Low Fats or Low Carbs?

The answer is neither—or both—but what matters more is the quality of the food you’re eating. Whole foods and plant-based foods and healthy fats—while avoiding any processed food—determine the health of your cardiovascular system.

Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health tracked the diets and heart health of around 200,000 participants for 10 years and found that the quality of the food mattered most. 

People who regularly ate healthy versions of both low-carb and low-fat diets that emphasized plant-based foods, whole grains and unsaturated fats had a much lower risk of CHD (coronary heart disease), while those who ate processed meals that were either low carb or low fats experienced far higher rates of heart disease.

Previous studies have contradicted each other, but this may be because researchers had not investigated exactly what people were eating.