The Low Fat Generation

And all the time, we didn't increase our protein or fiber intake one whit.

Of course the conglomerates are still pushing sugar. It's cheap, and has a high markup.

Ha, that picture is hilarious!

I got fatter and fatter eating "low-fat" and "fat-free" foods. Thank goodness I discovered Atkins or I'd be 350 pounds by now. Not that Atkins or LC is for everyone, but it does blow the lid off the accepted wisdom that the less fat you eat the better. People can actually lose weight and get healthy eating fat from real whole foods instead of manufactured food-products designed to use up overproduced cheap commodities like corn and soybeans.

This is absolutely true about our society today. People try to eat health and get dissapointed when they don't lose weight but they don't know how to eat right. Corpoations lead people to healthy alternative when really they are no better than what people ate before. Eating fats is great when eating the right ones in the right amount and at the right time.

I was shocked when I saw the first bags of "fat free candy" in our supermarkets. Yes, of course they are fat free, just like sugar cubes are fat free. I could not believe a company would have so little values, that they would actually promote a product that is 100% sugar as healthy. (There was a bit of a stir about this in my country - I think the fat free craze never took of here as it did in he US, thankfully).

New European guidelines will dictate that a food can only advertise that it has 0% fat if it also announces the amount of sugar it has, in the same font size. That seems like a great idea.

I, like the previous commenter, am still shocked to see the outrageous "fat free" labels all over candy and other high sugar, high calorie items. But what's even worse is that somewhere out there - people are actually buying these products thinking "fat free - great!"

The photo was cute. :-)

I gained a lot of my weight back the first time with fat free stuff, if it was fat free it had to be good.
While I do look for lower fat stuff and cook with healthy oils now. It's over all caloeries not fat or sugar. Sometimes a little of the real stuff goes a long way if I bulk it up with veggies.
While shopping with my mom I showed her that the fat free cookies she wanted had overall more caloeries than the cookies with fat.
This time it's about balance.

Wow, I am still shocked to see how people believe they are OK eating anything as long as it is fat-free. That just means that there is a taste deficit so they up the salt and sugar. Fat free cookies? There is just that much more sugar added.
I just talked to a friend who told me she was craving sweets, so she had her boyfriend buy her a giant bag of Twizzlers because "it was the only thing there that was fat free."
I admit I used to just watch fat grams, myself, till about seven years ago when someone explained the whole calorie thing to me. I still eat some fat, but I try to eat less saturated. I believe someday more people will understand about this, but "fat is bad" has been pushed for so many years.

This is such a big problem - but I am not sure how it is ever going to be solved. Until Government worldwide steps in to ensure more accurate labelling/messages I cannot see the food manufacturers ever changing their ways.

Another example is in the UK where there are more and more products being advertised as Omega 3 enriched - even though the process of manufacturing these foods would mean that the benefits of the omega 3s have been destroyed and these fats would have become toxic - but yet companies are still allowed to advertise this and charge a premium.

But what can you do?

I've seen the trend starting to go other directions as well. Just like the 1990's advertised lots of things as "fat free" that still had the same calorie value as the full fat versions, I'm seeing LOTS of foods out there now advertised as "Sugar free" or "Part of a low carb lifestyle". I saw printed on a bottle of cooking oil that it has "0 grams carbs". Well, duh, it's pure fat. Or ads for "0 gms carb" vodka...yeah, it's alcohol so I guess technically it's not a carb. The thing is, most modified foods, either sugar free, fat free, or whatever are probably not all that much better for you than just eating a smaller serving of the real deal.

Atkins is low-fat for the vast majority of users. Plain and simple. But they don't like to think that (or hear it. It's a low-fat diet.

Fact is, if you take away the potato, what are you going to have the butter on? Take away the cakes, and you're taking away all the fat they came with. Atkins claims that you can eat all the meat you want, but habits play a critical role here, and few people will really sit down to eat kilos and kilos of meat, even if they think they can and it won't affect their waistline.

Check out the nutrient profile of your typical Atkins dieter and it isn't that dissimilar from a low-fat dieter. But it's often just as nutrient poor.

The main difference, of course, is that Atkins is more animal product heavy. More meat. Which means more cancer and osteoporosis. Not a good outcome.

Food labels can mislead, whether they are on foods or on 'diets'. The only way to discover the truth is to look at a full nutrient profile of the food/diet in question. And use a bit of brain power and common-sense, of course :-)

It's good to see a few Atkins followers here.

I believe the biggest probelm has been the assumption (Not scientific proof) that saturated fat is bad.

The above article is very good and I would like to see more.

The world is absolutely 'fat free' mad. This includeds both the typical non-dieting obese person, and the thin person. Just because you are skinny, it doesn't mean you are healthy.

When you look at the three main macronutrient types, and you wish to remove one of those, the only proven combination that provides health and sustainability is the zero carb one. Carbs are not a biologically essential macronutrient. Fat and protein are.

So you Atkins bashers can spout as many half-truths as you want, you simply won't be able to prove it conclusively with science. If it could be proven, it would have been.

Just look at the insanity of diabetics being prescribed a low fat diet. Pure Insanity!

Our public health will only get worse, before it gets better.

It's actually the same towards low-saturated fat diets. This is the phaze what we are going through, because this low-saturated fat craze causes us to eat too much unsaturated fats and dangerously widening up the ratio of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids in the favor of omega 6 fatty acids. If we eat too much unsaturated fats and not enough saturated fats, our omega 3 and 6 fats in our body will go rancid, causing free-radicals in our body, causing more harm than good to our health. What we really need is a diet that contains no hydrogenated oils, contains balanced fats, and no refined sugars or artificial sweeteners.

The fat-free candy thing makes sense to me - I eat one sweet snack a day, and usually it's this that is my major source of saturated fat. (Otherwise, I mostly use olive oil and avocado to provide nice fat in my diet, but when it comes to sweet food, all the fatty ones tend to be sat-fatty ones). So, by eating a sugary sweet of the same calories rather than a fatty one, I can more than half my daily saturated fat intake. That may not make me lose kilos, but it won't hurt my heart.

Low-carb dave:

A high intake of fat is one of the few dietary factors proven to be causative to diabetes. (sugar intake isn't.)

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Saturated fat from a grain fed cow is not the same as saturated fat from a grass fed cow. The former has too many omega 6s and not enough omega 3s. More studies need to be done on the latter because there is a significant difference between the two.

I saw a carton of fat free half and half. Now I believe there is nothing the food companies won't try to fabricate. Among the ingredients were sugar and corn syrup solids and artificial colors. What's the point. Couldn't somebody just get a normal carton of skim milk and do the same recipe.

Reading Atkins educated me well about food substitute products. I don't trust anything with the words lite, low or free.

I too used to think fat made me fat.

Sadie, You are absolutely right. Time and time again, it's the Omega 6 fatty acids and hydrogenated oils, NOT saturated fats, that are distroying our health.

LowCarb Dave...you make a good point about carbs not being essential, but they can be a healthy part of one's diet. I am an athlete and I run something like 50 miles a week or more. For me, carbs are essential because I need the energy. The vast majority of the population probably does not, which is why a lower carb diet does make sense. I can't imagine going as low in carbs as the Atkins diet recommends, but I do try to get most of my carbs in the form of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy. Not in the form of fat free candy, fat free cookies, etc.

Labels are always about the marketing, you have to take care of your health yourself.

Good point Randy! The healthiest foods you can eat don't have marketing campaigns or promises on their labels. Meats (preferably grass-fed & pastured), eggs, vegetables & fruits are the humble superstars on the grocery shelves.

I think a big solution to battling this kind of pseudo-lie is simply better health education. I had math every year from Kindergarten through college, yet only had a semester of health in 10th grade.

A semester in 10th grade does not undo 16 years of commercials nor prepare us for 60 more years of increasingly manipulative advertisements.

Of course people think that "fat-free" means "good for you," no one is being actively educated otherwise. I wouldn't know the difference between "there" and "their" were it now for years of English classes.

This is so true! Thanks for the post.

I've seen this post before and I wanted to comment on the "They're happy because they eat lard" picture. I have a story to tell.

Back when I was first and foremost a martial artist, I used to train with a Chinese woman. She enjoyed cooking traditional Chinese for me, and I sure enjoyed eating it. Not only did it taste good, but it made me feel great. I felt truly healthy, strong, and happy for the entire day. I could have married this woman just for the cooking. She always cooked in lard and lots of it. Later, I went to a traditional restaurant and ate there, but did not get the same effect. The cook was kind enough to show me the workings of his kitchen, and I noticed he was cooking in vegetable oil and not lard like my training partner was. I didn't really think too hard about it then though. After I moved to CA though, I discovered a dim sum place near me and decided to eat there. I got the same exact feeling I did from my training partner's food. The difference was they used lard in their food.

I think this picture may not be too far off base. There's a big controversy right now about whether animal fat causes heart disease. Whether it does or not, I'd rather eat a diet that makes me feel terrific rather than a diet that makes me live forever.

Great points. LOVE the picture - I remember my dad telling me how his parents wouldnt let him leave the table until he'd eaten all the fat on his plate! Others have commented on carbs & energy - sounded perfect but I agree the vast majority of sedentary Americans are over carb'd & starched. The low fat merchandising spin continues (I see a Subway commercial on as I type this...)

The lard picture is a parody from a British comic.