A low fat diet has long been the holy grail for millions who hope it will bring them a longer and healthier life. But they may be depriving themselves of tastier food for no good reason, it emerged yesterday. Major nutrition trials have revealed that low-fat dieters do not live any longer than people who eat normally.
The conclusion suggests that many may have gone too far in their quest to be slim and healthy - throwing out some fats that are actually good for the body.
Meir Stampfer, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, said: 'People have got the wrong message that fat is bad.
'They have the mistaken assumption that if you eat fat, you get fat, but it is not the case that a low-fat diet will lead to a low-fat person. It all depends on what type of fat you eat.'
Professor Stampfer said the research results were not a licence to return to the 'bad old days' of chip butties and fry-ups. These foods are high in saturated fats, responsible for clogging arteries.
The research, published in this week's British Medical Journal, was led by Lee Hooper of the University Dental Hospital in Manchester.
She and her colleagues analysed data from 30,000 healthy adult participants in 27 separate trials.
They concluded that a low-fat diet can slightly reduce the risk of a fatal heart attack - especially if the diet is sustained for at least two years - but the effect on over-all mortality is essentially zero.
Research leader Lee Hooper said more research had to be done to examine the effects of a low-fat diet over a longer time period.
'Sticking to a low-fat diet for less than two years will not affect your chances of dying,' she said.
'Most of us who start on a low-fat diet will be doing it in our 20s, 30s or middle age and might stick to it for 20 or 30 years. We still don't know whether that might make a big difference to mortality.'
A study published 18 months ago in Finland linked low-fat diets to depression and even suicide.
Scientists at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki studied a large cross-section of men for eight years and established a link between low cholesterol and poor mental health.
There was also a 'significant association' between low cholesterol and severe depression in the cases of 111 men in the study who committed suicide.
More on this story here.
Eddie
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