PARIS: A health study came to the defence of certain dietary fats on Tuesday, adding fuel to a scientific row over low-fat guidelines that have bedevilled dieters for nearly half-a-century.
The low-fat movement has not prevented a global epidemic of obesity linked to health concerns such as diabetes, heart attacks and stroke, said researchers who probed whether fat in olive oil and nuts pile on the pounds.
Of nearly 7,500 overweight and obese people enrolled for a trial in Spain, those who boosted “healthy” fat intake did not gain more weight than those who tried cutting back on all fat, researchers found.
“Our trial demonstrates that a high-fat, high vegetable diet such as (a) Mediterranean diet does not promote weight gain,” study author Ramon Estruch of the University of Barcelona told AFP.
Commentators cautioned against reading too much into the trial, which targeted a very distinct group of people: Caucasians aged 55-80, already overweight and at risk of heart disease.
Even those limiting fat had much more of it in their diet than the 30 percent recommended by the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO), they said.
For decades, dietary fat has been blamed for artery-clogging cholesterol linked to heart disease and stroke.
Recently, researchers started poking holes in the hypothesis, and seeking to distinguish between different fats.
