PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Sustainable Food Processing
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1606617
This article is part of the Research TopicPlant-Based Lipids For Sustainable Food ProductsView all 3 articles
Bringing some balance to fat bashing
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
- 2Borneo Futures, Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
- 3Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands, Wageningen, Netherlands
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Fats and oils are essential to human nutrition, yet often vilified in public discourse and dietary guidelines. We challenge the narrative that all dietary fats are inherently harmful and explore the vital roles fats play in health and food security. We review evidence on saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats, highlighting meta-analyses that question the links between saturated fat and health. We examine global disparities in fat access, shortcomings in current guidance, and the broader environmental and social impacts of fat sources. No crop is inherently good or bad, what matters is how, where, and by whom it is produced. We call for broad collaborations to produce more nuanced, evidence-based recommendations that reflect cultural traditions, sustainability, and the twin burdens of obesity and undernutrition.
Keywords: Cardiovascular health, dietary guidelines, Environmental sustainability, Fat Gap, nutritional science, saturated fatty acids, Trans Fatty Acids, Vegetable oils
Received: 06 Apr 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Slavin, Meijaard and Sheil. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Erik Meijaard, Borneo Futures, Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
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