Fat & Sugar- Coming to Our Senses
For as long as I can remember, fat has been thought of as the nutrient demon among us. People regularly check food labels to see fat and saturated fat contents and will always opt for 'low fat' options over regular varieties.
This phenomena has been prevalent since the 1980s, when the government convinced the population that high fat diets were to blame for Heart Disease. We were told to reduce our fat intake to 30% and increase our carbohydrate intake to make up for the loss of daily calories, single handily destroying the UK dairy industry.
If you have read my previous articles - detailing the importance of dietary fats and the dangers of sugar carbohydrates- you'll know my opinions on this worldly accepted concept. I will go out of my way to add healthy fats into my diet, consuming nuts, avocados, olive oils etc. When I look at food labels, my eyes will be drawn to sugar levels before anything else and I will rarely look at fat content. It astounds me that people can still be under the illusion that a low fat, high carb diet is the way to go and this is a message I am constantly trying to spread - even if I'm fighting a long hard battle.
However, is today the day where that fight becomes a whole lot easier?
The media have finally released information scrutinising the dietary guideline advice that was given out back in 1983. They say that the advice to decrease fat content to 30% was off the back of no data whatsoever. There was in fact no evidence to suggest that a high fat diet leads to an increase in cholesterol, heart disease or heart related deaths. They have even taken it as far as saying the advice to increase carbohydrate consumption in place of fat, could in part have led to the obesity epidemic that we are in now. People became too obsessed with limiting fat levels - which as we are starting to understand, do not make you fat - and weren't concerned enough with the amount of sugar they were consuming - which as we now know, have lots of fat storing properties.
Of course this doesn't mean you have free rain to consume high quantities of saturated fat without any health worries. What it does mean however is that you need to be more wary of other macronutients and not compromise on sugar content for slightly less fat.
I am extremely glad that this information has come out today. Although there are a large number of us who understand the truth about sugar and fat, the media has been too powerful for the message to really sink in worldwide. Hopefully, if we can get the media to push this new message, it shouldn't be too long until we can begin to change people's deep rooted beliefs.
Full details of the recall on these advice guidelines can be read here