Is Your Low Fat Diet Making You Fat?

by Dale Kelley
Capital Region Fitness

Say what? I should eat more fat?

Probably. If you are following Weight Watchers - which is a fairly high carb/low fat plan - then I'd venture a guess and say almost definitely.

Here's the low down:

Once upon a time nobody paid attention to fat. Then Americans started getting fat and so began the low fat diet craze.

These days experts classify fats as either good or bad. Saturated and trans fats are bad. Most processed foods contain trans fats, some more than others.

Fats that come from plant sources - think flax, olive oil, avocados, peanuts, etc., tend to be better for us - in moderation of course. Most of these are also known as Omega6 fatty acids.

And then there's the Omega3s. These are fats found primarily in fish like salmon and mackerel.

The Link Between Fats and Weight

Despite what's been previously preached, fat is a necessary part of a healthy diet. Without it, Americans tend to put on more weight. During the 1960s, before the low-fat diet craze, people got about 45 percent of their daily calories from fat. Back then, only about 13 percent of Americans were obese.

Today, with 60 percent of the U.S. population classified as overweight, only about 33 percent of our daily calories come from fat. Why the discrepancy? One possible reason is that people are exchanging fats for even more unhealthy alternatives, like calorie-rich, sugar-laden carbohydrates.

Snack Wells anyone? Most low-fat, "diet" foods are loaded with "white death" A.K.A. sugar. Am I saying don't eat sugar? No. I'm saying you're eating far more sugar than you probably realize. Sugar is jam packed with calories. Too many calories make you fat. Fat doesn't make you fat. Sugar doesn't make you fat. Excess calories make you fat.

There's actually no proof that restricting fats in the diet improves weight loss or reduces heart disease risk. A major study by the Women's Health Initiative found no health benefit in women who followed a low-fat diet over those who didn't restrict their fats. And a Nurses' Health Study found no improvement in heart health or weight loss, probably because they were cutting out the protective good fats as well as bad fats.

The current recommendation is between three and nine servings of fats each day; most of these should come from good fats, with very little saturated fat and ideally no trans fat.

Fat in the Diet: Why Good Fats Are Good for the Body

Essential Fatty Acids for our skin, hair, wound healing, immunity to name but a few.

In fact, nearly every important biological function in our bodies requires the essential fatty acids most of us don't consume enough of! We require them to live - yet in the quest for the perfect body we are killing ourselves AND gaining weight!

If I told you that EFAs increase metabolism and aid in fat oxidation and might help you lose weight, would you eat more of them? Good. Because it's true!

Fat in the Diet: Finding Good Fats

Foods with the good fats that can help boost your health, improve skin tone, alleviate depression, and increase your metabolic rate include:

* Fish and other seafood, especially salmon and other fatty fish
* Walnuts, pecans, and almonds
* Flaxseed oil
* Olive oil
* Sesame, pumpkin, and other seeds

Fat in the Diet: The Bottom Line on Fats

While some fats should be limited (saturated) or avoided altogether (trans fats), don't think of fat as a dirty word, and don't deprive yourself of foods that are both healthy and delicious. Feed your body the good fats that it requires!