Setting targets for fat and lower quality fat intake can be complex. The current recommendations often focus solely on saturated fats, which may not result in the most effective dietary changes for long-term health.
For years, it was believed that consuming high amounts of saturated fats led to increased levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or 'bad' cholesterol, ultimately increasing the risk of heart disease. This idea forms the basis of current nutritional advice, which often promotes reducing dairy consumption and switching to low-fat dairy options. However, full-fat dairy products could in fact reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and poor bone health, despite their high saturated fat content.
Low-fat dairy products often replace saturated fat with carbohydrates, such as extra sugars. The replacement of fat with carbohydrates doesn't reduce the risk of heart disease and might even increase it. Recent studies have shown that consuming more saturated fats from dairy (except butter) could be associated with a lower number of deaths compared to eating more carbohydrates. And a large analysis of 17 studies showed that drinking milk might be associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
The WHO recommends that 20-35% of total energy intake should come from fats. At ZOE, we've looked at numerous peer-reviewed publications (such as PREDIMED and CORDIOPREV) and found that a healthy diet could have 40% of energy from fats, provided that:
The intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids is around 7%.
The intake of monounsaturated fatty acids is around 20%.
The intake of saturated fatty acids is around 15%.
ZOE assigns foods into five fat quality classes: bad, poor, average, good, and excellent. This classification is determined by ZOE scientists who are experts in the field, like Dr Sarah Berry, and factors in the complexities described above. The 'Lower quality fats' metric groups bad, poor, and average quality fats together, which includes many foods rich in saturated fatty acids.
Our analysis of member data shows that after adopting a ZOE diet, most members increased their good and excellent fats, but didn't decrease the other three categories enough. Therefore, we advise you to be mindful of limiting your intake of lower quality fat food sources in general.
Changing habits is challenging, but with more information, you can decide how to best take action to improve your health. For example, you might choose to reduce your intake of average fats that score the lowest for you, while still enjoying the occasional bad quality fat every so often.