Please Pass the Pistachios

In a study that rocks the wobbly foundation of the low fat diet for heart health paradigm¹ (which is of course a major fraud), LDL cholesterol was lowered by 8% when participants ate 20% of their calories per day from pistachios (34% fat diet).

Pistachios are not some kind of wonder nut loaded with healthy omega 3 oils. They don't possess some superstar nutrient that will be the next blockbuster MLM product. They are rather mundane and contain a lot of fat, including saturated fat.

In this study, participants were not overeating total calories; they were simply including pistachios and the more the better. This indicates that fat, in and of itself, is not bad (even saturated fat). There is a lot of research to show that it is actually fat in conjunction with sugar, both consumed in large and excess amounts, that causes a lot of problems for your health. However, fat in and of itself is actually needed to stimulate healthy fat and cholesterol metabolism, and this simple study proves the point.