Avoid Those Low-Fat Alternatives

At a time when obesity is the number one health epidemic plaguing our country, it’s no wonder many of our food and drinks have low-fat alternatives—low-fat soda, low-fat ice cream, low-fat yogurt, even low-fat cheesecake.

Here’s the bad news: lowering your intake of fat doesn’t mean you’ll lose weight. Even though Americans have lowered their fat intake, they themselves are fatter than ever. Why? Because what makes us fat is sugar and corn syrup, not eating fat.

Here’s the worse news: Research now suggests that avoiding dietary fat can actually be damaging, causing susceptibility to diabetes. A study done by researchers from the Harvard School of Health showed that consuming dietary fat reduced the chances of contracting diabetes by 60 percent. Turns out that higher levels of dietary fat are linked to healthier levels of blood cholesterol, inflammatory markers, insulin levels and insulin sensitivity.

Another crucial type of fat, omega-3, which stops the early aging of the brain, has also been discovered to prevent diabetes. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that omega-3 lowered insulin to normal levels. So think twice about eating that low-fat dinner, it may be as deadly as eating fast food.

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