Low-fat diets.
Nowadays, low-fat diets are very popular. The number of magazines,  books, TV programs or websites dealing with dietary fat elimination is huge and it is still on increase. Food industry has been harmonized with this trend and thousands of reduced-fat products have flooded the market.
Despite of that, incidence of conditions associated, among other factors, with high fat intake is soaring. In the US, heart disease is still by far the first cause of deaths. High blood pressure, extra weight and obesity statistic figures are rapidly increasing and the total occurrence of colorectal cancer reached the 145,000 cases in 2005. Apparently, something is missing. On one hand, the consumption of fat foods is supposed to decline, on the other hand, the incidence of illnesses due to this consumption has been hardly affected and in many cases it is on increase.
Although the development of the above health problems is not solely the aftermath of high-fat diet, it is well acknowledged that the latest can result in such medical conditions. Fats, in general, are of very high caloric value and if consumed in large amounts can lead to excessive weight gain or obesity. Thus, the conclusion is that a low-fat diet can help in weight management. This is absolutely true, providing this diet is not enriched with high amounts of carbohydrates or alcohol. For instance, having a low-fat meal at your nearest fast food restaurant means nothing, if this meal is accompanied with a couple of soft drinks or with a pint of beer. Although you have managed to avoid taking too many calories with the food, you have taken plenty of them with the drinks. Bear in mind that one pint of cola drink or beer has 187 or 220 calories respectively.
Of course, anybody can easily come to a conclusion that the best option is low-fat, low-carb meals. Well not always, because this is the one side of the coin. The thing is that proper diet does not mean starvation and the terms low-fat or low-carb are not synonyms to healthy food. At least not necessarily.
We will not deal with low-carbohydrate diets in this section. You can click the above link to find the relevant page for them. Here we will try to determine what a healthy low-fat diet is. A healthy low-fat diet means reduced cholesterol, saturated and trans fatty acids.
Not all fats are harmful. Contrary to the common notion, a very wide range of them are beneficial. For instance, certain fatty acids, such as omega-3, -6 and -9, are beneficial and two of them are essential for optimum bodily function. If you deprive yourself from fats, it is likely for you to become deficient in vitamins A, E, K and perhaps, if you live in areas with low annual sunshine rates, in vitamin D. This may happen, because the above nutrients are fat-soluble and can be obtained only from fatty foods. What is more, unsaturated fatty acids can control the level of LDL, better known as bad cholesterol, in the blood stream and protect from cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, consumption of cholesterol, saturated and trans fatty acids can increase the risk for the above disease, which includes, high blood pressure, angina, heart attack and stroke. This happens, because they increase the bad cholesterol blood level and promote atherosclerosis. Even in this case though, we have to remember that blood cholesterol levels are affected only by 25% by dietary harmful habits, since the rest 75% of this lipid is synthesized within the liver.
In conclusion, not all fats are bad for our health. The avoidance of too much fat intake is strongly recommended, especially for saturated, hydrogenated and trans fatty acids. On the contrary, reasonable use of plant oils, especially olive oil, can be highly beneficial. A low-fat diet, followed on a long term basis, can protect our health very efficiently, providing we do not get fat-phobic and exclude all the fats from our meals. |
