Butter, olive oil, eggs – who knew fats could be good for you?
Long considered a suspect substance responsible for heart disease and high cholesterol, doctors have pushed their patients to cut the fat out of their diets for decades, since the 1970's.
Many replaced the lost butter and oil with bread, pasta and low-fat sweets. The results have been higher rates of obesity, not less, and more Americans at risk for strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Many doctors and nutritionists are now rethinking the low-fat edict. Research is piling up showing that healthy diets can contain as much as 35 percent fat, as long as it’s the right kind of fat. The American Heart Association (AHA) has gradually revised its guidelines and moved away from the strict guidance to lower fat intake. Instead they focus on the types of fat in our food. Some data contradicted the idea that fat we consumed in food had anything at all to do with the artery-clogging placques that causd heart disease.
While trans fats from margarine and processed foods increase the risk of heart disease, monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocado and nuts, reduce it. Also, the journal Atherosclerosis published a study showing that eating animal products such as red meat, dairy and eggs won’t up your chances of developing heart disease.
New research reveals that if you cut the sweets and processed food, eat more nuts and olive oil and walk more often, you’ll live a longer, healthier life – not a bad RX. Bottom line: eat real food and move that body.
Source: Foodandnutrition.org, by nutritionist Gina Lesako.
Pamela Hasterok