Now Americans are eating too much fat?

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 05 Mar 2004 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

There are various news stories saying that Americans are eating more fat, due to the low-carb craze. They say that this is dangerous for the population's health. They say that people are not eating enough fiber and fruit and vegetables and too much fat.

This sounds like the kind of things they were telling people in the 1970s. During that decade the craze became to avoid fats, eat lots of carbs and and stay slim. During the following thirty years the Americans tried to eat less fat, people were on one low-fat diet after another.

People switched from milk, that contains fat, to fizzy drinks that just have carbohydrates and no fats.

What happened?

During the 1980s people got fatter, and low fat diets became even more popular. The more people went on low fat diets the fatter people became. Their insulin levels rose (carbohydrate bursts do that to the body), more and more diabetics appeared.

In the 1990s people just got plumper, but diets were still all the rage - all supermarkets boasted 'low fat' on their products. And people bought them like crazy - and grew and grew.

A few years ago, some people twigged that maybe the problems were the carbohydrates. "Carbs are bad, eat lots of protein and fat,." said the new faddists.

And there is the problem. The world is driven by faddists. Faddists satisfy our quick-fix philosophy. It is not only the USA. Most of the world is going that way.

What is happening now? The pendulum has swung the other way, and too far the other way. Gone are the carbs, hello to the fats. People have got out their cream urns, cheesecakes have their crusts removed and the fillings are gorged. Like I said, the other extreme. The quick-fix.

Things will only get better when we realise that what we eat depends on a universe of factors. A diet needs to be balanced. We need 'good proteins', we need 'good carbs', we need 'good fats'. And all three have to be eaten in a balanced way. We need fiber (fibre in UK English) and adequate amounts. We need......

What does this mean? It means we need a BALANCED DIET. There is not quick fix. A balanced diet includes a balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. No excess, no fads, no 're-inventing the wheel'.

Our species has been on this planet for millions of years. Our genes have adapted to a HUMAN BALANCED DIET. Genes take a million years to adapt to change. Fads and quick-fixes are done in months. The two do not match.

If you are a carnivore, vegetarian, vegan, raw food believer - that is fine. The message here is - IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT - BALANCE IT ALL.

If you are a vegan, balance the fats, proteins and carbs. Do not go for carbs at the expense of the others.

If you are a vegetarian, be careful with the good and bad fats in dairy and eggs.

If you are an omnivore (meat and plant eater), be careful with saturated fats and also the things the other two have to be careful with.

There is no big secret here.