The Truth: Low-Fat Diets Don't Work
Let's just say it...Low-fat diets simply don't work. What's worse, they actually make us fatter. Really. The confusing thing is, some well-meaning experts keep preaching low-fat--despite a huge stack of research that proves the whole low-fat craze was a disastrous mistake.
Truth is, you absolutely must eat fat to burn fat. Here's how it works.
The failed low-fat experiment
Remember the 1990s, the peak of the low-fat fad? We all loaded up on fat-free Snackwells cookies and skim milk--and that's when America really started getting obese.
Oh, it seemed reasonable enough--fat in food equals fat on our bellies, right? -- but in reality, it just wasn't working. Then in 2006, Harvard researchers revealed the results of their eight-year, $415 million Rolls-Royce of low-fat studies:
Low-fat eating didn't help at all.
It didn't prevent breast cancer, colon cancer, heart attacks or strokes. It even didn't shave off pounds. Harvard had 50,000 women to prove it.
"The final nail in the coffin" for low-fat diets, study authors called it. Other studies (including another Harvard study last year) have since shown that even a "moderate" low-fat diet--about 20 percent of calories from fat, nothing too drastic--still cripples our metabolism. It causes unhealthy shifts in our cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin response, too.
Sure, grocery shelves are still jammed with fat-free sour cream, fat-free salad dressing--even Snackwells are still hanging around in all their '90s glory. But we now know that these fake foods don't help us one bit.
Healthy fat to the rescue
What really works? Good fats. They're cornerstones of The Fast Metabolism Diet:
- Avocado
- Coconut
- Cold-water fish (salmon, sardines, oil-packed tuna)
- Eggs
- Oils (olive, sesame, grapeseed, and coconut)
- Olives
- Raw nuts and seeds
- Raw nut butters
When your body sees these healthy fats, it breathes a huge sigh of relief. Finally, your brain, thyroid, and adrenal glands are getting the nutrients they need! Your stress hormones go down. Your sex drive goes up. Your blood flows better--and your metabolism heats up. Those healthy fats nudge your gallbladder and pituitary gland to start cranking out fat-burning enzymes and hormones, melting down your own fat stores to flood your body with energy.
Here's the interesting thing: This works extraordinarily well after you've gone low-fat for a few days. Your body just wants to burn fat like mad. That's why the Fast Metabolism Diet works in three phases--combining healthy fats, good carbs, and the right proteins -- to reboot your metabolism and get it running like a well-oiled machine.
So please toss out all those fat-free "snack packs" and explore healthy fats that come as part of whole foods!
Let's just say it...Low-fat diets simply don't work. What's worse, they actually make us fatter. Really. The confusing thing is, some well-meaning experts keep preaching low-fat--despite a huge stack of research that proves the whole low-fat craze was a disastrous mistake.
Truth is, you absolutely must eat fat to burn fat. Here's how it works.
The failed low-fat experiment
Remember the 1990s, the peak of the low-fat fad? We all loaded up on fat-free Snackwells cookies and skim milk--and that's when America really started getting obese.
Oh, it seemed reasonable enough--fat in food equals fat on our bellies, right? -- but in reality, it just wasn't working. Then in 2006, Harvard researchers revealed the results of their eight-year, $415 million Rolls-Royce of low-fat studies:
Low-fat eating didn't help at all.
It didn't prevent breast cancer, colon cancer, heart attacks or strokes. It even didn't shave off pounds. Harvard had 50,000 women to prove it.
"The final nail in the coffin" for low-fat diets, study authors called it. Other studies (including another Harvard study last year) have since shown that even a "moderate" low-fat diet--about 20 percent of calories from fat, nothing too drastic--still cripples our metabolism. It causes unhealthy shifts in our cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin response, too.
Sure, grocery shelves are still jammed with fat-free sour cream, fat-free salad dressing--even Snackwells are still hanging around in all their '90s glory. But we now know that these fake foods don't help us one bit.
Healthy fat to the rescue
What really works? Good fats. They're cornerstones of The Fast Metabolism Diet:- Avocado
- Coconut
- Cold-water fish (salmon, sardines, oil-packed tuna)
- Eggs
- Oils (olive, sesame, grapeseed, and coconut)
- Olives
- Raw nuts and seeds
- Raw nut butters
Here's the interesting thing: This works extraordinarily well after you've gone low-fat for a few days. Your body just wants to burn fat like mad. That's why the Fast Metabolism Diet works in three phases--combining healthy fats, good carbs, and the right proteins -- to reboot your metabolism and get it running like a well-oiled machine.
So please toss out all those fat-free "snack packs" and explore healthy fats that come as part of whole foods!
