Is A Low-fat Diet Really Healthy?

A low-fat diet can be healthy, but it should not be seen as a panacea for all ailments. In fact, recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that despite previously held assumptions, a low-fat diet does not generally lower the risk of developing cancer or even heart disease.

The US clinical study came out in 2006 and cost a total of $415 million. It included examining 49,000 women during the course of eight years to determine what affects--if any--a low-fat diet had on their health. Interestingly, those participants who were put on a diet routine and those who were not experienced very similar rates of cancer, heart attack and stroke during the eight year period.

The results of this study certainly suggest that doctors and nutritionists who recommend that people keep to low-fat diets in order to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease may be misleading their patients. Nevertheless, the best advice is still to avoid tans fats and saturated fats. It should also be remembered that, as with all studies, there are doctors and scientists who question these conclusions.