We grew up being told that fat was the enemy of a healthy heart and an appealing waistline. This idea has led to a booming market of low-fat and fat-free foods. Many health-conscious people avoid consuming fat with nearly religious zealotry. Now, those who promote the Ketogenic Diet want everybody to believe that fat is the healthiest thing you can eat. So what is the truth? Is fat good or bad for your health? The short answer is “yes.”
Confused? That is because you may be falling into the same trap that many fall prey to: thinking of a macro-nutrient in micro terms. The idea that all fat is the same is both wrong and dangerous.
Fat is one of three macronutrients in our diet. It is joined by protein and carbohydrates. That is it. Three big categories that all the food in the world falls under.
In a world filled with food, how could one-third of the variety be identical in how the body recognizes it?
That is on par with stating that all mammals are the same. So, a human is pretty much a dolphin or a sloth. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?
If it seems silly to think of yourself as being essentially the same as the neighbor’s cat, how does it make sense to think that all fat is the same?
Sorry to break it to you Keto Diet lovers. There really is bad fat. Sorry to break it to you fat-free zealots. There really is good fat.
Good fats fall into the subcategories of polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. These fats are good for transporting nutrients through the body and supply the body with endurance energy.
Consuming good fats raises the amount of high-density lipoprotein in the body. That is good cholesterol. Good cholesterol lowers the risk of heart disease.
Going fat-free, therefore, isn’t nearly as healthy as it was previously declared.
Eating saturated fat, on the other hand, will raise the level of low-density lipoprotein in the body. That’s bad cholesterol.
Bad cholesterol clogs arteries, gathers around organs in the form of visceral fat and raises the risk of heart disease.
There are, in fact, people that will disagree with the effects of saturated fat in the body. Those people are selling something: the Keto Diet. The majority of medical, health and fitness professionals will tell you that wanton consumption of saturated fat is not only bad for you; it is dangerous.
With this being the case, take a close look at the supposed experts that promote the benefits of the Keto Diet. Their pockets are lined with the money of people buying products, supplements and information packets about the fad diet.
The Keto Diet wouldn’t be so bad if not for a couple of things. The first is that it treats all fats as the same, thus losing credibility. The second is that it does the same thing with carbohydrates, and then falsely declares carbohydrates to be the source of all things evil.
Carbohydrates, being a macronutrient, have good and bad variations. Broccoli is a source of carbohydrates. Donuts are also a source of carbohydrates. I genuinely hope I don’t have to convince anybody that there is a big difference in health value between broccoli and donuts.
The combination of these two failings has the Keto Diet in a position to seriously damage the health of those who buy the hype.
Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the body. Deleting them from a diet, or seriously limiting them forces the body to get out of balance as it tries to convert fat and protein into energy. The process is not efficient and takes the nutrients away from their intended purpose.
Stealing energy like this makes the diet unsustainable and therefore people cycle on and off the diet. This is known as chronic dieting and can lead to chronic ill-health effects.
While dieters are on the Keto Diet, their lack of discernment between good fat and bad fat leads to visceral fat accumulating around organs. Eventually, this can lead to a heart attack.
Not really a great trade-off for temporarily losing a few pounds.
Having chewed the fat of the Keto Diet, it really isn’t worth it. There really is a sound benefit of consuming fat. Just make sure it’s the right kind of fat, and don’t do it to the exclusion of another macronutrient. In all things, find balance and search for the healthy options.
