The conventional advice we’ve been given to reduce heart disease, eat less fat and more carbs, is completely wrong and needs to be turned on its head. In fact, it’s the carbs and not the fat that we should avoid if we want to reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease, writes a cardiologist in The Washington Times. And he’s probably right.

For decades, doctors and nutritionists prescribed low-fat diets to people trying to lower their risk of heart disease. Saturated fats in meats and dairy products were thought to clog our arteries. Grains — especially “whole” ones — were thought to help everything from high cholesterol to digestion.

A growing body of research suggests this advice was wrong. For most people, it’s carbohydrates, not fats, that are the true cause of heart disease.