Butter is still not back. Frank Sacks, professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told the New York Times in a January 29, 2018 article that, despite some recent seemingly contradictory studies, the advice on dietary fats from the best research has not changed: Consume more vegetable oils high in polyunsaturates and fewer saturated fats, such as butter and beef and pork fat. A small amount of coconut oil, which contains saturated fat, is unlikely to be harmful, but it has not been found to be healthful, he said.
Sacks is lead author of an American Heart Association advisory on dietary fats released last summer. The report noted that contradictory studies may have failed to take into consideration what foods people substituted when they gave up saturated fats—often refined carbohydrates and sugar.
His colleague Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, said in the article that dairy fats are “not nearly as good as plant fats but not quite as bad as other animal fats.” He advised, “You don’t have to totally abandon cheese, but dairy foods should be limited to one serving every one to three days, not three servings a day.”
Read New York Times article: Good Fats, Bad Fats
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Setting the record straight: It’s best to swap out saturated fats for healthier fats (Q&A with Frank Sacks, Harvard Chan School news)