Nutrition recommended foods for Low-Fat

Low-Fat and Non-Fat Foods – In the United States, we changed from a culture that consumed eggs, butter, cream, organs like liver, and roasts with the fat, to a culture that consumes lean meat, low-fat and non-fat versions of foods, egg and butter substitutes, vegetables oils and large amounts of sugar. Here is some food for thought:

  • Before 1920, coronary heart disease was rare in America; in fact clogged arteries in general were rare.
  • During the sixty-year period from 1910 to 1970, the proportion of traditional animal fat in the American diet declined from 83% to 62%, and butter consumption plummeted from eighteen pounds per person per year to four.
  • During the past eighty years, dietary cholesterol intake has increased only 1%.
  • During the same period the percentage of dietary vegetable oils in the form of margarine, shortening and refined oils increased about 400% while the consumption of sugar and processed foods increased about 60%.

Biochemistry 101: Vitamins A, D, E and K are Fat Soluble | Low-Fat and Non-Fat Foods

When we consume low-fat and non-fat versions of food, we are unable to absorb the extremely important vitamins A, D, E and K; all of which protect from the diseases that fat allegedly causes. Butter is a source of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and important trace minerals magnesium, zinc, chromium, selenium and iodine. Beta-carotene in carrots cannot be converted to vitamin A without whole fat butter, cream, olive oil or coconut oil. With low-fat and non-fat dairy, vitamin A, D and even calcium in milk, yogurt or cottage cheese cannot be effectively absorbed. Avocados are rich sources of vitamin E, but if we stripped it of all its fat the E would become useless.

Low-Fat Diets, Sugar Cravings and Weight Gain

Low-Fat and Non-Fat Foods – Fat in a meal is what makes you feel satiety and prevent sugar cravings. When you don’t have fat in meal, food is digested too quickly leads to low blood sugar. Chronic low blood sugar fuels the desire for sugar and excess carbohydrates in the body’s attempt to bring it back up quickly. This is when people binge on sugar and excess carbohydrates which leads to weight gain, diabetes and other health-issues.

When fat is removed from food, it needs to be replaced for texture and taste that is lost. So what companies do is add fillers and thickeners. This can be corn starch, sugar, corn syrup, guar gum, sodium, artificial flavors, powdered milk, locust bean gum and others.

The Studies | Low-Fat and Non-Fat Foods

Ohio State University Study

With a salad test, the impact of adding avocado was tested for absorption of fat soluble vitamins. The first salad included romaine lettuce, baby spinach, shredded carrots and a non-fat dressing, resulting in a fat content of about 2%. After avocado was added, the fat content jumped to 42%. When the salad was consumed with avocado, the 11 test subjects absorbed 7 times the lutein and 18 times the beta carotene.1 Lutein is a carotenoid found in many green vegetables is linked with improved eye and heart health.

Non-Fat, Low-Fat = Diabetes and Weight Gain

Research has shown that people who consume whole-fat dairy products — as opposed to their processed, lower-fat versions — have a 60% lower incidence of diabetes. In a study from Harvard published in Annals of Internal Medicine, a team of researchers has found that people with the highest circulating levels of a type of fatty acid that is found only in whole-fat dairy are one-third as likely to get diabetes as those with the lowest circulating levels. Higher levels of the fatty acid — called trans-palmitoleic acid — were also associated with lower body mass index (BMI)… smaller waist circumference… lower triglycerides (potentially harmful blood fats)… higher levels of HDL “good” cholesterol… less insulin resistance… and lower levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for general inflammation.

A study that followed 12,829 children ages 9 to 14 years found that weight gain was associated with drinking reduced-fat milk but that drinking full-fat milk was not associated with weight gain. The study was published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, June 2005.

Non-Fat, Low-Fat and Infertility

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, found that women who were experiencing infertility due to absence of ovulation, consumed more than two servings of low fat dairy products every day. Women were 85% more likely to suffer infertility if they did this, compared with women who ate low fat dairy less than once a week.

The study author, Dr. Chavarro, said, “Women should consider changing low-fat dairy foods for high-fat dairy foods; for instance, by swapping skimmed milk for whole milk and eating ice cream, not low fat yogurt.“

The question to ask if you are a woman or a man is if your body cannot produce a life, how can it sustain a life?

1.     Nuray Z. Unlu, Torsten Bohn, Steven K. Clinton* and Steven J. Schwartz. Carotenoid Absorption from Salad and Salsa by Humans Is Enhanced by the Addition of Avocado or Avocado Oil. The American Society for Nutritional Sciences J. Nutr. 135:431-436, March 2005. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/135/3/431

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