--- title: A Mediterranean Diet Is Better Than Low-Fat For Weight Loss description: Researchers say that it’s time to move beyond the dogma to avoid all fats in our food. Certain types of fat won’t make you heavier canonical: https://time.com/4359147/fat-weight-gain-mediterranean-diet/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-06T22:30:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:25:34.254Z article:section: Health og:title: This Kind of Fat Won’t Make You Gain Weight og:description: Researchers say that it’s time to move beyond the dogma to avoid all fats in our food. Certain types of fat won’t make you heavier og:url: https://time.com/4359147/fat-weight-gain-mediterranean-diet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94a37408ac7bf4ea/69878154cd1bbab3766f56e2/time-50-healthiest-foods-olive-oil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, olive oil, fats og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Kind of Fat Won’t Make You Gain Weight twitter:description: Researchers say that it’s time to move beyond the dogma to avoid all fats in our food. Certain types of fat won’t make you heavier twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94a37408ac7bf4ea/69878154cd1bbab3766f56e2/time-50-healthiest-foods-olive-oil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Kind of Fat Won’t Make You Gain Weight > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Know Right Now: New Dietary Guidelines For Americans [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: New Dietary Guidelines For Americans](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eXDuY1tG.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2016-01-07. The U.S. released new dietary guidelines for Americans, offering advice on healthy eating_  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jun 6, 2016 10:30 PM UTC  Danny Kim for TIME  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jun 6, 2016 10:30 PM UTC Health experts have warned for years that eating too much fat can contribute to calorie overload, overweight and obesity. But [not all fats are created equal](http://time.com/3734033/whole-milk-dairy-fat/?iid=sr-link2), and in the latest study on the subject, scientists found that eating certain fats, no matter how many calories they contain, won’t lead to significant weight gain. In the study published in the journal [_Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology_](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587%2816%2930085-7/abstract), researchers in Spain report that people who were put on a Mediterranean diet without any calorie restrictions for five years lost slightly more weight than people put on a low-fat diet for the same amount of time. The group of 7,447 middle-aged men and women, who were at higher risk of having heart problems because they had type 2 diabetes or other heart-related risk factors, were mostly overweight or obese. Those who were told to adopt a Mediterranean diet, which contains more fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins like fish, also added either olive oil or nuts to their diet, but they did not restrict the number of calories they ate. The control group was told to eat a low-fat diet and also weren’t limited in the amount of calories they ate daily. The findings highlight the more sophisticated understanding that nutrition and health experts have about the role of fats in promoting health. Advice to limit or eliminate fatty foods can backfire for health, since people tend to replace the fats from meats or proteins with carbohydrates and sweets, which can be just as detrimental (if not more) for promoting obesity and heart disease. Recent studies have found similar results that question the damning of all fats. One [study](http://time.com/4187728/heart-health-fat-saturated/?iid=sr-link5) revealed that only 3.6% of heart deaths around the world can be attributed to saturated fats found in red meat and dairy products, while more than 10% of heart deaths were traced to eating too few plant oils, like those that are plentiful in a Mediterranean diet. In another study by the same authors of that analysis, [people who drank full-fat milk](http://time.com/4279538/low-fat-milk-vs-whole-milk/?iid=sr-link1) had a 46% lower risk of developing diabetes than those who chose skim. The Spanish researchers found that people on the Mediterranean diet also ate more vegetables, fruit and fish and consumed less meat and dairy products than those on the low-fat diet. That could explain why, even though they weren’t told to eat fewer calories, the people in the Mediterranean group tended to lose slightly more weight than those in the low-fat group. Taken together, these results and those from other recent studies are making a stronger case against cutting out all fat from the diet. Good fats, such as those from plants like olive oil and nuts, are not only helpful for the heart but won’t add to weight gain. 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