These days we are just bombarded with information, diets, scientific research and data that can often be based on fashion and incomplete or inconclusive studies. It gets hard to separate the truth from the myths and to know just who or what to believe. We're left floundering in 'trial and error' or 'trial and failure' territory.
Here's what I know.
Low fat:
- whilst eating 'less fat' in our diets can be a good thing...not eating enough fat can be a bad thing.
- Low fat goods aren't always the best for us. Low fat often means more sugar is added for flavour. You have to become a little 'label savvy' and check out the protein, carb & fat grams on the back of your food labels.
- In the late 80s low fat became all the rage...and we were told to eat carbs carbs carbs (I'll cover carbs in another post) for energy. We got fat...and we continue to get fatter as a nation, now surpassing even America in that regard. We went with the mindset - if it's low fat... I can't get fat....or.. I can eat more of it... WRONG.
Full Fat
- we get told eating full fat anything is bad. The thing is, when we start mucking around with things to reduce the fat, like with good natural things like butter, cheese, milk ... then we start to muck around with the way things taste, the natural vitamins that come with these things, (you actually need some fat in milk to allow your body to absorb the calcium) we add in chemicals and more sugar and synthetic vitamins. If eating full fat was so bad...how come we weren't so fat in the 70s before all the low fat stuff came around?
moderation
- now, I know I'm not alone here, many of us aren't too good at the old 'eat whatever you want, but just in moderation' sometimes our stop button has gone on holidays and left us faced to deal with our food demons alone. But there is a lot of truth in this saying. The thing is, if we were to just eat things that were labelled as low fat - what would happen? My guess is, we'd put on weight. The reason I believe this is, that one of the good things about having fat in your diet, is that it makes you feel full. Seriously, if you were to eat, say, 50gm of plain full fat cheddar cheese, as compared with 50gm of a low fat variety, you'd probably feel full after the full fat one, but you could probably eat a little more of the low fat one as it wouldn't have quite hit the spot - and if the old 'no moderation' factor comes into play..you will eat more because you don't feel satisfied. So, effectively, you may be eating less fat calories, but overall, your calories will be greatly increased - but your brain is probably still thinking, yeah, it's low fat, it's okay.
Bad Fat
Now, there is such a thing as 'bad fat' but it's mostly those fats that are known as trans-fats Apparently Australian food labelling doesn't yet require the listing of trans fats on our food labels - but, trans fats are basically fats that are hydrogenated - ie, an oil that has been made solid through processing. Trans fats are included in a lot of processed biscuits and foods. I copied this from the US FDA site:
What is Trans Fat?
Major Food Sources of Trans Fat for American Adults
(Average Daily Trans Fat Intake is 5.8 Grams or 2.6 Percent of Calories)
40%cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, bread, etc.
21%animal products
17%margarine
8%fried potatoes
5%potato chips, corn chips, popcorn
4%household shortening
3%salad dressing
1%breakfast cereal
1%candy
Basically, trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats.
Trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils. Unlike other fats, the majority of trans fat is formed when food manufacturers turn liquid oils into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. A small amount of trans fat is found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods.
Trans fat, like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, raises the LDL cholesterol that increases your risk for CHD. Americans consume on average 4 to 5 times as much saturated fat as trans fat in their diets.
Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and dietary cholesterol also contribute significantly.
Saturated Fats
This is the interesting one, and the one that causes a lot of bad press. The fact is, we need to have a little 'saturated' fat in our diet - it is essential for the production of certain hormones, and the absorption of Vitamins A, D & K. But we need to keep a check on it, and be mindful of the amount we are consuming. Saturated fat should only make up about 5% of our overall fat intake. Saturated fat is found in meats, (things like chicken skin), dairy, seafood & eggs. Oils like coconut oil & palm oil are saturated fats. (on another note: please try and avoid purchasing any products that use palm oil or palm kernel oil in high proportions as the farming of these oils are responsible for the degradation of orangutang habitat, and the death of many orangutangs.)
Good Fat
Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) while increasing HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol). Nuts including peanuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios, avocado, canola and olive oil are high in MUFAs. MUFAs have also been found to help in weight loss, particularly body fat.
Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Seafood like salmon and fish oil, as well as corn, soy, safflower and sunflower oils are high in polyunsaturated fats. Omega 3 fatty acids belong to this group.
Cooking with fats/oils:
Whilst we have been bombarded with the 'cook with olive oil' message - it's incredibly important to note that if you want to cook something at a high temperature, you should use a polyunsaturated oil rather than olive as it copes better at higher temperatures than olive oil.
To sum up... we need a little from each 'fat' area - some good & some bad in order to function the way we were supposed to. Ease up on the bad fats, but don't deny all fat.
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