What’s the Skinny on Fats? By Rob McLean |
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| Very clever title. As much as I would like to take credit for the creativity, it is a title I've seen about 50 times in my quest to study nutrition. Americans are obsessed with fat. We're warned not to eat it; we worry about finding it on our hips and waists; and we hear or read about losing it daily from the media. It's true, though, we eat too much of the bad fat. Then we avoid fats as a backlash from "fat guilt" and may not get enough of the good dietary fats. Come on... Is there such as thing as good fat? Absolutely! There are even some fats we can not live without. You even need them in your diet for health! So, what do fats do for us besides add inches to our waistlines and plaque to our arteries? It's not about being fat, plump, skinny, or thin. It's about health! Without fat in the diet, we would not be able to absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fat is also digested slowly, staying in our intestines and keeping us satisfied longer after we eat. Fats are the most concentrated source of calories in our diet. They supply more than twice the number of calories per gram as carbohydrates or proteins. That's the good news. For the bad news... |
Americans are obsessed with fat: eating fat, loosing fat, finding fat on our bodies, avoiding fat, sneaking fat or being fat or not fat. Some body and dietary fats are good for you, really! You need them in your diet for health! But not as much as Americans must think judging from the way we eat! |
