Low Fat Diets - Do They Work?

Low Fat Diets - Do They Work?

There are millions of Americans who want to shed pounds. Many prospective dieters immediately look for a low fat diet, thinking that on such plan, one will immediately start losing weight. Before starting a new diet, it is a good idea to understand different food groups, and to understand how fat, and different fats work in the body.

If one looks online or anywhere in the media, one will be bombarded with 'low fat diets' which do not explain that there are good and bad fats.
Food groups can be grouped the following way:

o Proteins which are meats, poultry, fish and beans
o Cereals and Grains, including breads, pasta and rice.
o Vegetables and fruits.
o Dairy Products such as butter, cheese an milk
o Fats and Oils.

Because the last group, fats, has such a high calorific count, many mistakenly think "I shall start a low fat diet" and even some think this is the only way of losing weight. Yes, one does have to keep the consumption of fats relatively low compared to the other food groups, but when one learns that the body does need fat to function properly, one needs to learn all one can about the 'good fats' before calculating how much fat one should consume on such a diet.

Starting a new diet one needs to know:

o Fats can be grouped into two categories.
o 'Good fats and 'bad fats'
o Good fats are what one needs to consume in a low fat diet.
o Bad fats can be totally eliminated from one's diet safely.
o Do not go on this new diet and consume the bad fats.

The body needs good fats to function properly. They are essential to good health. On a low fat diet, the body still needs sufficient good fats to carry vitamins to different parts of the body. Fat is also part of the sugar and insulin metabolism process, and is essential for healthy hair and skin.

On one's new diet the good fats that one can consume are called monounsaturated fats. These fats must be included in your low fat diet:

Good Fats:
o Avocados
o Canola oil
o Olive Oil
o Nuts
o Fish
o Seeds

Another type of healthy good fat to consume on one's low fat diet is called polyunsaturated fatty acids (also called Omega 3 fatty Acids) :
o Walnuts
o Almonds
o Macadamia nuts
o Fresh coldwater fish
o Flaxseeds

Never eat the following foods on one's low fat diet. The bad foods are called Trans fat and saturated fat and are found in:

o Shortening or margarine (therefore in baking & pastries)
o The fatty hard white parts of meat
o Potato chips
o Full fat dairy products
o Palm Oil
o Coconut Oil

So in conclusion a low fat diet is a very healthy choice to make as long as one remembers that it must be a diet consisting ONLY of the good fats.