Walter Willett Fat Quotations

Further adding, Increased intakes of polyunsaturated fat also probably explain most of the major declines in coronary mortality in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia over several decades.

Even if you do see a small benefit for, say, breast cancer, you couldn't be sure it was due to fat and not due to the fact that the women also increased their fruit and vegetable intake and there was also a small weight loss. I think it's clear this study was a mistake.

Five to 6 grams of trans fat is a huge amount just from one serving. Food services usually use the same oils for cooking fish, chicken and other foods as they do fries, so if they've got the high level in fries, they've got it in lots of foods.

This does very strongly refute the dominant view in the 1990s, that reducing the amount of fat in the diet would spontaneously lead to weight loss. What's happened to the American diet during this low-fat period is, people were given the idea that if they reduced calories from fat, weight would go down. Clearly, that has not happened.

It was a mistake, and this study really confirms that it was the wrong direction to go for nutritional advice. It did do harm. It was a lost opportunity. People were given the idea that it was only fat calories that counted. This should be the nail in the coffin for low-fat diets.