Misconception number 3:
This misconception is the third and final of my three part series. The first post on misconceptions was about the biblical view of how to get to heaven and disputing the age old tale of “be good so you can get to heaven.” The second post about misconceptions was concerning violent imagery and the negative and detrimental effects it has on our children. The third misconception is widely accepted and I hear it often. That is low fat and low calorie diets are the way to losing weight and body fat.
Low fat and low calorie diets are extremely unhealthy and dangerous. Chronic low calorie diets are not only depressing but they trigger the body’s survival instincts as it thinks it’s starving. The metabolism actually slows down and keeps the fat in storage to be used later. Not only is the body’s metabolism slowing but starvation and low calorie diets can do permanent damage to the metabolism taking years to reverse. Not to mention you are starving your body from needed nutrients.
Our foods and soils over the past centuries have actually become less nutritious and lacking in needed minerals. Even if you are eating the proper foods it is actually hard to eat enough to get what your body needs. This is one particular reason I like to juice my fruits and vegetables to pack a healthier punch without stuffing myself full.
Low-Calorie diets are dangerous and often deplete your body of needed nutrients. I do however, agree that there are instances when people need to cut back on calories in a sense of white sugar or refined sugars (such as high fructose corn syrup), white flours, refined or bleached grains and artificial sweeteners or because they live sedentary lifestyles.
The next diet raved about still today is the “low-fat” diet. I cringe every time I hear another commercial about low fat yogurt or hear of “low fat diets” as the treatment to high cholesterol. The problem is not fat. It is more or less the type of fat that is being consumed. Nowadays meat animals are fattened on corn which is creating the omega fatty acids to be out of balance, lower in omega 3’s and higher in 6’s and 9’s. We should be consuming a ratio of 1:1 of omega 3’s and omega 6’s. Anthropological research suggests that our hunter-gatherer ancestors naturally had this balance due to the consumption of fresh fish and grass fed meat. Further, research also points out that our hunter-gather ancestors did not suffer from cancer, inflammatory diseases, heart disease, diabetes, and of course obesity.
Healthy fats include organic coconut oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, grass-fed meat and butter, full fat/raw dairy milk and yogurt, full fat/raw cheese, wild caught fish, and virgin olive oil.
Outlined below are the reasons why you need fat:
1. Saturated Fat plays a key role in improving cardiovascular health and reduces a substance called lipoprotein (which correlates with heart disease.) Research shows that when women diet those eating more total fat lose more weight.
2. Saturated fats are needed for the absorption of calcium and therefore create stronger bones. Dr. Mary Enig, PHD “there’s a case to be made for having as much as 50% fats in your diet as saturated fats for this reason.”
3. Saturated Fats protect the liver from alcohol and medications including acetaminophen and other drugs used commonly for pain and arthritis.
4. Lungs have a thin coating called surfactant which is made up of 100% saturated fatty acids and in order to have healthy lungs those fats need to be replaced. Other types of fats cause faulty surfactant and potential breathing problems.
5. Saturated fats are needed for healthy brains. Brains are made primarily of fats and cholesterol and a low fat diet deprives the brain of materials it needs to function properly. Ingestion of healthy fats have also been linked to the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s.
6. Healthy fats like those found in butter, lard, coconut oil, and palm oil aid in proper nerve signaling. They are needed to assist signaling messengers that influence metabolism, including the appropriate release of insulin.
7. Saturated fats found in butter and coconut oil have myristic and lauric acid that play vital roles in building a strong immune system. Inadequate levels of saturated fat found in white blood cells weaken their ability to recognize and destroy foreign invaders like viruses, bacteria, and fungi.
8. Saturated fats from animals and vegetables provide the building blocks for cell membranes, hormones, and hormone like substances.
9. Saturated fats slow down food absorption so that you feel full longer. Fats are crucial for the assimilation of fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. Fats are also needed to convert Carotene into Vitamin A, also for mineral absorption, and many other biological processes.
10. Saturated fats are fuel for your heart and give you energy.
13. Saturated fats contain palmitic and stearic acids which lower bad cholesterol.
14. Healthy fats contain butyric acid which aids in the prevention of cancer.
15. Healthy fats balance hormones including serotonin.
16. Healthy fats are crucial for the development of baby’s brains.
17. Healthy fats improve digestion.
18. Our cells are composed of about 50% Saturated fats and so eating it helps regeneration.
It is important to eat healthy fats but more so that your fats are from organic produce and grass fed animals. Helpful information on where to obtain these rare foods can be found at the Weston A. Price Foundation and from books such as the ones I have outlined below.
Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon
The Paleo Diet: Loren Cordain, Ph.D
Secrets of Weight Loss: Keven Trudaeu
Good Mood Diet: Susan Kliener Phd
Jennifer Semmons
Whims from the West 