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As well as Jennifer Bowden’s columns in the NZ Listener and here at listener.co.nz, subscribers can access her fortnightly “Myth busters” column in which she explores food and nutrition myths.
For decades, fat was considered the root of all dietary evils, sparking the emergence of fat-free products that still dominate supermarket shelves. Yet, in recent years, full-fat foods have returned to the spotlight, praised for their flavour and potential health benefits.
This shift raises important questions: Was the fat-free craze based on sound science, and are full-fat options genuinely better for your health? Let’s explore the evidence to uncover the truth behind these dietary trends.
In the mid-20th century, scientific research revealed worrying links between saturated fat consumption, cholesterol levels and heart disease. Those who lived on Mediterranean islands had a lower cardiovascular disease risk as they dined on olive oil, piles of fresh vegetables, avocadoes and fish laden with healthy unsaturated fats.
In contrast, Westerners had a much higher rate of cardiovascular disease, using prodigious amounts of butter and lard in their home kitchens, consuming fatty cuts of meat, cheap processed meats, pastry and full-fat dairy products all packed with saturated fat.
However, at that time, knowledge about the effects of different dietary fats was lacking. Consequently, it was thought that all types of dietary fat were harmful to heart health through increasing cholesterol levels. National nutritional guidelines promoted a low-fat diet, which meant that heart-healthy avocadoes and olive oil were figuratively thrown out with lard and fatty meats.
Low-fat health messaging was sensationalised by the media and headlines vilified fat and praised fat-free diets. Not one to miss an opportunity, the food industry capitalised on low-fat messaging by creating and marketing low-fat and fat-free products. However, these low-fat food variants were typically laden with additional sugar and refined carbohydrates to maintain flavour. So, while they marketed low-fat products as healthier, they were anything but.
Now, low-fat variants of salad dressings, confectionery, ice cream, yoghurt, baked goods and the like still fill our shop shelves. However, fat provides important sensory properties in food products, including colour, taste, texture and odour. So, developing foods with lower fat levels is not a simple case of removing fat.
Instead, it requires the food to be reformulated to ensure consumer acceptance. In recent years, considerable research and development has been conducted to create alternative fat replacers.
These now take the form of complex carbohydrates, including gums and gels, protein-based or lipid-based fat replacers. For example, commercial protein-based fat replacers like micronised whey proteins are formed by exposing whey protein concentrates to high-pressure shearing, heating and a range of other steps to create submicron particles that simulate the mouthfeel of fat droplets in low-fat dairy products.
While this technology is very clever, it begs the question – why are we doing this?
Rather than manipulating processed foods to reduce unhealthy fats, we can shift our dietary patterns and let the nutrients and fats naturally balance themselves out. Eating more vegetables, fruits and wholegrains with lean meats, fish, chicken and low-fat dairy products largely solves the dietary fat predicament.
If we focus solely on avoiding one nutrient – dietary fat - we can invent all sorts of new ways to eat poorly. Fat is not bad. In fact, nuts, seeds, avocado, olives and healthy vegetable-derived oils all contain heart-healthy poly- and mono-unsaturated fats. These fats are good for heart health in moderation and better than the animal fats found in butter, cream and meat, notes the Heart Foundation, which recommends choosing reduced-fat milk or opting for lesser amounts of full-fat milk.
Ultimately, the key to a healthy diet lies not in demonising or obsessing over individual nutrients like fat but in adopting a balanced, whole-food approach.
Shifting to a dietary pattern rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and heart-healthy fats, such as those from nuts, seeds, fish and olive oil, naturally promotes better health.
Let’s move beyond the reductionist trends of the past, such as the fat-free craze, and embrace a more holistic view of nutrition, one that prioritises quality, variety and moderation over fads and food engineering.
