Let's be honest. Fat is back big time!

Even Time magazine is in on the newly found love affair with fats. "Eat Butter," was prominently declared on the cover of the June 2014 issue with its larger than life delicious golden butter gracing the entire page! And it's about time. For over half a century, fat has been terribly maligned and misunderstood in the American diet landscape, and our health and expanding waistlines have suffered for it.

Big Fat Fears

The American public has been brainwashed with a big fat lie—a lie that has been told, retold and told again for well over 50 years. What's more, this lie has been extended to cover all fats, not just the hydrogenated, overly refined and genetically modified commercial vegetable oils that actually will harm you.

Truth be told, our fear of fats only began in the 1950s thanks to the work of research scientist Ancel Keys, PhD, who conducted the Seven Countries Study in which he cherry picked data to support his theory that fat consumption led to cardiovascular disease. Although considered "pioneering" back in the day, the study was deeply flawed. Yet, the media ran with it and by 1961 even the American Heart Association issued its first anti-fat guidelines. This resulted in the launching of the no-tolow fat diet dictum that—to this very day—many health experts still recommend and rely upon as gospel.

As I wrote in the first edition of Eat Fat, Lose Weight, since we as a nation have gone fat-free, we have gotten sicker. Here's what happened:

1. Sixty-five percent of the population is now obese.
2. Adult-onset diabetes has skyrocketed and more than tripled in the last 30 years.
3. The incidence of certain kinds of heart disease has increased.
4. Depression has become a widespread epidemic.
5. New health problems have appeared out of nowhere: mysterious low grade ailments such as chronic fatigue, widespread food and environmental sensitivities, leaky gut syndrome, yeast and mold infections, and autoimmune issues.

Thankfully, many other courageous researchers (spearheaded in part by my late friend and colleague, Dr. Robert Atkins) began rethinking the anti-fat dietary guidelines and provided ample evidence and science that the "right" high fat diet was actually healthy and that sugar was the underlying cause for most degenerative disease.

at Phobia

It's a message I have been preaching for a very long time. When Eat Fat, Lose Weight first came out 15 years ago, it was absolute heresy in the age of fat phobia. Before it became mainstream, I was the ONLY nutritionist in the country to write about the importance of the right dietary fats—a very unpopular message, which flew in the face of all conventional dietary wisdom of the 1980s.

The time has finally come to set the record straight with a newer, updated edition that is more streamlined for today's audience, thanks to the results from the latest trials, which have exonerated fats once and for all. These trials have shown that not only was a high fat diet more effective for weight loss, but also greatly reduced the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Yes, the science now proves it. A high fat diet is a healthier diet.

I know that many of you have already banned trans fats and margarine.

You try to avoid refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils like corn and canola. However, before you start slathering on all that butter or coconut oil, and bringin' home the bacon, it is important to understand that eating all those good fats—what I call the "Smart Fats"—is simply one part of a healthy weight loss equation. You must also learn the keys to making Smart Fats work for you.

Wouldn't it be great if you could eat all the healthy fats you wanted, properly utilize them and look and feel fabulous in your body? You can!

Next month we'll begin our journey into Smart Fats that will keep you thin for life with beautiful glowing skin, healthy hair and nails, energy through the roof, a positive attitude and no more sugar cravings!