(MENAFN- Live Mint) Robert F Kennedy Jr, the United States' health and human services secretary, who is known for his radical beliefs on vaccines and other health-related issues, is creating headlines once again, this time by claiming he will urge Americans to consume more saturated fats, which go against dietary recommendations by experts worldwide.

Kennedy says that he will be issuing dietary guidelines for Americans, which will“stress the need to eat saturated fats of dairy, of good meat, of fresh meat and vegetables... when we release those, it will give everybody the rationale for driving it into our schools," as per a report by the Hill.

Most scientists and dieticians are alarmed with the news, while some are waiting for the actual guidelines and its contents.

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A professor at the University of California, San Diego, told the Guardian,“My response and sort of counsel to myself was to stay calm, and let's see what happens, because there was no indication given as to how, why, when this potential shift would occur,” adding,“The recommendation around saturated fat has been one of the most consistent recommendations since the first edition of the dietary guidelines.”

A professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, who has researched saturated fats and found them to be not as harmful as earlier believed to be, also said that if“[Kennedy] is actually going to go out and say, we should be eating more saturated fat, I think that's really the wrong message”.

As per Krauss' research, if one replaces the saturated fats in their diets with carbs and sugars, they will be increasing their chances of a heart disease.

What are saturated fats? What are their health effects?

Saturated fats are a type of dietary fats which, along with trans fats, are unhealthy fats. These fats are found in oil, butter, and red meat, and can stay solid at room temperature.

Excessive consumption of saturated fats causes cholesterol to build up in the arteries, thus increasing one's LDL cholesterol. This increases the risk for strokes as well heart diseases.

Saturated fats and health risks.What is the Dietary Guidelines for Americans?

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is an advisory of the US government that is released every five years, and recommends what a healthy American should consume based on the latest research.

The latest guidelines have yet to be released.

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If these guidelines feature what Kennedy is claiming, they will have an impact on the US' school lunches and military rations.

The percentage of recommended saturated fat by the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health is less than or equal to 10% of the total calories in a diet.

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