What is the Big Fat Lie ?
- What is The Bad Fat ?
- What does fat do for you ?
The Big Fat Lie:
For decades, fat has been seen as the “bad” component of the diet. Low- and no-fat has become synonymous with being healthy. These ideas, of course, are untrue. In fact, fat is one of the most beneficial substances in your diet, and is often the missing ingredient in developing and maintaining optimal health and human performance. But an ongoing, well-financed misinformation campaign against fat has misled the public to an epidemic of fat phobia. Just think of the billions of dollars spent each year on low-fat and fat-free foods and you’ll understand why you might not have been told the whole truth about fat.
In addition, this anti-fat campaign has contributed to actual deficiencies in fat that have contributed to various diseases. The bottom line on dietary fat: Too much or too little is dangerous. It’s simply a question of balancing your intake.
First, let’s define fat a term that also includes oil. Fats are found in concentrated forms such as vegetable oils, butter, egg yolk, cheese and other naturally occurring foods, and in less concentrated forms that make up the content of almost all natural foods. And some foods contain very small fat components that are as essential as all other nutrients.
Virtually all natural fats are healthy. As noted above, eating a balance of fats is most important. In general, eating too much of one type of fat, such as too much saturated fat from dairy products or too much omega-6 fat from vegetable oil, is an example of a fat imbalance that can adversely affect health. In addition, eating “bad” fats those that are artificial and highly processed, such as trans fat and overheated fats in fried foods, can cause serious health problems. Foods such as chips, French fries and fried chicken, to name just a few, are examples of those containing bad fat.
Dietary fats have been a staple for humans throughout evolution.Ironically many people are learning of the true importance of fats in the diet only since the low-fat trend of the last few decades. This is not news, really. Scientists have known of the importance of fat in the diet since the discoveries in 1929 by researchers who demonstrated the necessity of dietary fat. Before discussing these issues which fats are best and how can they be balanced let’s highlight some of the many healthy functions of fat.
• Disease Prevention and Treatment:
Certain dietary fats consumed in balanced proportions can actually help prevent many diseases. For instance, we now know that dietary fats are central to controlling inflammation,which is the first stage of most chronic diseases. And, selectively increasing certain dietary fats has been shown to reduce the growth or spreading of cancer and improving recovery in heart disease. Many brain problems, including cognitive dysfunction such as Alzheimer’s disease, can also be treated with fats. A healthy brain is more than 60 percent fat.
• Energy:
The aerobic system depends on fat as the fuel for the aerobic muscles, which power us through the day. Fat produces energy, and prevents excessive dependency upon sugar, especially blood sugar. Fat provides more than twice as much potential energy as carbohydrates do, 9 calories per gram as opposed to only 4 calories.....
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Mahmoud Badawy
