Marc Bates, MPH, has released a new YouTube video examining a 2025 JAMA meta-analysis that questions decades of dietary advice regarding saturated fat consumption and cardiovascular health.

The metabolic health coach identified significant methodological concerns in the research after discovering what he described as contradictory findings. The meta-analysis suggested healthy individuals consumed fast food while saturated fat remained problematic for heart health.

"When I read the basic contention that eating saturated fat was bad for you and fast food was good," Bates explained, describing his initial reaction to the research findings.

Bates highlighted fundamental issues with the study's methodology, particularly its reliance on food frequency questionnaires across multiple randomized controlled trials. The data indicated that healthy participants reported consuming fast food, which contradicted established nutritional principles.

"The problem is that it was a cohort study of multiple RCTs, and the basic data was based on food frequency questionnaires," Bates noted. "And healthy people, according to their questionnaires, seemed to be eating fast food. Made no sense."

The expert emphasized the importance of examining biological mechanisms when evaluating nutrition research that appears to contradict metabolic science. Bates advocates for thorough data analysis that considers how the body actually processes different nutrients.

The video addresses the growing need for evidence-based approaches to cardiovascular health recommendations, particularly regarding dietary fat consumption and its relationship to heart disease prevention.