Q: I continue to gain weight, despite really watching what I eat and eating fat-free foods! Should I be eating even less fat?
A: Fat is probably the most misunderstood nutrient in our diet. I remember growing up with cupboards full of “fat-free” everything – cookies, crackers, cream cheese, dressings, coffee creamer. It didn’t matter what the item was or if it was technically good for you; as long as it was fat-free, it was “healthy” because FAT was the real enemy. And guess what happened as a result? I got fat.
These pre-Atkins low-fat diets were all the rage because, around the same time, a great deal of scientific studies were being published about the link between saturated fat and heart disease. Coming from a family with very high cholesterol and early-onset heart disease, we jumped on the bandwagon and went sans fat.
The facts (okay, the very crucial facts) that got left out of the picture were these:
- All fat is not bad; both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are incredibly healthy for you and do not cause heart disease.
- As food manufacturers remove fat from processed foods, they increase the sugar content to account for changes in flavor*. This adjustment often turns the food into a high-sugar item that rushes the bloodstream and causes a surge in insulin.
- Just because an item is “fat-free” does not make it “healthy.” Processed baked goods like cookies and crackers, no matter what their fat content, have little nutritional value and are essentially empty calories.
As more research has been done and us “fat-free fatties” have learned our lesson, the recommendations on fats have become more relaxed. Today, science tells us that fats are a necessary component of a healthy diet and research studies have proven that the total amount of fat in the diet isn’t the problem when it comes to weight or disease. It’s really the type of fat that matters.
*Interesting side note: It was during this same thought process that food manufacturers decided to make an alternative to the fat they used in baked goods, so as not to compromise the flavor or consistency of their products. Since vegetable oils are unsaturated and “healthy”, the plan was to artificially saturate them to make a “healthier” saturated fat. Thus, trans fats were born.
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