Show 966: The Benefits of Butter

For decades, Americans have been warned to step away from the cheese and leave the butter untouched. Saturated fat was believed to clog the arteries and lead to heart attacks and early death. But what was the basis for those admonitions? Where’s the science? The science of the popular prescriptions for a low-fat diet is surprisingly slim. Many of the recommendations that have become policy drew as much on politics as on research. Are there unintended consequences of following a low-fat diet? What role should vegetable oil play in a heart-healthy approach to eating? We discuss Mediterranean, low-fat and Atkins-type diets, learn about some interesting early research on nutrition and consider how dietary recommendations can become so emotionally charged. This Week’s Guest Nina Teicholz is an investigational reporter who has written for The New York Times, the Washington Post and the New Yorker. Her bestselling book is The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet. Listen to the Show The podcast of this program will be available the Monday after the broadcast date. The show can be streamed online from this site and podcasts can be downloaded for free. Download the mp3 of the interview to listen yourself or share it with a friend.