The Fear of Fats - An Outdated Ideology
For many years a lot of us have been led to believe that eating a low-fat diet equates to thinness and health. Our doctors, scientists, nutritionist, the government and even the media have made us believe that when we eat fat, it gets turned into fat in our bodies.
The worst of the suggestions is that eating fat does so much harm as to
clog our arteries.
Time has flown by and today we know that none of this has any scientific truth behind them. They are essentially not scientifically true. This hitherto held belief was based on flawed science and which ignores convincing evidence to the contrary.
This fear of fat, which has been with us for decades, has created a very big global health epidemic.
This whole issue began with the government's publication of the Food Guide Pyramid. This pyramid placed carbs at the base and we were advised to base most of our diets around it.
However, fats and oils were placed at the top of this pyramid with the advice that they should be consumed cautiously. Our health care services and the food industry jumped on board and the rest is history.
Today, approximately 20 percent of the average American daily calorie consumption comes from sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, sweetened coffees and teas, sports drinks, and juices.
And herein lies the biggest problem. These liquid sugar calories are far more detrimental than solid sugar or other carb calories. This owes to the fact that they are simple in structure, easily absorbable into the bloodstream and therefore used directly for fat production and storage.
Also, sugar-sweetened drinks have been proven to cause heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Several scientific studies have made it explicitly known that sugar and refined carbohydrates are the true causes of heart diseases and obesity - and not fat as earlier postulated.
It is a well-established fact that increased carbohydrate consumption cause a rise in the production of insulin which makes the body to store fat mostly in dangerous areas like the abdominal cavity.
It is also another well agreed fact that refined carbohydrates and sugar in our diet are the main cause for the steep rise in the occurrence of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Unlike sugar, which regardless of the name or form has negative effects on the body, there are different types of fat having different effects on the body. For sugar, it is straightforward in its effect while for fats it depends on the type that is consumed.
Essentially, not all fats are the same. They don't all have the same effect on the human body. Some can negatively impact your health while others are very essential for the proper functioning of the body.
In this regard, we have the saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and trans fats. Also, within each of these groupings you still have different types. For instance, saturated and polyunsaturated fats come in many flavors.
Fats known as medium chain triglycerides or MCTs are today recognized as one of the best fat burners you can eat that can help to accelerate your weight loss.
It is therefore important to understand that not all fats should be vilified. Eating the right amount of the good ones will definitely not make you fat.
The veil covering the real facts about consumption of fat is gradually being removed and the findings are getting quite interesting.
There are uncontestable evidence today proving that eating the right fats help you not only to lose weight but also help to protect against heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Other benefits of good fat consumption include improved mood, hair, skin, and nails.
The take home message here is that eating the right amounts of the good fats is the key to true health and weight loss. Therefore, eating these types of fats do not make you add weight and causes no heart related health conditions.
