When nearly all animals use fat as their primary source of fuel, why do dietary guidelines advise a diet based on carbohydrates for human beings?

Question

Apparently even cows, who eat grass, synthesize fats in their rumen. I could be wrong. Looking for some clarity on this subject. Thanks!

In: Biology

Answer 1

Most of the original dietary guidelines came about from the work of one politically connected scientist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancel_Keys

He authored some research indicating that dietary saturated fat was responsible for a number of diseases, and suggested a low fat diet to counter that.

There’s a pretty hard limit on how many calories per day a human can get from protein, so the rest must come from either fats or carbohydrates. So this led to suggesting a substantial increase in the number of carbohydrates that were consumed.

Modern research has been politicized to a point where it’s hard to have a polite discussion about the findings.