1990s: Researchers discover the "French Paradox."
French eat butter, cream, cheese, pâté, fatty meat, rich sauces.
They should have sky-high heart disease according to fat hypothesis.
But they have LOW heart disease. Lower than Americans following low-fat guidelines.
The "paradox": High saturated fat, low heart disease.
It's only paradoxical if saturated fat causes heart disease.
Researchers scrambled:
- "It's the red wine!"
- "Smaller portions!"
- "They walk more!"
All cope for not admitting: The fat hypothesis was wrong.
French weren't paradoxically healthy despite fat.
They were healthy because they ate real food including healthy fats and avoided seed oils.
But acknowledging this meant acknowledging Americans got fatter following low-fat guidelines while French stayed healthy eating butter.
So they called it "paradox" and moved on.
Similar "paradoxes" everywhere:
Swiss: High cheese, low heart disease.
Maasai: 60-70% fat, zero heart disease.
Inuit: 80% fat, perfect cardiovascular health.
Everywhere high-fat traditional diets produced good health.
These were "paradoxes" only because fat hypothesis was gospel.
The French Paradox should have ended the fat hypothesis.
Instead explained away with wine and walking.
French eat butter on everything. Full-fat cheese daily.
Better metabolic health than Americans eating low-fat everything.
Not a paradox. Proof.
But calling it proof means admitting 40 years wrong.
Calling it paradox means you can ignore it.
Link: https://twitter.com/i/status/1997596580082278528
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