Evaluation of the Questionable Link Between Saturated Fat and Heart Disease

Evaluation of The Questionable Link Between Saturated Fat and Heart Disease

        The first major flaw I found in Dr. Ancel Benjamin Keys’s study on the relationship between saturated fat consumption and increased risk of heart disease was that he was biased in his research and did not remain objective. This is demonstrated by the fact that he chose to only include countries most likely to support his hypothesis, instead of randomly selecting participants. Another error Dr. Keys made was that his sample size was too small to be properly reflective of Crete. Choosing to only use a small portion of the original data completely falsifies the results. The timing of the research was also flawed, since data should have been taken over an extended period of time. Instead, Dr. Keys collected unreliable data during a time of impoverishment and when subjects were also fasting for lent. There was also no control over other variables that can lead to heart disease, such as smoking. Lastly, the largest flaw is the lack of repeated evidence of Dr. Keys’s conclusion that saturated fat is unhealthy. For a scientific study’s hypothesis to hold any weight or validity, repeated test results must be fairly consistent. Unfortunately, his flawed study was blindly accepted regardless of faulty research. This is not unlike the flawed study on the link between autism and vaccines that still falsely leads people away from making correct decisions about their well being.

        There are several consequences for eating a diet low in fat. Avoiding fats leads to a harmful increased intake of carbohydrates and sugars. Higher consumption of carbohydrates equals higher levels of glucose in the body, which causes an excess of insulin to be produced. Higher levels of insulin lead to excess storage of fat in the body. When fats are forsaken for carbohydrates and sugar, there is actually a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. When a person’s diet is deficient of fats, it creates unbalanced nutrition and starves the body of needed nutrition. Basically, eating a low-fat diet to benefit your health and lose or maintain weight is just shooting yourself in the foot.

        The overall main point of this article serves as a warning about the dangers of this misleading research that is not supported by quality scientific facts, but media propaganda instead. It is a wake up call to readers who have for the most part been brainwashed by the media and false information. The biased misinformation that has become the accepted norm is leading everyday people to make unhealthy decisions.

        The American Heart Association happily supported Dr. Keys’s research after initially being hesitant because of dirty politics. The AHA received money and prestige from Proctor & Gamble, the company that made Crisco oil, which is exactly the type of fats Dr. Keys’s study promoted. Since the AHA owed its success to Proctor & Gamble, they were basically driven by money to endorse the false research that would in turn increase sales of Crisco and make them all richer. To sum it up, the AHA enthusiastically supported Dr. Keys’s findings because they were greedy and compromised.