THE idea some dietary fats are good for us was contained in a new report, which claims low-fat diets have had “disastrous health consequences” and have contributed greatly to the UK’s epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. The report – which unites dozens of bits of research -- says low-fat diets haven’t halted Britain’s obesity crisis, suggests a return to “whole foods” such as meat, fish and dairy, including high-fat, healthy foods like avocados and insists: “Eating fat does not make you fat”.

OK – there’s a new health report every week. But this one was a bit different. Produced by the National Obesity Forum – an international coalition of doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, sports scientists and activists – it had clout and research evidence behind it.

More than that – it’s an attempt to democratise a dietary revolution that’s taken place over the last decade among those with the time, energy and professional background to care. And ironically, that includes many of the health professionals whose unions and associations have thrown their hands up in horror at the notion anyone should question the “all fats are bad” message.

In my experience, most of the folk employed to take care of our health chucked that simplistic mantra overboard years ago. I’ve had quite a bit of contact with NHS folk and alternative practitioners since diagnosis with an autoimmune condition three years ago followed by three months chemotherapy and immune-suppressants. I’ve found that most of the savvy doctors, nurses, consultants, surgeons, academics, administrators, chiropractors and osteopaths I’ve met -- and the occasional health minister – already eat healthy “high fat” foods like nuts, avocados, fish and even meat. I’ll further bet they avoid processed foods like the plague and are sceptical about “low fat” products, high in sugar. They’ve probably been on Vitamin D supplements for years because its obvious Scots cannot create enough of this vital hormone from sunshine alone – even though the Scottish health authorities have hesitated to advise all Scots to supplement.

Some health professionals have adopted gluten-free, high-fat diets like the Palaeo or “caveman” diet I’m on currently. Even so, official bodies and health professionals must insist it’s safer to stick to the script, avoid fatty foods and eat “healthy foods” instead like wholemeal bread.

Try telling that to Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, both of whom are on gluten-free diets. Try telling it to folk across Scotland who’ve been diagnosed with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance. Try telling Findlays of Portobello – a butcher inundated with requests from across the UK for its gluten-free black pudding and haggis. Try telling outlets like EAT where “fatty” avocado, fried egg and ham hock represent a new popular breakfast option at Edinburgh airport. Indeed, look around and see how many places offer gluten-free options. It’s like the vegetarian option was 10 years ago – still a bit odd but increasingly available for the very good reason that folk are learning about fats and carbs and testing out new diets for themselves.

I’m not saying anyone can be absolutely certain what constitutes the healthiest diet for each person. Yet it’s clear there’s been a two-speed debate for years and the public has been left in the slow lane, waiting for experts to come clean and share the better health habits they have personally been developing for years.

In fact, the obesity report goes further and suggests the nutritional “establishment” has been “stuck in the dark ages” because senior academics have been compromised through funding by commercial food interests.

There has been a backlash – to put it mildly – with the Royal Society for Public Health describing the report as a “muddled manifesto of sweeping statements, generalisations and speculation”.

It’s hard for the non-professional to judge. But thousands of us watched a fascinating BBC Horizon programme two years ago involving twin brothers on different diets. Both were doctors, in their mid-thirties and both took regular exercise. Alexander gave up sugar and Chris gave up fat. The result was instructive.

The twin who gave up fat put on more weight. But the “no sugar” rule also had damaging side effects. Alexander wrote afterwards that a diet of fruit with natural sugars along with healthy fats would form a better diet – and he attacked the addictive combination of sugar and fat that’s almost everywhere in our “reward-eating”, takeaway-culture.

“We interviewed some amazing scientists who showed us that a combination of fat and sugar has a similar effect on your brain to cocaine. We relish fat/sugar combinations - chocolate, ice cream, French fries [or pies]. But if you want to lose weight, it’s much easier if you avoid processed foods made with sugar and fat. These foods affect your brain in a completely different way from natural foods and it’s hard to resist eating too much.”

Now I recognize some readers of The National will not care very much about this.

Some never stopped eating fat in the first place.

Others don’t wait for a medical consensus to act on health and fitness.

And many read this paper for stories about politics and believe health is a non-political issue.

Lets tackle that. I could wax lyrical about the damage done every day to our collective energy levels by eating nutrition-free grub. I could gently suggest that if we are what we eat, Scotland is a half-digested shish kebab.

But the connection between health, diet and independence is even more important – and obvious. How can a nation that regularly achieves Sick Man and Woman of Europe status hope to stand on its own collective two feet? How can Scots aim to take charge of their country when half of us can’t run for the bus?

A popular mid-80s book famously argued that Fat is a Feminist Issue – well maybe Fat (or Diet) is an Independence Issue too.

Since the indyref most Scots – certainly the 45 per cent -- have become fairly sceptical about the need for “officials” to decide what’s best. And yet when it comes to health, our lives are apparently not in our own hands.

That’s why I’d welcome the Obesity Forum report – whether it’s forensically peer-reviewed or not. Scotland needs as vibrant, searching and urgent debate about the quest for good health; as we had in 2014 about the quest for political self determination.

This is a good start.