Getting Fat Eating Low Fat

In the 1960s, experts started advising people to eat less fat based on the belief that a high fat diet led to a high fat body. Since then, obesity has exploded. Recent evidence suggests that all those years of focusing on ways to get fat out of foods has actually contributed to the obesity epidemic. “Despite eating less fat, we are fatter than ever before,” said David Ludwig, professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Over the past 20 years, Ludwig has conducted research and found that low fat foods brought to market over the past 40 years are high in refined carbohydrates aimed at making the foods taste better actually raise our insulin levels, trigger our fat cells to hoard calories, slow our metabolism, and make us hungrier.

Contrary to what we have been taught, eating low fat foods does not equal losing fat from your body. We actually need healthy fats in our meals to encourage brain function and curb our appetites. Some great options for healthy fat foods include salmon, nuts, avocados and oils from olives, coconuts, and avocados.

Healthy fats can be higher in calories, so be selective in which fats you eat and the portion size. Be smart about your choices and live a healthy life.

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