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Nutrition Tips: Fat Isn't the Enemy (FITE)


We hear so much about carbs and protein.  Some people claim a high protein diet is the best way to lose weight, or there are people who insist everyone should only eat carbs from the low glycemic list. But fat doesn’t make the conversation much, and that’s because we all know we need to avoid it, right? Fat is evil.  Almost as despicable as gluten...but not quite. 

Dietary fat (I wish we could come up with a better word for this) is found in animal products - meats, dairy - yogurt, cheese, milk, and eggs, but we can also find it in nature with our nuts, seeds, and avocado.  Of course, our baked goods like muffins and cookies have fat are included in the ingredients to make them moist and tasty!  

Food companies have made it entirely POSSIBLE to eat a fat-free diet.  And why wouldn’t you want to? Fat (okay, I’m thinking of a new word now) has been demonized during the past few decades.  We’ve heard that eating too much fat, or any at all depending on who you listen to, will cause us to become obese, develop heart disease, and die a slow, horrible death.  So, they made available a plethora of fat-free goodies - fat free ice cream, yogurt, cookies, and milk.  We can also have a lot of fat taken out of our animal products - like our 80% lean beef.  Fantastic, right?

When food scientists remove naturally occurring fat from a food item - let’s say sour cream - there’s also a change in the amount of sugar on the nutrition label.  A serving of full-fat sour cream has 1 g sugar, but a serving of fat-free sour cream has 2 g of sugar.  Sure, it’s only 1 gram, but that’s PER serving.  And that’s only in sour cream.  The same thing occurs in milk.  So what have really gained by eliminating the fat (okay - I’ve got it...we’ll call it FITE - “Fat Isn’t The Enemy”).  More sugar.  Sure, we have less calories, but that’s not an equal trade-off.

Why am I even talking about FITE?  Because our bodies need quality FITE in our diets.  NEEDS!!  The fat soluble vitamins are absorbed via FITE from our diet.  The lining of our cells are actually made from lipids (FITE), and we need it for insulation and protection of our organs.  When we pull out the FITE, and add in more sugar...it’s not a choice that’s helping our health or our weight.
One last thing very important thing to remember...any dietary foods such as full-FITE milk or cheese is not automatically stored as fat (adipose tissue) in the body.  People hear “full-fat” and assume that means it will make them fatter.  Nope.  On the flip side, eating “fat-free” won’t make your body lean and muscular.  If you’d like to learn more about healthy FITE and how to incorporate in your diet, give us a call - it’s easier and tastier than you can imagine!!!

In Good Health,

Dawn

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