But it has FAT!!!

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  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    I suspect that one of the biggest, most pervasive health myths that has arisen in the last 30 years is the idea that eating fat results in you getting fat.

    I think this fear of eating fat has helped drive the high-carb diet that most Americans consume.

    It's exactly backwards of what we should be eating.

    Except for sweets, the traditional food pyramid that they taught when I was in school is UPSIDE DOWN.
    This is another argument I see a lot. Also false. Consumption of fats has almost doubled in the last 40 years, from 38 to 65 grams per day, while starches and grains have risen at a much slower rate (from 110 to 145 grams per day.) It's not what we eat that's the problem, it's the fact that we are eating much more in general (about 500 calories per day more in 2010 than in 1970) while becoming much less active due to the advances in technology.

    Oh, and before anyone jumps in with the "added sugars are causing all our troubles" argument, the consumption of added sugars has increased by a whopping 7 grams since 1970. That's about 2 teaspoons. In other words, all this fear mongering about the amount of added sugars we are eating is making us fat is bull, as we are eating about the same amount as we were in 1970, before all this obesity epidemic existed.
  • redwngs13
    redwngs13 Posts: 194 Member
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    Great job on the loss! I get it...it drives me crazy too but then when I feel like going off on a rampage about it I step back and think "I use to be one of the mis-informed, un-educated people too". It wasn't until I really got interested in the nutrition side of becoming healthier that I understood this concept. All we can do is bite our tongues and keep on keeping on with what we know works for us and hope that others will educate themselves.
    ^^This

    I, too, get irritated by the comments I get from people about what I eat, but then think back to before I really began researching nutrition and remember that I was one of the ignorant ones too. Sometimes I try to explain and educate the person on my choices (in hopes that maybe they'll do some of their own research), or I'll just kind of nod and smile and continue on.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    This is another argument I see a lot. Also false. Consumption of fats has almost doubled in the last 40 years, from 38 to 65 grams per day, while starches and grains have risen at a much slower rate (from 110 to 145 grams per day.) It's not what we eat that's the problem, it's the fact that we are eating much more in general (about 500 calories per day more in 2010 than in 1970) while becoming much less active due to the advances in technology.

    Oh, and before anyone jumps in with the "added sugars are causing all our troubles" argument, the consumption of added sugars has increased by a whopping 7 grams since 1970. That's about 2 teaspoons. In other words, all this fear mongering about the amount of added sugars we are eating is making us fat is bull, as we are eating about the same amount as we were in 1970, before all this obesity epidemic existed.

    Americans in 1900 consumed about 5 pounds of sugar annually. Today that is over 100 pounds annually.

    I don't disagree about over consumption in general, but if you eat natural, unprocessed foods you will find it more difficult to over consume as you just won't feel the need to consume it.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    Great job on the loss! I get it...it drives me crazy too but then when I feel like going off on a rampage about it I step back and think "I use to be one of the mis-informed, un-educated people too". It wasn't until I really got interested in the nutrition side of becoming healthier that I understood this concept. All we can do is bite our tongues and keep on keeping on with what we know works for us and hope that others will educate themselves.
    ^^This

    I, too, get irritated by the comments I get from people about what I eat, but then think back to before I really began researching nutrition and remember that I was one of the ignorant ones too. Sometimes I try to explain and educate the person on my choices (in hopes that maybe they'll do some of their own research), or I'll just kind of nod and smile and continue on.

    Exactly. If they seem interested I will try to explain it and encourage them to learn more. Otherwise I just say "Good luck" and move on.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    This is another argument I see a lot. Also false. Consumption of fats has almost doubled in the last 40 years, from 38 to 65 grams per day, while starches and grains have risen at a much slower rate (from 110 to 145 grams per day.) It's not what we eat that's the problem, it's the fact that we are eating much more in general (about 500 calories per day more in 2010 than in 1970) while becoming much less active due to the advances in technology.

    Oh, and before anyone jumps in with the "added sugars are causing all our troubles" argument, the consumption of added sugars has increased by a whopping 7 grams since 1970. That's about 2 teaspoons. In other words, all this fear mongering about the amount of added sugars we are eating is making us fat is bull, as we are eating about the same amount as we were in 1970, before all this obesity epidemic existed.

    Americans in 1900 consumed about 5 pounds of sugar annually. Today that is over 100 pounds annually.

    I don't disagree about over consumption in general, but if you eat natural, unprocessed foods you will find it more difficult to over consume as you just won't feel the need to consume it.
    Do you have a source showing sugar consumption was that low? Because that's far lower than most western countries' sugar consumption in the 1800s, never mind going into the 20th century. Britain for example was consuming 100 pounds of sugar per person BY 1900.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    It is something I had always heard over the years. A quick Google turns up things like this:

    http://www.wholevegan.com/refined_sugar_history.html
    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20D10FF355414728DDDA90A94D1405B828CF1D3
    http://missinghumanmanual.com/?tag=sugar


    My numbers were off, but basically sugar consumption has doubled since 1900.

    Compare sugar usage growth to the growth in obesity:

    http://www.voxeu.org/article/100-years-us-obesity
  • Lalasharni
    Lalasharni Posts: 353 Member
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    Half fat = half flavour.
    I eat natural butter, thick cream, full fat yogurt but I do take skim milk in my (English) tea because I like to taste the tea.
    Fat is not bad. Its the amount of it that you eat that can be bad.
    Fat is natural - it comes from animals - that's what the cavemen ate. I'm not a fan of the Paleo way of eating, but I can see some sense in it.
    The only fats I avoid like the proverbial plague are trans fats.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    I agree. If it's natural food, you can't go too wrong. Not that you can't overeat even natural foods, but you'll find it harder to do because you will be full longer eating them. And they are almost certainly healthier for you.

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