New research in health has started to confirm the long-held view among nutritionists that fat is not the cause of obesity. A low-fat diet may actually cause more harm because healthy fats get replaced with carbohydrates and sugars, which are more of a problem.

“The country’s big low-fat message backfired,” says Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. “The overemphasis on reducing fat caused the consumption of carbohydrates and sugar in our diets to soar. That shift may be linked to the biggest health problems in America today.”

A sedentary diet is undesirable but if it happens (a cube life is unavoidable for many of us) then minimize the intake of carbohydrates and sugars — get fiber and nutrition from unrefined foods. Even better is to be active. More calories a day are ok if you can burn them away.