Diet Guidelines From The 1970s Telling People To Avoid Butter And Cheese A Total Mistake | HuffPost Life

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As we find ourselves in the middle of a diet guideline flurry - sugar is bad, fat is good - it's worth remembering that dietary recommendations evolve all the time. Or in some cases, are based on zero scientific evidence.

Recent research has revealed that guidelines warning people to avoid eating fatty foods such as butter and cheese "should not have been introduced".

Dietary advice issued to tens of millions warned that fat consumption should be strictly limited to cut the risk of heart disease and death.

But experts say the recommendations, which have been followed for the past 30 years, were not backed up by scientific evidence and should never have been issued.

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The guidelines, introduced in the UK in 1983 and in the US six years earlier, recommended reducing overall dietary fat consumption to 30% of total energy intake and saturated fat to 10%.

But researchers say the guidelines "lacked any solid trial evidence to back it".

Experts warned that in characterising saturated fat as the "main dietary villain" public health teams have not paid enough attention to other risks - especially carbohydrates which are believed to be helping to fuel the obesity crisis.

The research paper, which reviewed data available at the time the guidelines were issued, sates: "It seems incomprehensible that dietary advice was introduced for 220 million Americans and 56 million UK citizens, given the contrary results from a small number of unhealthy men.

"The results of the present meta-analysis support the hypothesis that the available (randomised controlled trials) did not support the introduction of dietary fat recommendations in order to reduce (coronary heart disease) risk or related mortality."

The paper, published in the online journal Open Heart, added: "Dietary advice not merely needs review; it should not have been introduced."

But in a linked editorial, Rahul Bahl, of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, sounded a note of caution.

He wrote: "There is certainly a strong argument that an overreliance in public health on saturated fat as the main dietary villain for cardiovascular disease has distracted from the risks posed by other nutrients, such as carbohydrates.

"Yet replacing one caricature with another does not feel like a solution."

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: "This paper is not critical of current advice on saturated fats but suggests that the advice was introduced prematurely in the 1980s before there was the extensive evidence base that exists today.

"The advice issued by Coma (Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy) in 1991 confirmed that eating too much saturated fat can raise cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of heart disease."

How Much Butter Is In Common Baked Goods

Rice Krispies Treats(01 of09)

There are only 3 tablespoons of butter total in Kellogg's Original Rice Krispies Treats, so you can feel really good about having a few of these guys.

That's 1/4 of a tablespoon per treat. (credit:Averie Cooks)

Chocolate Chip Cookies(02 of09)

In the classic recipe for Original Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, there are 16 tablespoons of butter total.

That's about 1/2 a tablespoon in two cookies. Doesn't sound that much when you put it that way, right? We're going to go have another cookie. (credit:How Sweet It Is)

Gooey Butter Cake(03 of09)

Gooey Butter Cake contains 16 tablespoons of butter total. You're supposed to eat this for breakfast, so have at it.

That's .8 tablespoons per slice. Maybe not as much as you'd expect from a cake with "butter" in the name. (credit:Brown Eyed Baker)

Cinnamon Rolls(04 of09)

While there's a ton of variation in popular cinnamon roll recipes, we've found a lot of recipes, like this one from Betty Crocker, containing 4 to 5 tablespoons of butter for the dough and 4 to 8 tablespoons for the filling. If your cinnamon rolls have glaze, you might be adding another 1 to 4 tablespoons of butter.

Depending on the roll, you might get around 1/2 to 1 tablespoon per roll. (credit:Pass The Sushi)

Pound Cake(05 of09)

While pound cake is supposed to have a pound of butter, this classic recipe from Martha Stewart doesn't contain quite that much (but almost!). There are 24 tablespoons of butter total in the recipe.

That's 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter per serving of pound cake. (credit:Tomikmalish via Getty Images)

Apple Crumb Pie(06 of09)

Martha Stewart's Apple Crumb Pie contains 14 tablespoons of butter total.

Per slice, that's 1.75 tablespoons of butter. (credit:Charles Islander via Getty Images)

Funfetti Cupcakes(07 of09)

These birthday party staples have a not-so-fun-sounding 24 ounces of butter total.

That's 2 tablespoons per cupcake. (credit:How Sweet It Is)

Brownies(08 of09)

There are 8 tablespoons of butter total in common brownie recipes, like this one from All Recipes or this one from Alton Brown on Food Network. (We may or may not be partial to brownie recipes using slightly more butter, but it's a brownie, we're pretty much guaranteed to love it, no matter the recipe.)

That's 2 tablespoons per brownie. (credit:Sally's Baking Addiction)

Chocolate Cake(09 of09)

Surprise! There's no butter in the cake part of most chocolate cakes. Most recipes use oil. If you're topping your cake with buttercream frosting, however, you'd better believe your frosting will make up for the dearth of butter in the cake. There are 32 tablespoons of butter total in this buttercream frosted chocolate cake from I Am Baker.

At 12 slices per cake, that's 2.67 tablespoons per serving. (credit:I Am Baker)

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