We Are All Influenced By The “Healthy Eating Trend”!
For the past couple of decades, we have become much more conscious about our diets as the healthy eating trend has brought extensive amount of information about flaws in our diet. By now, most people are familiar with basic concepts of healthy diet and can apply it to their everyday meal plan. One of the most common traits of healthy eating trend is low fat diet. Whether you are trying to lose a couple of pounds, or you simply want to take good care of your body, chances are that you may have started to include low fat groceries into your fridge and kitchen cupboard.
As the healthy eating trend was getting more hype, we could notice the shift in supermarkets’ shelves, as more and more products have received their low fat substitute. Being familiar with hazardous impact of fat to our heart health and our weight, we started to perceive saturated fat as greatest enemy to our health and we welcomed these dietary changes and quickly started to incorporate low fat groceries into our diets. However, our healthy choices haven’t exactly turned us into healthy and fit people we hoped to be, which made many rethink their diet options. Soon, a great number of research have found that the low fat trend isn’t actually beneficial to our health in any way. Moreover, the studies have shown that high-fat diet actually provides healthier solution for fitness and good heart health.
The Truth Behind Low Fat Products
The sad truth about low fat products lies in the production process that requires fat substitutes, which undergo processing methods that than turn them into a trans-fat trigger in our body, making it more dangerous to our heart and cholesterol. Most often, high amounts of carbohydrates are added to substitute fat, therefore in many cases, low fat products contain far more calories that cause weight loss than the natural fat in food.
On the other hand, as opposed to previous research that showed insufficient proof of the efficiency of low fat diet to cardiac health and weight loss, more thorough research shows that opposite is true. According to the study [1] published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates it is actually high fat and low carbohydrate diet that is far more beneficial to heart health and weight loss.
Fat is an important agent for weight loss!
Even though it may sound illogical, partly because of the previously prevailing thought that fat is bad for our health, fat is actually important agent in our health and weight loss. As fat aids many metabolic processes, not all fat we consume is immediately turned into excess body fat. Moreover, fat consumption keeps us full for longer, therefore it helps to prevent overeating and sugar cravings that trigger fat gain.
According to the comprehensive research on the effects of fat consumption to hearth health and weight loss, saturated fat intake proved beneficial for both aspects. High fat diet proved to be beneficial for people who struggled to lose weight; reduced blood levels of triglycerides and provided additional protection for the heart by increasing levels of the good cholesterol (HDL – high density lipoprotein).
Namely, previously mentioned study from the New England Journal of Medicine, that compared the effects of low-carbohydrate diet vs. low-fat diet on weight loss and heart health, has found that a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diet showed “The increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and the decrease in triglyceride concentrations were greater among subjects on the low-carbohydrate diet than among those on the conventional diet throughout most of the study.”
Low Carbs High Healthy Fat Diet is Actually Better For you!
Two other studies published in the Annals of International Medicine, presented results that spoke in favor of low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet as opposed to low-fat diet for weight loss and cardiac health. A 2004 randomized trial [2] studied 132 obese adults divided into two groups for each type of diet. After one year, the results showed significantly better improvement for the low-carbohydrate, high-fat group. Similar conclusions were drawn from the 2014 study. [3]
Additionally, the British Journal of Nutrition shows the correlation between saturated fat consumption and reduced risk of heart disease in European countries.
Moreover, a six-year long study [4] participating 98,462 women showed that high-fat diet in women doesn’t pose threat to coronary heart disease.
As the research shows, high-fat diet consisting of healthy sources of fats and proteins is a far more healthy and efficient solution for staying fit and preserving coronary health. Whereas low fat diet has been popular in the past couple of decades, its effects are proven counter effective due to processing that adds calories. Diet rich in saturated fat is a more healthy way to lose weight and reduce the risk of heart disease as saturated fat aids in the production of protective cholesterol and reduces chances of overeating and cravings.
Reference
[1] | ^ | The New England Journal of Medicine: A Randomized Trial of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet for Obesity |
[2] | ^ | Annals of International Medicine: The effects of low-carbohydrate versus conventional weight loss diets in severely obese adults: one-year follow-up of a randomized trial. |
[3] | ^ | Annals of International Medicine: Effects of low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets: a randomized trial. |
[4] | ^ | The New England Journal of Medicine: Low-Carbohydrate-Diet Score and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women |