Won’t fat make me fat (and diabetic)?
One of the most misunderstood concepts in history is this one. Fat makes you fat. This logic doesn’t apply to going green after eating too many cucumbers? Fat will make you fat only when it is paired with excess carbohydrates.
Where did it all start?
All the study’s that say fat causes heart disease link back to one study, and it’s the reason why we thing saturated fat causes heart disease. It was developed in the early 1950s by Ancel Benjamin Keys.
In his lab, he was responsible for running experiments looking for early indications of disease. What you must remember is that in the 1950’s, no health issue seemed more urgent than heart disease.
Keys’ most famous findings were contained in the study of the Seven Countries. The study showed that the risk and rates of heart attack and stroke cardiovascular risk both at the population level and at the individual level was directly correlated to the level of total serum cholesterol.
It demonstrated that the association between blood cholesterol level and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk from 5 to 40 years’ follow-up is found consistently across different cultures.
Even before the study had begun, there had been criticism of its methods. Jacob Yerushalmy and Herman E. Hilleboe pointed out that, for an earlier study demonstrating this association, Keys had selected six countries out of 21 for which data were available.
Analysis of the full dataset made the analysis between fat intake and heart disease unclear. Due to this, the association between the percentage of fat calories and mortality from heart disease was not valid.
It wasn’t until 2014 when Nina Teicholz (Author of “The Big Fat Surprise”) reviewed the study and also found that one country, Crete, who’s results formed the majority of the evidence from the study was conducted during Lent, thereby causing Keys to dramatically undercount the amount of saturated fat eaten.
Correlation Vs Causation
Correlation is very different to causation. You cannot draw conclusions like Keys’ did based on correlation. I’ll give you some Examples of illogically inferring causation from correlation:
Example 1
THE FASTER WINDMILLS ARE OBSERVED TO ROTATE; THE MORE WIND IS OBSERVED TO BE.
THEREFORE, WIND IS CAUSED BY THE ROTATION OF WINDMILLS. (OR, SIMPLY PUT: WINDMILLS, AS THEIR NAME
INDICATES, ARE MACHINES USED TO PRODUCE WIND.)
Example 2
AS ICE CREAM SALES INCREASE, THE RATE OF DROWNING DEATHS INCREASES SHARPLY.
THEREFORE, ICE CREAM CONSUMPTION CAUSES DROWNING.
Example 3
SINCE THE 1950S, BOTH THE ATMOSPHERIC CO2 LEVEL AND OBESITY LEVELS HAVE INCREASED SHARPLY.
HENCE, ATMOSPHERIC CO2 CAUSES OBESITY.
Okay, so what does this mean for you? Quite a lot in fact. Social stigma has placed fat as the enemy so much so that it feels weird to even think that fat isn’t the problem with our current diet.
Diabetes and Ingesting Fat
Type 2 Diabetes is one of the most avoidable diseases in the western world, and it has
become an epidemic. Most of our population just don’t understand what causes this disease.
Diabetics are not affected most by large amounts of fat or protein. Insulin resistance is the key cause, and guess what causes insulin resistance? Taking a ride on the carbohydrate roller coaster ever 3-4 hours which eventually leads to insulin resistance, along with other factors.
When a diabetic eats a Burger and Fries, the carbohydrate is the one that sends their blood glucose spiralling out of control, not the meat and cheese. Fat is not to blame at all, it just happens to take the fall.
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