How Low-Fat Is Too Low?

A low-fat diet may be good for the heart, but a moderate-fat diet (in which 33% of calories come from fats, half of which are the monounsaturated fats found in peanuts and peanut oil) seems to reduce a person's cardiovascular risk even more, according to a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The low-fat diet (in which 18% of calories are from fat) decreased by 12% the dieter's levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, which protects against heart disease. The moderate-fat diet produced no decrease in heart-friendly HDL.