Low Fat Diet : Unpacking the Impact of it on our Health

Title – Are low-fat diets bad for your health?

There is a big misunderstanding about whole fat milk: It is not “whole”, it is not unprocessed.

The milk is intially completely skimmed and then fat is added in a certain percentage depending on the type of milk we want to produce. Whole milk is defined by local regulation. For example in the US it has a 3.25% fat whilst in the UK it has 3.7%.

Unprocessed milk fat content is much higher! But fat is the most useful part of the milk and it’s better used for high-valued products (butter, cream, cheese)

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This is not so complicated but it we have to pay as much attention to what we add as to what we cut. As Michael Pollan said long ago, our fundamental guide should be to eat real food, mostly plants. Of course we need carbs, protein and fat from real foods. For most of us, the proportions should follow that order. Reducing fat does not mean increasing processed carbs, processed proteins or processed low-fat foods.

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My understanding is that ultra low-fat diets are extremely bad for you. Not just unpalatable or ‘disappointing’. Also I understood from Zoe that fermented food like yoghurt and also cheese had health benefits. Neither was there a proper description of the different types of fat.

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I cant eat brown bread as it massively inflames my IBS. I never buy supermarket bread as its full of rubbish, instead i buy good quality white bread and i freeze it which lowers the GI, also i keep my intake to a couple of slices a day.
Keep off as many processed foods as you can, a treat should be a treat, not a daily diet and as the saying goes a ‘balanced’ diet. Its doesnt have to be so complicated.
Too much analysing of every mouthful of food is just complicating things.
Food is fuel its that simple. If you filled your car tank with chip fat and sugar it wouldnt run very well, your body is no different!
I never buy low fat as they just replace fat with sugar.

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Sharing few experiences of my friend – After 30 years of low fat diets, I ended up morbidly obese, went blind, hiatus hernia, T2D and breast cancer. So on reviewing this low calorie control diets I discovered that a calorie control doesn’t work as part of Ancel Keys study in 1944 for a year. This was known before the Eat Well Plate was instituted. How did this allowed to be the case for forty plus years. As a result I re educated myself, lost 35kilos and maintained a low carb diet for five years and in T2D remission for four years. Sorry this way of thinking failed a lot of people, caused the obesity crisis along with all the linked illnesses. Hence the scientists are not forgiven and looked at sceptically.

Another – I was eating full fat yogurt and high fat nuts. And my recent cholesterol showed higher than desired LDL. I am not overweight BMI around 21. But I have decided to cut out cashews and eat almonds instead which are lower in saturated fat. And I’m now on fat free yoghurt. Low fat in this scenario seems sensible!

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Some of my experience with low carb and low fat diets:
I did keto for some time to deal with diabetes and it helped a lot. It was easy to eat less on keto. But as soon as I started exercising I noticed the keto diet is not sustainable. I had no energy to lift weights for more than 30 minutes, almost no recovery between sets. So I switched to low fat diet (as I also had high LDL). I continued to lose fat, improve my HOMA-IR and my energy went through the roof. However, now it’s easier to overeat.

In conclusion, both diets have their pros and cons and not every diet can fit your lifestyle

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Another – I was on the Keto diet for over two years, and I enjoyed all its benefits: weight loss, mental clarity and improved stamina (I ran a marathon, and my fastest half marathon while on Keto). However, I noticed that while all other metrics were good, my LDL cholesterol was off the charts. I know there is a lot of Keto advocates say that high LDL isn’t a cause for concern, but I decided to play it safe and change my diet. I switched to a diet low on fat, sugars, and simple carbs — and combined it with exercise. While I felt awful for a couple of weeks (a reverse Keto-flu, you could say) I feel better now. I have also been able to maintain my weight and fitness levels.

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Mixing high carbs and high fat is a bad idea, that doesn´t necessarily mean that going low carb or low fat overall is going to be beneficial. For a starters, you can always alternate low fat meals with low carb meals or low fat days with low carb days. You don´t have to religiously stick to either. Or keep moderate amounts of both so you don´t have to plummet the other.