I was visiting someone in the hospital yesterday, and we were speaking with a doctor of internal medicine. When the doctor mentioned that a test result revealed higher than normal cholesterol, the patient asked does that mean cutting down on carbs or fat. The doctor answered, “Oh, that’s fat.”

-sigh-

Eating fat doesn’t make you fat; eating sugar does. Let me repeat that:

EATING FAT DOESN’T MAKE YOU FAT. EATING SUGAR MAKES YOU FAT.

I was appalled at what the doctor said because they should know better. They should understand how the body works. ESPECIALLY an internal specialist. The advice she gave was dangerous, and contrary to what really happens in the body. Now, the patient will eat low-fat/non-fat and continue to eat grains and carbs and not fix anything. In fact, it’s only going to make matters worse.

If you search Google with the phrase, “Does eating fat make you fat,” this is what comes up:

Despite fat having more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates, diets that are high in fat do not make peoplefat. This depends completely on the context. A diet that is high in carbs AND fat will make you fat, but it’s NOT because of the fat.

So, why do doctors believe that eating fat makes you fat? It comes from the flawed Seven Countries Study from the 50’s by Dr. Key. From Dr. Hyman’s excellent website, he states the following about Dr. Keys and his Seven Countries Study:

He found that in the countries where people ate more fat—especially saturated fat—there were more cases of heart disease, and he concluded that the fat caused the disease.  But here’s the problem with this study: correlation is not causation.  Just because both fat intake and heart disease were higher among the same population doesn’t mean the heart disease was caused by the fat consumption.

Dr. Hyman goes on to explain what is really happening when people eat less fat and continue to eat carbs (which is exactly what I was afraid of when I heard that internal medicine doctor talk about how the patient should cut the fat intake and not the carbs):

When people eat less fat, they tend to eat more starch or sugar instead, and this actually increases their levels of dangerous cholesterol, the small, dense cholesterol that causes heart attacks. In fact, studies show that 75% of people who end up in the emergency room with a heart attack have normal overall cholesterol levels.  What they do have is pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.

I started my Paleo diet in 2015, but Dr. Hyman posted this information in 2013. Back then, the US Government flat-out denied that sugar was the culprit in our obesity epidemic. Today, they acknowledge that sugar “may be a factor,” while still not going all-in and being honest with the American people. Why? Food lobbies. Like my dad used to say, if you want to know the motivation behind anything, follow the money.

Dr. Hyman has a good list made of foods you should eat for good sources of fat. I’m borrowing his list here because I don’t want to paraphrase what is already an excellent list:

• Avocados
• Nuts—walnuts, almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts, but not peanuts (one recent study showed a handful of nuts a day reduced death from all causes by 20 percent)
• Seeds—pumpkin, sesame, chia, hemp
• Fatty fish, including sardines, mackerel, herring, and wild salmon that are rich in omega-3 fats
• Extra virgin olive oil (a large study showed that those who consumed 1 liter a week reduced heart attacks by 30 percent)
• Enjoy grass-fed or sustainably raised animal products (I recommend the Environmental Working Group’s Meat Eater’s Guide to eating good quality animal products that are good for you and good for the planet).
• You can even eat saturated fat like extra virgin coconut butter, which is a great plant-based source of saturated fat that has many benefits.  It fuels your mitochondria, is anti-inflammatory, and it doesn’t cause problems with your cholesterol.  In fact, it may help resolve them.  I have many diabetic patients whose health improves when I get them on diet that’s higher in fat.