For awhile now I've had this theory about the low-fat movement, and I'm sure I can't be alone. I strongly feel that the big push towards getting rich countries to give up fat/red meat/animal products, and instead adopt a grain rich diet was motivated primarily by personal philosophical and political beliefs. I think that those behind the movement had an agenda to push that they then secondarily sought to back up with scientific data. In fact, I believe actual scientific reality or health concerns don't figure in the equasion.

Fat, meat, and general dietary abundance symbolizes wealth. A full plate rich with dairy and red meat symbolizes prosperity and enjoying bounty. The dark side of this means western diets also symbolize ruthless exploitation of weaker people, squandering of resources, and complacency.

In the 70s and 80s we "suddenly discovered" these foods would kill us and make us fat. Therefore, in response were told by People Who Know Best to "cut the fat" out of our diets, we were warned of the dangers of red meats and dairy, we were told a starch rich diet was the healthiest. Ignore all the yo-yo dieters who starve on such a plan, ignore all the people that get fatter. We were promised by impressively educated, socially prominent people that such a diet is the path to eternal life. 80s diet gurus posing as scientists and doctors - many of whom were also devotees to eastern religion, eastern religious gurus, vegans, and/or held other questionable beliefs - were at the pr head of the low-fat movement.
The extolled virtues of trimming excess weren't limited to diet alone; at a time when american prosperity seemed to really start to peak, more frequently left-leaning college educated "intellectuals" took up a new favored hobby: chastising the american public for squandering of resources and their insensitive indifference to the plight of the weak. Eastern collectivist religions became in vogue, the insanity of vegetarianism took foothold and spread. The popularity of low fat bare sustenance diets, and I completely believe this, are nothing more than another manifestation of this "poor little rich boy" complex.

Now there is nothing wrong with trying to make the world a better place, and there is nothing wrong with having an unconventional set of morals. Do whatever makes you feel good, heck promote it if you like. Spread the gospel.
The problem is, people posing as doctors feigning interest in our health were knowingly trying to dupe us into adopting their personal religious-like subjective moral beliefs. We were told all these lies about how healthy it is to avoid animal products, the many benefits of decreasing fat, and how beautiful a grain and legume rich diet is. They were all lies. Such a diet is one of bare-sustenance, certainly not an ideal thriving environment at all.

We were duped into changing our way of life for reasons totally unrelated to the ones that we were given.