Your Body On: Fat

From coconut oil & omega-3s, to the ketogenic diet and beyond.

Back in 2000, recommendations were to eat only 1 egg per day. Now there are none. (Photo by me).

It’s early 2002. You’re strolling through the yogurt aisle at your local grocery store supermarket. Between switching songs on your iPod Nano and chatting on your new Motorola cell-phone, you are haphazardly comparing labels between yogurts. Instantaneously, you toss the one with the “fat-free” label into your cart. Because the fat we eat is that fat we wear, right?

Fast-forward eighteen years later to 2020, and we find people with exact opposite attitude’s when it comes to fat. Fat is everywhere, and is regarded by some as the macronutrient which might finally save us from ourselves. They say “C’mon guys! This time the butter, bacon and coconut oil will finally reverse complex chronic diseases, like diabetes and obesity!” They also never forget to add “Buy my E-book and supplements!”

The battle between the high-fat and low-fat philosophies has left a sour aftertaste of confusion, before we even finish our plate. Is coconut oil healthy? What about saturated fat? Which fats are essential? Should I follow a high-fat diet, such as the ketogenic diet?

Enter nutrition communication and scientific basics — developing a base in nutritional science could help people tease out some basic fact from fiction. Since nutritional science shows that there is not one single best diet for…