The Toronto Star (Canada)

Jul. 12, 01:00 EDT
A menu of mixed messages

As experts re-examine their thinking on fat, consumers may be wondering what to eat

Nancy J. White, Life Section Writer
Stephen Cunnane is just finishing his breakfast — oats with 8 per cent fat yogurt and coffee with cream, but not too much. The nutritional researcher, who exercises regularly, has never adhered to a rigid low-fat diet, although his family, he says, favours fat-free everything.

"There's always been some questioning in the scientific community about the idea that a low-fat diet would solve the problem of obesity," says the [O]University of Toronto professor[/U]. "But the consumer became wed to the idea, hook, line and sinker."

Because it was simple. Because everybody, from the government to health groups, seemed to endorse it. Because so many fat-free (read guilt-free) foods blossomed on grocery shelves.

For more than 20 years, fat has been public dietary enemy number one. But with rates of obesity rising dangerously, some researchers are questioning that premise more loudly.

The New York Times published an article last week on the low-fat versus low-carbohydrate debate, positing the idea that perhaps the highly controversial Dr. Robert Atkins with his fat-rich diets was, alas, right.

Canadian researchers canvassed by The Star would have none of that. "No one is advocating Atkins," medical nutritional specialist Lance Levy says flatly. "It's very simplistic to say Atkins was right."

But they do talk of a shift away from strict low-fat dogma. "There is a slow evolution in our thinking about fats and fatty foods," says David Jenkins, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto. They speak more about the intricacies of fat. Like everything else in life, fat isn't simple.

"The low-fat message got muddied," explains dietitian Rosie Schwartz. It was not supposed to mean you could eat anything as long as it wasn't fatty. "A low-fat diet was based on people turning to whole grains, fruits and vegetables. But it became white flour, fat-free cookies and bagels."

To substitute for the pleasing taste of fat, people often turned to very refined carbohydrates and sugars, not to healthy foods, says Jenkins.

There's a somewhat frantic tone to the low-fat debate as we seem to be losing the battle of the bulge. About 2.8 million Canadians, ages 20 to 64, were obese in 2000-01, compared to the approximately 500,000 just six years earlier, according to a Statistics Canada report this spring.

Everybody wants answers.

"I wish I could give them," says Harvey Anderson, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto. "I'd win a Nobel prize."

There's a host of explanations, from complicated food chemistry to genetics and sedentary lifestyles. Some speculate that low-fat diets may have unwittingly contributed. Instead of eating fatty foods, people often opted for sugars and highly refined starches. But when these are consumed, especially alone, blood-sugar levels rise and fall quickly, leaving us hungry sooner.

"When we shunned fat, we lost food balance," says Schwartz, author of The Enlightened Eater. "There are a lot of foods that stabilize blood sugar."

That's not, however, a green light for a bacon double cheeseburger. Not all fats are created equal. The mono and polyunsaturated fats, derived from vegetable sources, are far preferable to saturated fats, those from animal sources.



Stephen Cunnane, U of T professor
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Rosie Schwartz, Dietitian
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"This is where the debate is, about good fats and bad fats," says Anderson. He cautions that we don't yet know enough about fat components and the role they play.

He also warns about other gaps in knowledge. Some researchers believe that eating too many carbohydrates raises triglycerides, the component molecules of fat, and clogs arteries. But, says Anderson, all the votes aren't in. "There's some evidence that triglycerides from carbohydrates don't stick to the walls. We don't know all the biology yet."

None of this helps the bewildered consumer wandering the grocery aisles. What are we supposed to eat?

"It's another wake-up call to eat more broadly, including fruits and vegetables," suggests Jenkins.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation promotes moderation, not avoiding fat but not getting more than 30 per cent of your total calories from it, says spokesperson Elissa Freeman.

"There are a lot of opinions, but no consensus on the truth," says medical nutritionist Levy.

He recommends slightly more protein and fewer carbohydrates than Canada's Food Guide. He talks to patients about controlling portion size, combining types of foods and the timing of meals. "Too many people consume most of their calories after 4 p.m."

To prevent gorging at dinner, he advises an afternoon snack, such as yogurt and fruit or 1 per cent milk and an oatmeal cookie. "You want a little bit of fat to slow the rate of carbohydrate absorption."

Schwartz, the dietitian, suggests a moderate-fat diet, using unsaturated fats, such as extra virgin olive oil. A snack of just fruit will soon leave you hungry, she says, so add a couple of tablespoons of nuts.

She suggests drinking low-fat milk, then using a high-quality parmesan cheese on pasta for taste. Red meat is okay a couple of times a week, as long as it's lean, well-trimmed and a reasonable portion, about the size of a deck of cards.

Schwartz is a fan of protein at breakfast and lunch to feel satisfied through the day. Instead of just a bagel for breakfast, put smoked salmon on it, she suggests. "We need to go back to well-balanced meals."

But what we eat is, of course, only part of the problem.

Nutrition researcher Cunnane has been following the arguments in medical journals: one camp blaming low-fat diets, others high-fat diets. "I believe they're both wrong. I believe you can get fat on any diet as long as you're not exercising enough."

Researchers also reiterate a basic principle: don't eat too much. That simple idea seems to get lost. U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show that per capita consumption of food increased about 8 per cent from 1990 to 2000 — about 64 surplus kilograms of food per person per year.

Cunnane worries that the general public, fed up with contradictory messages about what foods to eat, will eventually throw up their hands in disgust.

"They'll say, `The experts have screwed up my life and I just don't care anymore.'"

Fairly good article. That's what I do, try to balance the good carbs (low GI ones) with good quality protein. If it says fat - free on the label I stay away!!! I am sweet enough- I don't need all that sugar.

Scarlet