Tonya Lachey
NaomiMyth Busting the Fat Fad
October 25th 2007 04:06
Fats have a bad reputation. They are blamed for the obesity epidemic we are currently experiencing as well as many of chronic diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But are fats the “bad” food we make them out to be?
In this fat blog, I address myth that fats cause heart disease and obesity.
1. Fats cause heart disease
A thought provoking article in the New York Times on October 9th of this year outlined how most of the world’s doctors and health care experts have been duped by a leading “authority” in the 1950s who claimed that the then heart disease epidemic was due to an increase in saturated fat consumption. The authority of the time, Ancel Keys “discovered” this link by looking at traditional diets and making the assumption that they were low in fat. In fact the opposite is often true. Many traditional diets have a high fat and high animal protein intake. And in fact many traditional diets had a higher fat content than diets of the 1950s.
To support this assertion Key’s claimed that the US had the highest fat intake when compared to 4 other Western countries and that a higher fat intake correlated with a greater incidence of disease. If he had taken the time to compare the US diet to the 22 other key nations, he would have found that there was no correlation at all.
The other point the article makes is that if indeed the research had been more thorough, then the “French Pardox” would not have been a paradox at all.
In the 50 years since then, the “low-fat diet message” has been hammered home by leading experts, doctors, dieticians and governments. However the interesting thing is that the research completed during the same period has not supported this assertion. A Cochrane Collaboration (considered the gold standard in research) concluded that low fat diets had no significant on death rates. So if fats aren’t the cause, then what is? For answers to this question and other fat facts tune in to upcoming blogs!
2. Fat makes you Fat
This is based on the idea that a gram of fat provides more energy than a gram of protein or carbohydrate (9 calories when compared to 4 calories for protein & carbs). So the assumption is that by eating more fats than we can use as available energy, we store them. However, the same could be said for protein and carbohydrates. And this is where the issue lies with low fat diets. A diet low in carbohydrates and low in fats is not necessarily the best way to lose or maintain weight. Simple carbohydrates in particular are now being seen to have a significant effect on weight gain and blood sugar control. So many people have far too much simple sugar in their diets and therefore in their blood. This is the most significant contributing factor to weight gain. Eating fats can actually help slow down the rate of sugar release from food and therefore slow down your storage of sugar as body fat. I will address specifically how this works in coming blogs.
In the next blog I will look at “good” fats versus “bad” fats.
In this fat blog, I address myth that fats cause heart disease and obesity.
1. Fats cause heart disease
A thought provoking article in the New York Times on October 9th of this year outlined how most of the world’s doctors and health care experts have been duped by a leading “authority” in the 1950s who claimed that the then heart disease epidemic was due to an increase in saturated fat consumption. The authority of the time, Ancel Keys “discovered” this link by looking at traditional diets and making the assumption that they were low in fat. In fact the opposite is often true. Many traditional diets have a high fat and high animal protein intake. And in fact many traditional diets had a higher fat content than diets of the 1950s.
To support this assertion Key’s claimed that the US had the highest fat intake when compared to 4 other Western countries and that a higher fat intake correlated with a greater incidence of disease. If he had taken the time to compare the US diet to the 22 other key nations, he would have found that there was no correlation at all.
The other point the article makes is that if indeed the research had been more thorough, then the “French Pardox” would not have been a paradox at all.
In the 50 years since then, the “low-fat diet message” has been hammered home by leading experts, doctors, dieticians and governments. However the interesting thing is that the research completed during the same period has not supported this assertion. A Cochrane Collaboration (considered the gold standard in research) concluded that low fat diets had no significant on death rates. So if fats aren’t the cause, then what is? For answers to this question and other fat facts tune in to upcoming blogs!
2. Fat makes you Fat
This is based on the idea that a gram of fat provides more energy than a gram of protein or carbohydrate (9 calories when compared to 4 calories for protein & carbs). So the assumption is that by eating more fats than we can use as available energy, we store them. However, the same could be said for protein and carbohydrates. And this is where the issue lies with low fat diets. A diet low in carbohydrates and low in fats is not necessarily the best way to lose or maintain weight. Simple carbohydrates in particular are now being seen to have a significant effect on weight gain and blood sugar control. So many people have far too much simple sugar in their diets and therefore in their blood. This is the most significant contributing factor to weight gain. Eating fats can actually help slow down the rate of sugar release from food and therefore slow down your storage of sugar as body fat. I will address specifically how this works in coming blogs.
In the next blog I will look at “good” fats versus “bad” fats.
| 70 |
| Vote |
Add Comments
Read More
Comments (3)
