Nutritional advice is anything but consistent. Fat phobia has been ingrained (LOL) in our minds over the years but recently it seems the headlines contradict all that:
- “Fat Is Key To Your Survival”
- “Butter Isn’t Bad For You After All”
- “An Egg Revival: Nutrition Panel Lifts Cholesterol Warning”, http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/02/11/eggs-are-in-after-nutrition-panel-lifts-cholesterol-warning/#.VNz2To2cJsc.twitter
- “Starving Cancer: Ketogenic Diet a Key to Recovery”, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2012/december/starving-cancer-ketogenic-diet-a-key-to-recovery “. Although it wasn’t easy, Hatfield stopped eating carbohydrates, which turn into glucose inside your body. Cancer cells love glucose and need it so badly, that if you stop giving it to them, they die.”
- “Study says low-carb diet leads to reduced body fat”, http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/09/01/study-supports-value-low-carbohydrate-diet-study-says-low-carb-diet-leads-reduced-body-fat/zA8uNJG2KnwtoCY3ecH2xI/story.html.
While these headlines might be shocking to some, there are an estimated “30 million people in the U.S. following some sort of diet that restricts carbohydrates” who have experienced the powerful benefits of this way of eating (WOE). Most low carb plans are higher in healthy fats that help fat burning, starve cancer and boost heart health. It is about time. In my opinion, there have been many people whose nutritional needs have been neglected and improperly treated because of selfish or stubborn spin doctors who refused to accept the truth.
It is good news that reports like these are making headway into the consumer spotlight so that people can make educated decisions based on both sides of the nutrition coin instead of a one-sided agenda.
No matter what diet you choose to follow these headlines may be hard to swallow:
“Investigation reveals network of links between public health scientists and sugar industry”http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150211204055.htm. “Public health scientists and a government committee working on nutritional advice receive funding from the very companies (Nestle, Cocoa-cola, Pepsi, Kellogg’s, Glaxo SmithKline and Weight Watchers International) whose products are widely held to be responsible for the obesity crisis.”
I guess not too surprising if you believe that money, politics go hand in hand. But what is actually pretty scary is an article posted by Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/09/us-health-fat-idUSKBN0LD2KL20150209, claiming that the dietary guidelines set forth for Americans and Britons may not be grounded in objective science. The health message seems to be twisted to fit their own purse, uh I mean purpose.
The study mentioned and published in the Open Heart journal said, “national advice on fat consumption, recommended reducing overall dietary fat consumption to 30 percent of total intake and limiting saturated fat to around 10 percent, issued to millions of Britons and Americans in 1977 and 1983 lacked any solid trial evidence to back it up”.
Co-authors, Zoe Harcombe of the University of the West of Scotland and James DiNicolantonio of the Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute analyzed the trials used for the guidelines and found, “the research was flawed, failed to take into account the totality of the evidence and the guidelines were inconsistent with the evidence,” saying it seemed “incomprehensible that this dietary advice was given to millions of Americans and Britons.”
Even the Harvard School of Public Health has weighed in with results of a study that were published study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Women assigned to eating a low-fat diet for eight years did not appear to gain protection against breast cancer, colorectal cancer, or cardiovascular disease. And after eight years, their weights were generally the same as those of women following their usual diets,” http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/low-fat/.
My main purpose for this blog is to help those who fall victim to nutrition advice they think is good but need an eye opener to make better food choices.
There is so much riffraff being spewed all over the place. Use your senses, common sense included. Do not follow any nutrition advice blindly, use your eyes to read labels. Feel your body signals and learn to follow them. If you are hungry an hour after a meal, that meal is not for you. Taste your food and let it satisfy you, there is no need to overeat. A meal should tide you over for a few hours. Real food with real fat tastes good (avocado, butter, mayonnaise) enjoy eating instead of getting used to “fat free” cardboard foods.
Don’t give up your health to any marketing company, governmental agency or even healthcare specialist. Research, marketing and the government all have their places in your decision-making but they should not ultimately dictate your personal eating decision. Be an educated health consumer because you are your best advocate. Do what is best for you.
There will be many headlines touting miraculous and even scientific validation by spin doctors in what is considered trusted nutrition circles. Beware!
Reblogged this on Valerie's Voice: For the Health of It.
“Real food with real fat tastes good (avocado, butter, mayonnaise) enjoy eating instead of getting used to “fat free” cardboard foods.”
You may want to rethink the mayonnaise. http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2014/014386/hold-mayo
Oops. Typo. “Even the Harvard School of Public Health has weighed in with results of a study that were published study in…”