Obesity Diet
Now,
let me explode another myth which is both an obesity myth and one of my obesity facts -
low fat diets don't work! If a visitor from another planet were to visit
earth they would automatically assume that dieting was part of our life and
clearly something we all enjoy.
For years we have been advised to eat a low fat diet in order to help prevent heart attacks, and to promote weight loss, but the latest research suggests that such diets actually do more harm than good. Having tried many of them myself I have reached the following conclusions. Firstly, none of them work. Secondly, even when you lose a few pounds, you immediately put it back on, and thirdly the low fat foods market has been designed by the food industry, for the benefit of the food industry.
Information On Obesity - The Low Fat Diet Myth
Now, before you stop reading, or throw your hands up in horror, let me give you two quotes which support my belief that low fat diets are not only a waste of time and money, they can in fact be dangerous to your health. Let's look at the health issues first which is best summed up by Dr Laura Corr ( Consultant Cardiologist to Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospitals, London U.K.) and M.F. Oliver (of the National Heart and Lung Institute in London, U.K.), in the concluding paragraphs of their recently-published review of all studies to date of low-fat or low-cholesterol diets as a treatment for heart disease they stated that..
"The commonly-held belief that the best diet for prevention of coronary heart disease is a low saturated fat, low cholesterol diet is not supported by the available evidence from clinical trials. In primary preventions, such diets do not reduce the risk of myocardial infarction or coronary or all-cause mortality. Cost-benefit analyses of extensive primary prevention programmes, which are at present vigorously supported by governments, health departments, and health educationalists, are urgently required. Similarly, diets focused exclusively on reduction of saturated fats and cholesterol are relatively ineffective for secondary prevention and should be abandoned. There may be other effective diets for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease but these are not yet sufficiently well defined or adequately tested." (European Heart Journal, Volume 18, January 1997.)
If we now consider the weight loss aspect of obesity facts, then despite more than a decade of American diet gurus recommending low-fat diets for weight loss, there remains no study which clearly shows that low-fat diets result in long-term, significant weight loss among the chronically obese. In fact, most such studies show quite marginal improvements in weight, and some actually show significant weight gain among test subjects. Below is the conclusion of a recent survey: ( if you would like to read the full report please just follow the link below)
In a two-year study, 171 women on a low-fat diet achieved a maximum weight loss of only about seven and a half pounds at 6 months, and by year two some of that weight was regained. Most significantly, the standard deviation was more than twice the average weight loss, showing that a number of subjects actually gained weight on the low-fat diet, not counting the 13 that dropped out of the program. (Sheppard L et. al. Weight Loss In Women Participating in a Randomized Trial of Low-Fat Diets. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ).
Obesity Statistics - The Dangers Of Low Fat Diets
Now, I am not trained medically, so the next section of obesity facts is only my personal view, and is not based on my own scientific study, but that of others. However, I hope that from simply reading the previous two pages you are starting to get a feel for how the diet industry is marketed, using hype, sound bites and mis-information. Whilst I accept that everyone will have a different opinion, I can only speak from personal experience, and from seeing what works, what doesn't, what makes sense to me and likewise what does not! To me, low fat diets make no sense whatsoever when you think about them logically, and what is worse, the food industry has seized on the opportunity created for it to promote an array of foods labelled 'low fat' which are creating a plethora of other health problems, not least of which is weight gain.
Not only is there reason to question the belief that low-fat diets improve health or give significant help in weight loss efforts, but there is a growing amount of evidence that such diets are actually quite unhealthy, raising the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, not to mention certain psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. Now there is a vast body of medical evidence to suggest that low fat diets not only prevent you from losing weight, they are also creating significant health risk for you later in life. I do not propose to reproduce all the evidence here ( it would fill a huge site ) but below I have provided a couple of links to articles and studies which I hope make the point.
Obesity Facts - Science Daily
Obesity Facts - European Heart Journal
Obesity Help - Fat Does Not Make You Fat!!
One of the other huge myths is that fat makes you fat. It doesn't - an obesity fact! When you eat fat, your body has to break it down into its little building blocks and then absorb the pieces. The fat you have in your body is not the same as the fat you eat. In fact, the fat naturally found in whole foods is fat you actually need for your body to function properly. Essential fatty acids are the name given to the types of fat that you need to eat. This is why they are called essential. Your body cannot make them, you must eat them. And these essential fatty acids are only found with fat that naturally occurs in whole food. What are these essential fatty acids used for in your body? Well, literally everything.
Every cell in your body is partly made up of these essential fatty acids. To breathe, to have your heart beat, to run, walk, think, to make hormones, to remember anything, you need essential fatty acids for all of these and basically, to live. And if you don't eat them in the food you eat, your body will not function properly. And the only place you can find essential fatty acids is in food that has naturally occurring fat in them. So if you try and cut fat out of your body, you will actually be causing harm and not really be doing anything to get rid of the fat already in your body. So what is one of the main causes of being fat. Well in case you hadn't realised it, it is sugar and refined carbohydrates. You can pretend it is not true, you can believe it is not true, but no matter how you try and avoid it, sugar and refined carbohydrates, and their relationship with insulin are the principle reason you cannot lose weight.
I hope I've made the point that low fat diets are both dangerous and worthless. You will not lose weight, and in addition you may jeopardise your long term health. Now let's take a look at two of the most important indices to help you understand how food and insulin interact with one another. These are the Glycemic Index, and the Insulin Index, both extremely important in obesity facts.