Originally published December 29 2005
Nutritionist reminds dieters that certain kinds of fats are healthy
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
One of Canada's leading dietitians, Leslie Beck, tries to correct current misperceptions about dietary fat, which the body requires but many diets seem to exclude altogether.
Over the past two decades, high-fat diets have been blamed for obesity, heart disease and cancer.
Until recently, health agencies advocated the "30-per-cent rule" -- limit fat intake to no more than 30 per cent of your daily calories.
We were told to eat less fat to help lose weight, lower cholesterol levels, and possibly ward of certain cancers.
Today, a healthy diet can contain as much as 35 per cent of its calories from fat -- provided, of course, you choose the right fats.
Some fats increase the risk of health problems, whereas other fats can lower the risk.
Saturated fat is found in animal foods, including meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products.
Plant oils, such as coconut, palm kernel oil and palm oil are also highly saturated.
Olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, avocado, almonds and hazelnuts contain more monounsaturated fats.
Both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats help lower blood LDL cholesterol when they're used in place of cholesterol-raising saturated fats.
Eating oily fish a few times each week may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by making the blood less likely to form clots and protecting against irregular heartbeats that cause sudden cardiac death.
ALA is considered an essential fatty acid because the body can't make it on its own; ALA must be obtained from the diet.
A study published last week in Circulation found that, among 76,763 healthy women who were followed for 18 years, those who consumed the most ALA had a 40-per-cent lower risk of sudden cardiac death compared to women whose diets provided the least.
The majority of trans fat in our diet comes from industry-produced partially hydrogenated oils that lurk in bakery products, snack foods, deep-fried fast foods and certain margarines.
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