RFK, Jr. ends ‘war on saturated fats’: A win for meat-maxing influencers, a loss for common-sense eating

For decades, nutrition experts and health officials have warned against eating too much saturated fat. Red meat, full-fat dairy products, fried foods and other big sources of the nutrient can raise your cholesterol … and risk of cardiovascular disease.

But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. … along with some proponents of the Make America Healthy Again movement, have taken a different stance — suggesting that the fats have been unfairly demonized and that the evidence to prove that they are harmful is insufficient.

Some health influencers, including those in the MAHA movement, have argued that because humans evolved to eat red meat and other animal products high in saturated fats, those foods are inherently good for us. 

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There is broad agreement among scientists that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats like those in plant oils, nuts, seeds and avocados can lower cholesterol levels and the risk for heart disease, said Alice H. Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University. For this reason, Dr. Lichtenstein thinks the guidelines should focus less on limiting saturated fats and more on swapping them for healthier unsaturated ones.

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