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Food and Wellness: Making Sense of the Confusion about Fat
Food and wellness are related. As we have changed from an agricultural to an industrialized nation, illnesses have skyrocketed. Progress in many cases leads to better ways of doing things, but not always.
Nutrition is a young science. Knowledge in the area of food and wellness is growing very rapidly. So it is no surprise to see that recommendations can change more quickly than you can keep up with.
For example, for many years, I taught the importance of a high carbohydrate diet. I discouraged the use of diets that were even moderate in fat. At the time that was the accepted thinking among traditional health professionals.
Today, my thinking in the area of food and wellness is much different in light of some very convincing information.
Overweight Facts in the U.S.Let's review some facts.The United States of America is the most overweight countries in the world. 2/3rds of Americans are overweight and 1/3rd are grossly overweight. These are not statistics to be proud of. And a very frightening reality is that our children are becoming fatter and fatter. Studies show that most overweight children grow up to be overweight adults. In addition to causing poor self-image, being overweight increases your risk for lots of health challenges, not to mention the emotional impact etc. Let's review some statistics that will help put this problem in perspective. Food and wellness are intimately related. - In the last 20 years, the number of overweight people has doubled in this country. This even with the reduction of fat in our diet.
- We get about 30% of our calories from fat and these statistics keep getting worse. In the 1960's we were eating about 45% of our calories from fat and only 13% of us were grossly overweight.
So fat does not appear to be the culprit that is driving the high rate of overweight in this country.Health Benefits and Qualities of FatFat has some important qualities and even health benefits. Some of those are: - One of those qualities is that it helps fill you up. Satiety is a good thing because it means you eat fewer calories.
In the Women's Health Initiaive of 2006, women who ate a low fat diet did not lose any more weight than women who followed a regular diet. In my experience as a health educator in a weight loss clinic for 9 years, I noticed that it was easy for my clients to eat more calories than needed when using low fat foods. Again, this is due to carbohydrates not being as filling as fat. It all still boils down to total calories. - Body fat protects and cushions your organs. Otherwise, running or any kind of impact would result in damage to your organs. Ouch!
- Fat is an important part of the membranes of your cells. The membrane encloses the contents of your cells. No cells, no life.
- Your brain is made up of 60% fat. So fat is very important for proper brain function including memory, learning and mood. In addition, nerves are coated with fat enabling the proper transmission of nervous impulses.
Place your hand on a hot stove top. A healthy functioning nervous system will pull your hand away from the heat in a millisecond! - Fat moves through your
digestive system
more slowly than carbohydrates and protein. This slow down actually causes better absorption and breakdown of your food.
- Fat acts as a carrier for the ever important fat-soluble vitamins, vitamins A,D, E and K, and phytochemicals. All of these have important critical functions including: vision, blood clotting, reproduction, bone and teeth health just to name a few.
- Fat is how your body stores calories. Now, when you are healthy and able to eat this doesn't seem important. However, should you get ill for any length of time those stores can become very important for your survival.
- Proper function of your
immune system
depends on your intake of certain fats and the balance of the different kinds of fats in your diet. Your immune system is your armor that protects you from foreign invaders. If yours doesn't work well you'll be at risk for infections, viruses, bacteria,...
It should be obvious that food and wellness are connected and that fat is not a BAD guy and should be included as part of your healthy diet. However, not all fat is created equal and the kind of fat that you eat does matter!
Visit these links for more information about food and wellness:
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