Dive Brief:
- New research in twins has found that consumers who eat a high fat diet may become desensitized to fat, leading them to eat more fatty foods, Food Navigator reports.
- It has been suggested that genes play an important role in how we sense fat, meaning that some people naturally need more fat to feel satiated, but this study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggests diet is the most important factor. Researchers found that adult twins who ate a high fat diet for eight weeks lost their ability to identify fatty acids in liquid. Their siblings ate a lower fat diet with about 20% of calories from fat — compared to 35% in the high fat group — and were able to detect lower concentrations of fatty acids after one month, as well as at the end of the study period.
- The study’s results suggest eating a high fat diet can become a vicious cycle, as people need more calories from fatty foods in order to feel satisfied. In turn, this can lead to weight gain and obesity.
Dive Insight:
Fat frequently swings in and out of consumer graces, and is either demonized as a gateway to unhealthy eating habits and obesity or praised as a nutritious part of a balanced diet. The current climate is generally accepting and encouraging of "healthy" fats in products like whole milk and whole fat yogurts, but shoppers still avoid the ingredient in foods they consider to be more processed, like chips or sausages.
While the results could stoke consumer fears about fat's role as a gateway to unhealthy eating styles, it could also give shoppers guidelines about how much fat is okay to consume. In this study, those in the lower fat group still consumed about 20% of their calories from fat, and the researchers suggested that this lower end of the recommended range could be a reasonable aim for the general public.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest that fat should account for about 20-35% of daily calories, so this does not mean a return to the widespread low fat message of the 1980s, which resulted in a craze for all things "low fat." Often consumers and food manufacturers replaced fat with sugar and other refined carbohydrates, which also led to weight gain. However, it does suggest that regularly consuming 35% of calories from fat might lead some people to crave more fatty foods.
The findings come at a time when consumers are beginning to understand the role fats and oils can play as part of a healthy diet. Apart from their unique flavors, specialty oils have benefited from a growing body of science backing their nutritional value. The USDA recommends that Americans should eat more olive oil in its Dietary Guidelines, for example.
If further research confirms that a lower quantity of dietary fat could help avoid a preference for fatty foods, public health advocates will need to tread carefully to avoid inadvertently encouraging very low fat diets.