Finally, the ‘Low Fat dogma’ of the last 60 years is dying. Mind you, I’m a retired open-heart nurse that used to believe and teach the low fat nonsense:
- Hundreds of Canadian physicians demand an end to the low fat dogma via an open letter.
- Sweden has scrapped its former low fat thinking, after an independent committee pored through tens of thousands of studies that show it to be total quackery.
- Mark Hyman, MD’s book Eat Fat, Get Thin presents the case for eating dietary fats based on the latest research.
- The NYTimes writes in “What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?“: “If the members of the American medical establishment were to have a collective find-yourself-standing-naked-in-Times-Square-type nightmare, this might be it!”
- The Ketogenic diet prescribed by doctors is helping patients with insulin resistance, diabetes, or pre-diabetes suppress hunger and make weight loss easier.
Low fat adherents will tell you that eating too much fat – especially saturated fat – will make you fat and give you a heart attack.
But tell that to the traditional Inuit, who get about 75% of calories from fat, and were almost entirely free of modern degenerative disease and obesity. It’s true for the Masai tribe in Africa, who get about 60-70% of calories from fat (almost entirely from meat and milk). And then there’s the modern French, who have the lowest rate of heart disease of any modernized country in the world – despite the highest intake of saturated fat. (source)
If you want the studies, take a look at the “conclusion” of this 530,525 participant study from 2014. A prior analysis in 2010 that included more than 300,000 participants came to a similar conclusion.
Both show saturated fat intake has NO correlation with heart disease and exposes the awful nutrition advice it really is!
9 Reasons Low Fat Weakens Our Bodies
1. Fat-soluble vitamins are found in fat
Available Vitamins A, D, E and K are found only in fatty foods, because they require lots of fat for absorption. Carrots and other vegetables will not provide you with vitamin A! To put this in perspective, that means one must eat 4 1/2 pounds of carrots to potentially get the amount of useable A as in 3 oz. of beef liver (source).
From the work of nutrition pioneer Weston Price, we understand that the amount of Vitamin A in primitive diets was about 50,000 IU per day, which could only be achieved in a modern diet by consuming generous amounts of grass-fed whole milk, cream, butter and eggs from pastured animals; beef or duck liver each week; and 1 tablespoon regular cod liver oil or 1/2 tablespoon high-vitamin cod liver oil per day. (Source).
2. Fat prevents sugar highs and sugar crashes
When food producers and ‘healthy eating’ gurus jumped on the low-fat bandwagon, they soon found that reducing the fat in food eliminated moisture and flavor. So, they increased sugar content to compensate. Increased sugar and decreased fat is terrible news for blood sugar regulation. It’s no wonder we are seeing skyrocketing diabetes!
Whenever we eat a source of carbohydrate, it should be accompanied by a quality source of fat. Fat slows down the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream and prevents wild swings in blood sugar. This keeps us full longer so we can reach or maintain a healthy weight.
3. Hormone balance requires cholesterol-rich saturated fat
Cholesterol-rich saturated-fat foods provide the building blocks for sex hormones, including testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. Without cholesterol, master hormone pregnenolone cannot be made, which regulates these hormones.
On top of that, statin drugs that inhibit the liver’s production of cholesterol may have a very damaging effect upon the cascade of hormones of the endocrine system and reduce CoQ10 levels.
The most common side-effects of statin drugs are:
- loss of physical strength
- sexual dysfunction
- memory loss
- liver dysfunction
- changes in mood
- cardiomyopathy
Women, without enough dietary cholesterol, often become:
- estrogen dominant (deficient in progesterone)
- characterized by PMS and menopausal symptoms
For men, a low-fat diet yields:
- low testosterone
- erectile dysfunction
- tendency toward “man boobs”
4. Weight loss and weight management requires fat
Already supermodels are onto the weight loss secret coconut oil. Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr has been using coconut oil for years to maintain her enviable figure and won’t go anywhere without it!
Eating boxed cereal or a low fat protein bar as a snack, you’ll feel starved and crave sugar in 60 minutes. Much more sustaining is a calorie-for-calorie approach: 200 calories of coconut oil is going to keep you full for at least 2-3 hours, while those 200 calories of whole-grain cereal and skim milk will leave you starving an hour later.
“Fat doesn’t make you fat; sugar makes you fat.” ~Dr. Chris Greene and me
“Fats do have an effect on satiety and appear to regulate appetite through several mechanisms including the release of appetite hormones and inhibition of gastric emptying and intestinal transit,” says PubMed study.
5. Detox requires fat
You may not see a half an avocado or pat of real butter as detox-promoting, but it certainly is! By stimulating bile release, good sources of saturated fats like butter encourage detox, balanced hormones and weight loss.
After the liver filters toxins for our entire body, it moves them into bile. If there is adequate fat to signal bile release, the gallbladder releases bile when we digest our food and the toxins in the bile leave the body with the feces.
If we aren’t consuming adequate fat to signal bile release, however, then the toxins build up in both the liver (where filtered toxins are collected) and gallbladder. The toxic load builds up as the body reabsorbs these resident toxins.
6. Gallbladder health & bile release requires fat
We see soaring numbers of gallbladder removals from people who have eaten a low fat or poor fat diet. After months or years, we can create serious gallbladder congestion due to buildup of thick, sticky bile sitting in the gallbladder. Eventually, gallbladder attacks and gallstones occur.
But what happens when we only have minuscule grams of fats in our meal? Bile release isn’t signaled, so bile sits in the gallbladder, turning it thick and gummy. In a vicious cycle, it becomes more difficult for the gallbladder to release bile when bile is thick, so it just gets thicker in the gallbladder.
Then, if we do eat a meal heavy in fat, the gallbladder can’t squeeze out the thick bile and the fat passes through our digestive tract undigested and unused for critical tasks in the body.
If you currently experience gallbladder problems or have had your gallbladder removed, you should gradually increase your fat intake and take targeted supplements, including ox bile with bile salts. I recommend working with a nutritional therapist or naturopath to address the problem.
7. Cholesterol balance requires plenty of good fats
The roles of cholesterol in our body is catastrophically misunderstood.
For additional information on cholesterol, statin drugs, and cholesterol testing, I highly recommend signing up for Chris Kresser’s newsletter. You’ll get free, instant access to his ebook The Diet-Heart Myth, written in plain English.
8. Protein utilization requires fat
Protein cannot be adequately utilized without dietary fats. That is why protein and fats occur together in eggs, milk, fish and meats. A high protein, low fat diet can cause many problems including too rapid growth and depletion of vitamin A and D reserves. Source and read more.
If we examine the eating habits of our parents and grandparents, we see that lean protein is a thoroughly modern invention. My great-grandmother would have never left the egg-yolks out of her omelets, for heaven’s-sake! After all, the fatty acids and vitamins in the yolks are required to utilize the protein in the whites.
9. Fat makes food taste good
Lastly, nourishing sources of fats makes healthy food taste amazing. Makes you think cream and egg yolks taste so good… is God’s way of telling us that these foods are a gift for us!
Most of the recipes in my old copy of Joy of Cooking cookbook from 1931 contains satisfying amounts of butter, lard, egg yolks, pork, and/or cream. Plain steamed vegetables would be a completely foreign concept to homemakers of that era.
“My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.” ~Ps. 63:5

How much fat is enough?
As a general rule of thumb, we should eat no less than 40% of our calories as fat. I thrive on a 50% healthy fat diet.
For a 2,000 calorie diet, obtaining 40% of calories from fat means eating about 90 grams of fat.
Vegetable oils such as canola oil should be completely avoided, because the high ratio of omega-6, polyunsaturated fats is unnatural and inflammatory.
Thankfully, I no longer buy into all the low fat dietary myths that have been pushed for so many years! Here are some of the healthy fat foods and ideas I use.
Let’s dump the low fat myth and get on the road to health by sharing!
Charlotte Moore
I could not wrap my mind around eating higher fat when I first heard about it. I had been bad to eat low fat. I can say for sure good high fat is best. I put 2 T coconut oil and 2 T heavy cream and stevia in a big cup of coffee and put to in the blender. Oh my, it is delicious.
Wendy Reuther
I have been eating this way for a few years, with plenty of vegetables and fruit, and limiting grains to 2-3 whole grain servings a day, and my health and weight are good, but my total cholesterol is now 342 and the doctor wants me to eat less fat. I really do believe good fats like butter and coconut oil and lard are important, but now I am confused, and not sure what to do. What is your opinion?
Jacqueline
Hi, Wendy! What an interesting question. We have been talking about this for a few years…
Since we know that cholesterol is what the myelin sheath is predominately made up of (it is the insulating covering of the nerves, axons and dendrites of the CNS), we know we need a lot to keep electrical transmissions moving. When it is thin or eroded bc of insufficient amounts in the body, we lose ability to transmit signals without interference. It has been a theory for a long time that we really DO NEED higher levels of cholesterol or we will suffer in various ways.
There has been a trend in medicine since the advent of statins and other cholesterol lowering drugs to lower number of what is considered to be a healthy cholesterol. What used to be good or very good is now considered high! BC there is a push to sell more and more of these drugs, there has been a manipulation of the numbers of what is a healthy cholesterol!!!
The American Heart Association recommends that your total cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dL, but what they do not tell you is that total cholesterol level is just about worthless in determining your risk for heart disease, unless it is above 330. (You mentioned that yours is at 342).
In addition, the AHA updated their guidelines in 2004, lowering the recommended level of LDL cholesterol from 130 to LDL to less than 100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk. In order to achieve these outrageous and dangerously low targets, you typically need to take multiple cholesterol-lowering drugs. So the guidelines instantly increased the market for these dangerous drugs. Now, with testing children’s cholesterol levels, they’re increasing their market even more.
This study shows a bit of what I am saying: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17210816 :”CONCLUSION:
A decline in serum total cholesterol levels may be associated with early stages in the development of dementia.” Your brain contains about 25% of all the cholesterol in your body present in myelin sheaths!
Since I am not an ‘expert’, I cannot recommend what you should do, but I hope you do not become fearful. Whatever you do, please really consider long and hard before you take statin drugs! It is my belief (and of many others in medicine who choose not to speak up) that it is a ruse to get more people on them: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/02/10/5-reasons-why-you-should-not-take-statins.aspx
One thing that I WOULD do is cut back on sugar and simple carb grains. That will:
1. LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE…
2. LOWER YOUR BAD CHOLESTEROL
3. DECREASE YOUR HEART ATTACK RISK
4. KEEP YOUR BRAIN SHARP
If you want to moderate the good fats you take in, just eat 80% of what you have been eating and then if their theory is correct, your cholesterol should drop to a decent level! ;D
I am sorry I got off on a tangent, but want to write a post on this soon! lol
I am not sure if this helps, but these are my thoughts!
Blessings,
Jacqueline
Gaby Robinson
I use a gen based diatary concept which is personalized in every aspect and makes sure my diet is balanced and healthy and gets me all the vitamins and minerals I need. That way my body gets exactly what MY BODY needs and doesn’t go through the stress of any one sided diet or opinions/fashions that come up every year. I’m in control of what I eat but I have the guidance and the tool to eat in a way that’s according to my genes. They get tested and then I start👍
Ruth Catherine Kennedy
I read Gary Taube’s summary in 2011. Then started with the Diet Doctor (Sweden) recommendations. When I stray, eat bread, cereals, sugar the kilos pile on. I cease this and go back on high fat low carbs the kilos fall off. I feel better and recently reduced levothyroxine daily intake by 25 micrograms! No question that this works giving more energy, healthier life style. I am now fasting from supper until lunchtime with no bad side effects… My usual regimen is chicken or egg (with cheese) and steamed vegetables for brunch, then consommé soup, followed by a generous salad with at least seven different vegetables, followed by full fat yoghurt and summer fruits (berries). I am amazed at the results!
Jacqueline
Ruth Catherine, that is a wonderful regime and it sounds perfectly delicious! How excellent, too that you are able to lower your levot bc it is linked to an earlier onset of dementia. Keep working to that end or consider replacing it with Armour or NP Thyroid which are not synthetic and do not cause the early onset of senility. See #5 in here and the red text on the alternatives: https://deeprootsathome.com/black-box-warnings-drugs/
Many blessings to you!! ~J
Cindy
How would eating this way help in Non alcoholic fatty liver? My husband just discovered through a cat scan for kidney stones that he has a severely fat liver. However he is not fat. He does have insulin resistance and low to no testosterone without supplementation. We were told to go on a low cholesterol diet, however I’m wondering how that will help because he has low cholesterol and is normal weight. Is there a specific diet you recommend? A book to point me in the right direction?
Jacqueline
Hi, Cindy, I went ahead and emailed you! Blessings ~J
Anna Groft
I would love to discuss this with you sometime. I would love to share my personal story on the topic of fat. Thank you.
Jacqueline
Anna, I would love to hear your story. Feel free to send it to me at [email protected]
Thanks,
Jacque