LOW FAT

For decades, fat has been a dietary pariah: those of us looking to shed a few pounds or simply live a longer, healthier life have been told to forgo fatty foods in favour of their low-fat alternatives. But despite reaching for ‘light’ snacks, ‘skinny’ coffees, ‘fat-free’ yoghurts and ‘heart-friendly’ margarines, we continue to get fatter and, in the UK, two-thirds of us are now overweight. We investigate where this low-fat boom began and what the latest research reveals about where we’re going wrong.

Why have we fallen out with fat?

The start of our low-fat obsession can be traced back to the 1978 publication of Ancel Keys’ . The first to explore the relationship between diet and cardiovascular health, Keys’ ground-breaking study transformed the way we thought about heart disease, and spread the crucial