Dietary fats in health

Abstract

This review examines the relationship between dietary fat intake and health. ,Heal produced by modem farming methods has a high fat content in comparison with its natural counterpart and, furthermore, the fat is low in Polysaturated fat. The combined result of this and dairy food is that our modern diet has far more fat than was consumed by stone-age man, A number of diseases are associated with the Western lifestyle and thus might be caused by a high fat intake. With regard to coronary heart disease, there is a better correlation with refined carbohydrates than with dietary fat. Prospective and case-control studies also indicate that dietary fat is of secondary importance. Human and animal studies show that a diet high in fat is a major factor in cancer of the breast and, to a lesser extent, in cancer of the colon. For obesity and diabetes there is contradictory evidence for the involvement of dietary fat. A high fat diet reportedly has a deleterious effect on the immune system; therefore possibly constitutes a factor in autoimmume disease.