side by the financial and lobbying influence of the U.S. dairy and meat lobbies. In his book The China Study, Dr. T. Colin Campbell sheds some light on this longstanding problem. In 1982, while serving on a National Academies of Science expert panel, Campbell coauthored a report entitled Diet, Nutrition and Cancer. This was the first public scientific panel to openly question the wisdom of certain widely accepted nutritional standards. In particular, the panel recommended a substantial reduction in fat intake. Campbell writes, “The first guideline in the report explicitly stated that high fat consumption is linked to cancer, and recommended reducing our fat intake from 40% to 30% of calories.” The report acknowledged that the 30% goal was an arbitrary cutoff point that represented a “moderate and practical target,” but the data could easily have justified a greater reduction in recommended fat intake. A more healthful “greater reduction,” however, was not to be. As Campbell describes, “The director of the USDA Nutrition Laboratory told us that if we went below 30%, consumers would be required to reduce animal food intake and that would be the death of the report.” In spite of such continuous industry pressure, some public agencies have succeeded in publishing lower guidelines. For example, a 2003 report on diet and chronic disease, commissioned by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization recommends a diet consisting of 15 to 30% fat. Private sources offer an even more conservative perspective on healthful levels of fat consumption: Udo Erasmus, author of Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, has extensively researched the topic of fat consumption and health. What’s more, he sells fat for a living. Yet in his book he recommends we eat just 15–20% of our calories as fat. The Pritikin Longevity Center, a facility that holds the finest heart disease reversal record of any such organization in the U.S., recommends a dietary fat consumption of 10%. Dr. Dean Ornish, a renowned cardiologist and author, also guides his heart patients to greater health and disease reversal through his near-vegetarian dietary program that includes not more than 10% fat. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, surgeon at the famed Cleveland Clinic and author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, also recommends a low-fat cooked vegan diet where approximately 10% of calories come from fat. Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and author of several books on vegan nutrition, is another proponent of approximately 10% fat for health. Many other doctors and PhDs famous for their work in nutrition have written extensively on the health benefits that predictably accompany a drastic reduction in dietary fat consumption. These include John McDougall, Michael Klaper, Alan Goldhamer, William Harris, Ruth Heidrich, Michael Greger, and Matthew Lederman and Alona Pulde, among others. All of these professionals, as well as many dietitians, nutritionists, sports scientists, and other health experts agree that the magic percentage could be as high as the teens, but not much higher. Only industry-influenced government bodies recommend that we should limit fat consumption to 30% of our total calories. I would steer clear of any health “professional” or diet plan that claims that consuming 20% or more of our calories from fat is healthful (or even acceptable). Several years ago, I read an interview in an airline magazine with the then-current director of nutrition for the U.S. Olympic Team. In it, she stated that the relative percentages of fat, protein, and carbohydrates in an athlete’s diet should not vary, regardless of whether the athlete runs the mile or the marathon, lifts weights or plays table tennis, shoots skeet or puts the shot. She stated that without a doubt, the only nutritional change she would recommend from athlete to athlete would be the number of calories consumed, not the choice of food or caloronutrient ratio. She went on to assert that fruit is like magic food for athletes. The International Olympic Committee, in its book Food, Nutrition and Sports Performance, concluded that a diet based on fruits and vegetables was the healthiest for athletes and would result in the best possible performance.'