Low fat diets have been promoted by the government and marketers of “low-fat” food products for decades, but are they really healthy? The food pyramid, as promoted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows fats at the peak and notates “Fats, oils and sweets, USE SPARINGLY”.
Much confusion surrounds this issue. For one thing, there is no specific definition of a “low fat diet”. Plans with a dietary content lower than ten percent and up to 30 percent have been touted as low fat. This makes answering the “are they healthy” question impossible.
On a nutrient level, a gram of fat contains approximately twice as many calories as the same measure of carbohydrates or protein. Its calorie-dense nature is likely the cause of our attraction to fatty foods, existing as a holdout from our feast or famine days.
In our current society where “feast” is far more common that famine, those extra calories could prove to be detrimental; however, the important thing to remember is that fat is a vital nutrient and the body cannot function without it. It has also been found that the human body does not burn stored fat when no new fat is available.
Fat has been vilified as being a major cause for heart attacks, high cholesterol, and other less directly linked conditions, but medical studies have disproven each claim. There are a few medical conditions, such as pancreatitis that require a severe limitation of intake of dietary fats. For the most part, though, fat consumption should not be severely limited.
Many products marketed as being low fat are actually high in sugar, which has been proven to be the source of many negative effects, including weight gain. Eating good quality fats such as those found in olive oil, coconut oil, and fresh avocado is an essential part of a healthy diet.
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