The tide has been going out on low and non-fat diets, as well as cholesterol obsession and heart medication on general. In fact, experts are now pointing out that despite a huge number of people being prescribed cholesterol medication, changing their diets to exclude saturated fat, and making other fat related lifestyle changes, heart disease rates haven’t improved proportionately.
In fact, studies have found that many people are healthier when they include fat in their diet. Sweden has taken the step to change their food pyramid to include more fat.
But there is a culprit contributing to America’s poor heart health: sugar.
Fat adds flavor to food, and as we cut fat out of our collective diet, we added sugar. Sugar, especially processed sugar, is linked to more problems every week.
You probably already know many of the risks of sugar, so here are some surprising benefits of fat:
-It can be a good source of energy. One study found that people on a high fat diet were actually thinner than those with a high sugar diet!
-Another study found that a diet with enough fat in it actually improved markers of heart health and reduced diabetes risk markers.
Just keep it real. Get your fat from whole foods like meat, avocados, olive oil, and nuts. (Fatty fish can be a good source, just eat it sparingly because of the risk of toxins like mercury).
What do you think?