In The Big Fat Surprise, author and investigative journalist Nina Teicholz, advocates butter, meat, and cheese, as fundamental to the human diet. Teicholz describes low-fat nutrition advice as essentially an “uncontrolled experiment,” resulting in massive, adverse health consequences throughout the past sixty years. In particular, Teicholz focuses on the human need for saturated fats.

Dietary advice has generally emphasized reducing fat, especially saturated fats. Despite these changes, humans are, on average, not getting healthier or thinner. Diabetes, obesity, and heart disease continue to increase. Teicholz finds that the very foods often cut from diets may actually be the key to alleviating the aforementioned medical conditions.

In addition, CNN reports Teicholz’s argument has some validity, but at the same time, it still does not provide the whole picture. Teicholz notes that saturated fat first became attributed to various health concerns in the 1950s. At that time, a researcher looked at the correlation between countries with diets high in saturated fats and rates of heart disease.

The study showed a strong correlation, but critics also pinpoint the study’s  possibly flawed method of selecting countries. Critics were quick to emphasize that a number of countries, such as Switzerland, Sweden, and Germany, have diets high in fatty foods, but do not have high rates of heart disease.

The inconclusiveness of Teicholz’s and other’s research underscores the importance of moderation in fatty intake.  CNN’s expert, in fact, note substitution as important. If meat is being cut, it should not be replaced with carbohydrate-heavy pasta. Rather, it should be substituted with good fats and lean proteins to maintain and improve health.