What The Fat?!
Okay, let’s be honest with each other here. I’m not the only one that’s been caught up in the low fat craze before, right? You know, fat free this, low fat that, it’s been everywhere! Heck, I grew up in a household where we douced our salads with low fat thousand island dressing and drank diet coke. It got to the point where we would laugh at the dinner table and say, “Do you want some salad with your dressing?” YUP! Ask any of my friends...I was the house that had the best junk food in all of the neighborhood, but everything was labeled low fat sooooo it must have been healthy, right? Oh Candice, you young and naive girl, you were so wrong. Yet, it was all that I knew. Low fat diets were blasted on every television, every health magazine and covered the shelves of the grocery store. It was all our society was being exposed to. Well, as I started to get older and began taking responsibility for my own health, I was mortified at what I was consuming. Real talk...have you ever stopped to think, well if there’s no fat in there...what’s actually in it? Better yet, what could this be doing to our bodies?!
With cardiovascular disease the leading cause of death in America, there needs to be obvious change to what we eat. While there have been arguments made that fat is a cause of heart disease, there are also proven studies showing that the low fat fad, which lasted for multiple decades, left people sicker than ever before. How could this be?
With the fear of fat came a huge push for food industries to create low fat and fat free products. Think about all of the packaged products on the shelves of the grocery store. Or, the number of “fat free” salad dressings that (still) flood the isles. With a low fat label came items high in sugar, sodium, and hydrogenated oils. Unfortunately, with most Americans now fearing fat, these highly processed foods quickly became staples in the household. The lack of a whole food diet caused the body to experience major inflammation leading to an increased production of insulin and many other health issues.
It actually makes sense that the body would respond this way. Think about it. With a diet that is highly processed, it is far from balanced. There is a tremendous amount of stress put on the body because it now has to work extra hard to try and get it back to homeostasis (balance and stability within the body). Cortisol levels increase, insulin resistance takes place, and now blood sugar levels rise. With such imbalance within the body, active cell to cell communication can weaken causing the body to not function properly. These are huge red flags that leaves cardiovascular health at jeopardy.
Instead of fearing fat, society needs to understand fats are essential for the body to function. By incorporating healthy fats, we are doing our body good. We are allowing the body to produce energy, control inflammation, and support cell structure. There are far more benefits to consuming healthy fats that outweigh the damage low fat diets can do to one’s health. Always, always read the ingredient label on your food and drinks. What fat, or fat replacements, are being used?
Here is a list of a few healthy fats to not fear, but rather incorporate into your diet:
Avocados
Olive oil
Avocado oil
Coconut oil
Butter/Ghee
Nuts/Seeds
Wild Caught Salmon
Olives
And if you like to nerd out about this stuff like yours truly, I highly recommend reading Put Your Heart In Your Mouth, by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride M.D. It’s extremely easy to understand and Dr. Campbell-McBride speaks in a conversational tone that doesn’t leave you feeling overwhelmed. The best part is that she gives you tangible action steps to make sure that you are consuming the right foods to promote optimal heart health!
XOXO
Candice