Wait a minute... I thought the notion that saturated fat caused heart disease was settled science. That we had a consensus. Now we realize we're wrong? That scientists cherry-picked data, had inadequate controls? That "too much institutional energy and research money had already been spent ... A bias in its favor had grown so strong that the idea just started to seem like common sense."<p>The tragedy is that after generations of blind, almost religious belief in flawed science those raised on a diet of synthetic fats, sugar, and refined flour are suffering obesity and diabetes like never before.
In Greg Egan's story Crystal Nights, one of the characters became rich by making a site called "FoodExcuses.com", where you input what you eat and it gathers all of the scientific literature justifying it as a healthy diet.<p>It's just a throwaway joke in the story but I'm convinced it would absolutely work in real life.<p><a href="http://ttapress.com/553/crystal-nights-by-greg-egan/" rel="nofollow">http://ttapress.com/553/crystal-nights-by-greg-egan/</a>
The most recent research still upholds that saturated fats, over and above their contribution to obesity, are a worse risk than polyunsaturated fats.<p>A meta-analysis of 8 randomised controlled trials with 13 thousand subjects showed that a 5% total energy substitution from saturated to polyunsaturated fats reduced risk of coronary heart disease by 10%.[1]<p>The point about substituting hydrogenated fats is good; but it's hardly an argument for switching back to saturated fat. It's an argument in favour of not eating unhealthy food in the first place.<p>But that's not how you sell books, is it?<p>[1] <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20351774/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20351774/</a>
I've followed the Paleo diet for over two years now and the health benefits have been great for me (an incidental part of eating tons of meat is getting a good amount of animal-based saturated fat).<p>After many discussions with many people about what is or is not healthy and a lot of reading, I've come to believe two things:<p>1. We (scientific and non-scientific community) have no clue what is or is not healthy, and it probably varies from person to person, and<p>2. The human body is really good at giving indicators as to whether or not it is healthy. With a bit of experimentation (food/exercise) and attention to physical and mental well-being it's not hard to assess one's health.<p>The difference for me after going Paleo was noticeable after about two weeks -- improved memory, energy, happiness, sleep, lots of other stuff. I've heard similar stories from others that have become vegan, vegetarian, discovered high-FODMAP insensitivity, etc.<p>Shameless self-promotion: I built <a href="http://www.fitsmeapp.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.fitsmeapp.com</a> to help find food (currently just recipes) based on arbitrary user-defined "diets". Feedback is always appreciated.
Related:<p>Study Questions Fat Heart Disease Link
<a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/study-questions-fat-and-heart-disease-link/" rel="nofollow">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/study-questions-fat...</a><p>A Lifelong Fight Against Trans Fats
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/health/a-lifelong-fight-against-trans-fat.html?_r=1&" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/health/a-lifelong-fight-ag...</a><p>The Oiling of America
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvKdYUCUca8" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvKdYUCUca8</a>
I would just like to point out that earlier[1] there was a discussion around science not showing any evidence of GMO harm. We don't have a complete understanding of nutrition and the human body; and there's a lot of money to be made making everyone believe one thing or another. Anyone who thinks they have it <i>"all figured out"</i> is setting themselves up for a surprise.<p>Even I admit that my chasing of labels such as Non-GMO and USDA Organic could also be a big marketing scam and they could very well be selling me the same pesticide-soaked, GMO-glued-together, sweetener-laced, antibiotic+steroids pumped food that everyone else is buying while charging me a 40% markup for a lie. But since I'm confident we're all just rolling dice here, I choose to gamble on chasing food that's supposedly very similar to what my family has been getting it for generations in Nigeria with no particularly notable health issues except 2 instances of diabetes. One of them came to America, started eating all the common fast foods, drinking, smoking, etc for over a decade. The other is related to depression and change of eating habits while still in Nigeria.<p>If I'm wrong... I'm wrong. But I hope this lets people know that our current science<i>(and social/economical incentives around it)</i> is not good enough to use as a debate-closer of health & fitness discussions. There are contradictions[2][3] out there. I suspect that at the end of the day, what's good for one person can be poison for another and all our attempts at generalizing health & fitness guidelines for everyone will ultimate end in failure. We'll all have to go into the hospital, get a DNA sample and get customized health & fitness advice - and that's assuming we can remove the economic incentives for hospitals/doctors to just tell us whatever it takes to sell some expensive "solution".<p>1. <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7671699" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7671699</a><p>2. <i>"Many of the bacteria are species that the researchers had never seen before. And even familiar microbes were present in unusual levels in the Hadza belly. “The Hadza not only lack the ‘healthy bacteria,’ and they don’t suffer from the diseases we suffer from, but they also have high levels of bacteria that are associated with disease,” Crittenden said."</i> ---- <a href="http://www.wired.com/2014/04/hadza-hunter-gatherer-gut-microbiome/" rel="nofollow">http://www.wired.com/2014/04/hadza-hunter-gatherer-gut-micro...</a><p>3. <i>"
Unlike their Western counterparts, the Tarahumara don't replenish their bodies with electrolyte-rich sports drinks. They don't rebuild between workouts with protein bars; in fact, they barely eat any protein at all, living on little more than ground corn spiced up by their favourite delicacy, barbecued mouse.</i> ---- <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-...</a>
Have we become stupid to the point that we need the Internet to tell us what to eat? What were we eating for millenia before we invented nutrition experts? Is this article of relevance/interest to HN?