Experts: Low-Fat Guidelines a Mistake?

from what i understand now, people need a little bit of fat in their diets to say... keep things moving in the digestive tract. since energy is measured in calories and not fat intake, it always made sense to me to pay attention to my calories and where they came from, etc. the bottom line is that even if an item says "LOW FAT!!" the calorie count could probably still use improvement. the people-food relationship requires much compromise

Not only does a low fat diet lead to dietary displacement, with insulemic carbohydrates, but it leads to dietary deficiencies.

Without fat, we cannot absorb vitamins such as A, D, E or K. Vitamin A, for instance, is necessary for ocular health.

How many young people wear glasses today, as compared to 100 years ago?

The human brain is more than 60% fat, half of that omega-3. Maybe you've seen those tests given to school children 100 or 150 years ago. Amazing how much more was expected of them then.

Look at our presidents as of late. Look at the candidates for this year's election! They're monosyllabic, immature idiots compared to presidents of 100 to 150 years ago, and practically sub-human apes compared to the founding fathers.

Lastly, the sex hormones (like testosterone and estrogen) are made of cholesterol. How often has it been discussed how cold, domineering and unfeminine women have become? Or how weak, castrated and effeminate have become men?

In the last 50 years, sperm counts have dropped off by more than half! And they continue to drop 2 percent per a year.

There are talks of this being the effect of xenoestrogens in the environment. How about the lack of androgen precursors in our diets?

These are just a few of the markers of an epidemic. Not of some contagion, but of diet. Just in the last 50 years, things have become catastrophic, but since the likes of Kellogg, Graham and others of the 19th century, I'm convinced we've been on the road to hell.

I think before making an argument for or against low fat I thing we must first define it. If your "low fat" diet is eating low fat products (snackwell cookies) that are high in sugar and/or calories and refined grains - plus not eating enough veggies, this is an unhealthy "low fat diet".

On the flip side, if your diet is made up of a lot of whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts, lean meats and healthy fats, you may still be technically eating "low fat", but this way of eating is healthy.

I think we need to long beyond % macronutrient breakdown.

I do agree with the author's stance, although lumping all carbs together is incomplete.

This is why "magic food" advice should not be listened to or given. We've had 3 decades of listening to people tell us that "fat" is a magic bad food. How much harm was done in those 30 years?

There are no magic bad foods or magic good foods. There's only food. Weight loss and weight gain are almost exclusively related to the amount of food eaten, not choosing the foods that contain the good or the bad magic.

If you're a marathon runner or other athlete, you can optimize the last 10% of your fitness with the right foods. For everyone else, it's just harmful.

Yet another good reason to read the Taubes book "Good Calories, Bad Calories". The data supporting the fear of fats is extremely questionable. But there's an industry of fat fear now and it'll be hard to add objectivity to.

Ben said:
This is why "magic food" advice should not be listened to or given. We've had 3 decades of listening to people tell us that "fat" is a magic bad food. How much harm was done in those 30 years?[...]

Ben, trans fats are bad in any quantity. The rest I don't know.

I haven't read his book, but I have watched Taubes lecture on the Internet. It took an hour and a half and changed a lot of things for my views on dieting.

Combining common sense with a more positive view on fat in your diet can be the way for many people to lose weight. My english is not very googd, but I will try to explain what I learned form Taubes:

Fatty acids can move in and out of your fat cells and be used to give you energi when needed. Triglycerids are sets of three fatty acids that cannot pass in and out of your fat cells. Carbohydrates - in particular fructose found in white flour and sugar - turn your fatty acids into triglycerids.

Carbohydrates - in particular fructose - gives you a higher insulin level which encourages fat depositing and inhibits the burning of fat in your body.

If you have the wrong disposition - insuline resistence - and eat low fat diet which is rich in flour and sugar. Then it may be quite impossible to have an energetic lifestyle. You will be constantly tired and gather more fat in your fat cells - No matter how few calories you eat.

I may not have understood taubes all together right, bit the bit I did understood, has given me a lot to think about. I learned that being fat has not much in common with being lazy and eating all the time.

I eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains. Coincidentally, they are all low in fat (duh). If you base your diet on foods like this and get your fats from plants (olive oil, nuts, etc.) or animals (fish oil, even some saturated animal fats), I don't think you'll have a problem with your weight. You just have to have common sense. If a food is processed and "low fat", check the label. It's probably got a lot of sugar in it and the calories probably aren't that low. You have to make sure that your diet is low in overall calories in order to lose weight, whether it's low fat or not.

Low-Fat Guidelines a Mistake? YES!

First off, let's debunk the whole conception of calories. The way they determine that fat has 9 calories per gram and protein/carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram is by burning it and measuring how much heat is released. That's right: no analysis of metabolic chains and processes or even some general estimation of its use in the body. For all you know, your body may get more energy out of carbs than fat. To top this all off, carbs are only used as energy, while protein and fat have structural uses in tissue building. There may be a good estimation out there of how much biological energy we get from food, but we sure aren't using it yet.

Even without all that though, avoiding fat is detrimental and so is increasing carbs or protein in compensation. As an energy source, I'd take fat over carbs any day, unless I were running marathons. Many carb sources, like whole grains, have anti-nutrients that keep your body from absorbing minerals while carbs themselves deplete the body of nutrients to be digested. Fats provide nutrients that cannot be obtained elsewhere.

Keep yourself Omega-3 and 6 balanced, avoid synthetic trans fats, and favor saturated fats over oxidizing unsaturated fats. Keep carbs low, protein moderate, and have the rest be (mostly animal) fat.

Hey Ryan,

Long time no see! How's the body building going?

Fitness_Fanatic said:
Long time no see! How's the body building going?[...]

I've been getting back to the gym recently after spending some time seeing how well I could control weight purely by nutrition. Turns out that, after losing 40 pounds through diet and exercise, I was able to lose another 10 purely by diet. Muscle mass was retained too.

People need stop obsessing with one part and get a whole picture -- the tendency to find and "enemy" is part of what causes the problem. Fats are not the enemy... Carbohydrates are not the enemy... I haven't heard anyone blame protein yet but I'd be surprised if it hasn't been done. Take a whole picture view of your diet and your health, and you'll be surprised how much better you feel!

I am a marathon runner, and compete in other endurance sports as well. My body is fairly tuned to what I eat-- and I need to eat plenty of carbs (including fiber), plenty of good fats, and plenty of protein. The only thing I don't eat at all are trans-fats. Enjoy your food and eat towards health is the best advice I can give anyone.

I posted earlier, but it might have gotten deleted. Maybe this one will go through.

The gist was, fats are essential. And the low fat diet of these past 50 years has completely damaged the viability of the human species in those countries which have adopted the lunacy

Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble. Vitamin A deficiency causes poor eyesight. How many more kids require corrective lenses these days, than before grains hit it so big?

Now, 60% of your brain is made up of fats (half that omega-3). Care to speculate on what effect a low-fat diet might have on a populace, where high school graduation requirements continue to decrease while learning impairments increase?

And the worse of all. Sperm counts are down 50% in the past 50 years. They are currently decreasing by 2% yearly. Xenoestrogens are being blamed. Yet, the sex hormones (including testosterone and estrogen) are made from cholesterol. Good going, Food Pyramid. You made the women cold too.

Men aren't men, women aren't women, and everyone is stupid and blind. Oh brave new world, with such fat-deprived people in it.

Ryan said:
I've been getting back to the gym recently after spending some time seeing how well I could control weight purely by nutrition. Turns out that, after losing 40 pounds through diet and exercise, I was able to lose another 10 purely by diet. Muscle mass was retained too.[...]

Fantastic! What's your current BF%?

Heather said:
People need stop obsessing with one part and get a whole picture -- the tendency to find and "enemy" is part of what causes the problem. Fats are not the enemy... Carbohydrates are not the enemy... I haven't heard anyone blame protein yet but I'd be surprised if it hasn't been done. Take a whole picture view of your diet and your health, and you'[...]

That's easy to say because you're already achieved 100% of your fitness goals. The rest of us are trying to shed a lot of fat.

Can anyone give me a good guideline for how many carbohydrates one should consume in a day? And I don't mean what a low carb dieter eats, I mean a balanced diet with the appropriate amount of carbs, protein, fat etc.

I think most guidelines suggest about 50-60% of your daily cals should come from carbs. That means about 250 grams of carbs if you're eating 2000 cals/day.

(And roughly 300g if you're on 2500 cals, 200g if you're on 1500 cals.)

Try to get most of those from complex carbs (starchy ones) rather than sugar, though...

Ali

Fitness_Fanatic said:
That's easy to say because you're already achieved 100% of your fitness goals. The rest of us are trying to shed a lot of fat.[...]

How can you achieve 100% of your fitness goals? It's easy for me to say because I had an eating disorder for years, and wasn't actually able after that to lose weight and feel better until I started looking at the whole picture... eating to live, to support myself instead of eating to deprive myself.

JJ said:
Can anyone give me a good guideline for how many carbohydrates one should consume in a day? And I don't mean what a low carb dieter eats, I mean a balanced diet with the appropriate amount of carbs, protein, fat etc. [...]

Sure! What is your current level of activity? That affects your percentages somewhat...

Heather said:
of us are trying to shed a lot of fat.[...]

That's good for you, but don't lecture the rest of us struggling here.

I've started reading Good Calories, Bad Calories that you mentioned a few days ago. I've read through the first chapter and am just amazed that the low-fat hype was so widely accepted with such a small amount of evidence for it and a (apparently) huge amount of evidence against it. Thanks for these posts.

Fitness_Fanatic said:
That's good for you, but don't lecture the rest of us struggling here.[...]

Heather is not lecturing anyone, Fitness_Fanatic. You are. Could you please lighten up and say "I'm glad that works for you" when someone reports something successful in their lives? Sheesh! We're all allowed to have differing opinions here! I'm glad that you are trying to make changes in your life. Please be glad for other people as well. :-)

Heather, thanks for reminding us to look at the whole of our diets and activity levels.

Marie, your English is great. Thanks for the explanation of what Taubes is trying to say. I have ordered the book, and I will look for his lectures on the internet.

Jim, thanks for this post -- and for the awesome website!

Judy Wyatt said:
you are trying to make changes in your life. Please be glad for other people as well. :-)[...]

I guess I'm in a bit of a tiff with Heather for the last week in general. of course I'm happy for everyone's progress here. I've made a lot of progress for myself the last 6 weeks and I'm not about to stop.

Thank you Judy. I surely wasn't trying to lecture anybody. I never want anything more than for people to be healthy and happy. I like to share my experiences because I went through a lot of hating myself in the name of fitness before being able to step back and look at my life as a whole, and in a blog like this I'm quite sure there are some who could benefit from that experience.

Fitness Factor, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware we were in a tiff. I do not usually take one disagreement outside where it originated, and seldom have a problem with anyone who is not behaving maliciously towards others. So, may I suggest a truce? I have no problem with you.

Heather said:
nated, and seldom have a problem with anyone[...]

Alright, truce!

Kailash said:
I posted earlier, but it might have gotten deleted. Maybe this one will go through.[...]

Whoops. Looks like they both got through.

I stopped listening to experts long ago...and I took responsibility for my own health and decisions. Last time I checked most self proclaimed experts had enough health problems of their own.

My mamma has never eaten low fat in her life. She has had 5 kids and she can wear my halter tops (and looks great!). She just makes sure she doesn't overeat all the time. Her skin is youthful and people think that she is my sister! I would never eat a low-fat diet because I see that my mom did not need one to stay slim and young looking. (My mother also doesn't smoke, drink alcohol, do drugs, tan in the sun) I lost more weight by doing the things she did like than by low-fat dieting and exercise.

Fitness_Fanatic said:
Fantastic! What's your current BF%?[...]

Sitting under 10% right now, it seems.

Kailash said:
Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble. Vitamin A deficiency causes poor eyesight. How many more kids require corrective lenses these days, than before grains hit it so big?[...]

Vitamin A deficiency is generally seen in people with severe fat-malabsorption syndromes (i.e. celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, pancreatic insufficiency etc) and is not common in the general western population. Severe vitamin A deficiency can lead to night-blindness and blindness, but it is most commonly seen in developing countries, and it does not affect children or adults in such a way that they become long or short sighted.

A lot of the low-fat foods advertised are not even very good for you. I think they advertise low-fat foods just to make you think you can eat more of it, because it’s low in fat.

Learn to be Lean,