Low fat diets cause obesity?

What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie? is a thought-provoking article from the New York Times because it questions the conventional wisdom that a low fat diet is the key to health.

Here's an interesting quote from the article:

This is the state of mind I imagine that mainstream nutritionists, researchers and physicians must inevitably take to the fat-versus-carbohydrate controversy. They may come around, but the evidence will have to be exceptionally compelling. Although this kind of conversion may be happening at the moment to John Farquhar, who is a professor of health research and policy at Stanford University and has worked in this field for more than 40 years. When I interviewed Farquhar in April, he explained why low-fat diets might lead to weight gain and low-carbohydrate diets might lead to weight loss, but he made me promise not to say he believed they did. He attributed the cause of the obesity epidemic to the ''force-feeding of a nation.'' Three weeks later, after reading an article on Endocrinology 101 by David Ludwig in the Journal of the American Medical Association, he sent me an e-mail message asking the not-entirely-rhetorical question, ''Can we get the low-fat proponents to apologize?''

My take on the situation is: everything in moderation. Which means that I will try to moderate my calorie intake, my fat intake and my carbohydrate intake and especially my processed food and fast food intake.

I think if you eat everything in moderation (except for processed food and fast food which I try to avoid entirely) with an emphasis on fresh fruit, vegetables and exercise, you will be very healthy!

And Al, who is a nurse (as well as an excellent cook) seems to agree with me.