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I’ve been having some trouble digesting saturated fats lately, so I decided to give my body a break and just eat vegan for a little while. The problem is, I’ve always failed at this after three to four days. I just go off the rails and wolf down animal food like it’s going out of style. Is that the way it has to be or is there an alternative? So in search of a little help staying with a plant-based diet, I did a bit of Internet surfing and found a video that promoted vegan eating. In the clip, a...

In the second half of the 20th century, conventional wisdom in the medical community held that overconsumption of saturated fats — the kind found in milk, cheese, meats and butter — was dangerous. And so, between 1968 and 1973, a well-planned, well-executed study involving more than 9,000 patients was performed to test this widely accepted relationship between diet and heart disease. The results of the Minnesota Coronary Experiment were notable for two reasons. First, the findings contradicted much of what was believed at the time: The study demonstrated that people who ate a diet rich in saturated fats did not...

Stop chugging sugary soda and munching sweet treats. Cut back on red meats, butter and other sources of saturated fat. Lay off the salt shaker. Eat plenty of fruits and veggies. And don't worry about having an egg and an extra cup of coffee with your breakfast. These are the conclusions of the advisory panel that helps shape America's official dietary guidelines, and they appear to be about the same as they were back in 2010, the last time the guidelines were updated, dietitians say. "What's good about the report is that much of it is reinforcing what we saw...

4:30 PM ET and Sunday at 7:30 AM ET. (CNN) -- "To eat, or not to eat?" For many people these days, that really is the question. For the past four decades, we've been told to stay away from red meat, dairy and cheese -- foods high in saturated fats -- because saturated fat is bad for the heart. But investigative reporter Nina Teicholz says that isn't the case. "When the dietary recommendations came out in 1961 saying that saturated fat causes heart disease, that was based on total cholesterol," Teicholz said. "But our understanding of heart disease has evolved...

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Heart Foundation have found there is actually no evidence that confirms changing the type of fat you eat from "bad" saturated to "healthier" polyunsaturated cuts heart risk. The researchers analysed data from 72 unique studies with over 600,000 participants from 18 nations and found total saturated fatty acid, whether measured in the diet or in the bloodstream as a biomarker, was not associated with coronary disease risk in the observational studies.

Replacing saturated fats with healthier options can cut the risk of heart disease by a fifth, a US study says.The Harvard Medical School reports adds weight to the growing evidence about polyunsaturated fats, found in some fish and vegetable oils. The team analysed the findings from eight previous studies, covering more than 13,000 people, in their research. Experts said cutting down on saturated fats, found in butter and meat, was just one part of a healthy diet. It is recommended that adults get no more than 11% of their energy from saturated fats.