The Big Fat Surprise: why butter, meat, and cheese belong in a healthy diet by Nina Teicholz

The Big Fat Surprise: why butter, meat, and cheese belong in a healthy diet by Nina Teicholz presents a study of how science and policy have shaped attitudes to dietary fat over recent decades. It examines the view that high-fat eating was unfairly portrayed as harmful, and considers the argument that it may in fact be a healthier option.

The book revisits the long-standing advice that a low-fat diet can help protect against obesity, diabetes and heart disease. It contrasts this guidance with the rise of obesity in the developed West and the associated health problems, and discusses how more rigorous scientific work has challenged earlier theories.

Key details

• Author: Nina Teicholz
• Explores the relationship between dietary guidance, science and policy
• Discusses low-fat dietary advice and its intended health aims
• Considers newer scientific work that challenges earlier theories about fat
• References foods including red meat, cheese, whole milk and eggs

Synopsis

Over the past 60 years, low-fat eating has been widely promoted as protection against obesity, diabetes and heart disease. This study argues that the science and policy behind that message was misleading, and links the widespread adoption of low-fat advice in the developed West with an ongoing obesity epidemic and related health issues. It also describes more rigorous research that overturns earlier theories and suggests that foods such as red meat, cheese, whole milk and eggs have been avoided unnecessarily.