The scientific link between the intake of saturated fat and the development of heart disease has never really been proven.

Yet, since the 1960s, state health agencies and associations have recommended reducing intakes of animal fat and saturated fatty acids to reduce cardiovascular risk. This is also what the American Heart Association has done since 1961.

In 2015, current recommendations from the Ministries of Agriculture or Health still make no distinction between healthy saturated fats and synthetic processed or hydrogenated fatty acids that are toxic to health.

However, every 5 years the United States Department of Agriculture and the Health and Human Services Department come together to update the dietary guidelines for disclosure to citizens. Finally, this year in 2015, the report of this assembly relates that only certain fats should be avoided and nevertheless saturated fatty acids should be included in the diet.

In fact, all the recommendations we have been hearing for over 50 years are false. Recent evidence clearly shows that it is essential to include good sources of saturated fatty acids in the diet. Among these fundamental sources, let's mention the fatty acids of fish, nuts or coconuts or other oleaginous seeds whose vegetable oils have a real cardioprotective effect.

The milk and the butter so decried by cardiologists and other doctors seem to be neutral towards health risks, while low-fat white meat, vegetable or potato chips do not constitute greater dangers than skimmed or low-fat products.

It seems that it is the food itself that will have metabolic consequences rather than its actual fat content.

According to James J. Di Nicolantonio, Ph.D., replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates can have catastrophic consequences for health and cardiac metabolism.