How Many Times a Day Do You Hear the "Low Fat = Healthy Equation?

If you weren’t specifically listening for it, you might not notice, but if you pay attention, it is EVERYWHERE! By “it” I mean the message that low-fat is synonymous with good health. It’s the sort of thing people say without feeling any need to prove it. It’s axiomatic. 

Just yesterday, I was watching a British cooking/dating show (?). The premise is that a guy has dinner on three consecutive nights at three different women’s homes. The guy invites the winning chef/date out on a second date at a restaurant. When one of the women served kangaroo, the announcer informed us that it’s a healthy meat because it’s low in fat. Why thank you for that lesson in nutrition!

Yea! No fat. Never mind that it has Tricalcium Phosphate, Aspartame*, Potassium Sorbate Red #40 and other goodies.

Look at the “healthy options” on any given menu. They’re the ones with the low-fat cheese or lean meat. Listen to any standup act or sitcom long enough, you’ll hear some joke based on the fact that we all know that fat is bad. And every other item in the supermarket is trying to get you to buy it by showing how wonderfully healthy it is – in other words, by showing how low fat it is!

Enough already! The science has never backed up the idea that traditional fats cause heart disease.

The only time low fat = good health is when you’re talking about an unhealthy fat, such as margarine, soybean oil, corn oil, or canola. Those are worth avoiding. Our body needs good fats to function, fat such as those from beautiful fresh butter, olive oil, coconut oil, and the fat naturally occurring in dairy and meat.

It’s hard to break the idea that fat is evil. We’re quite literally brainwashed into believing it. Break free! Eat some healthy fat! Your body and taste buds will thank you!

The post was shared with Gnowfglins the Healthy Home Economist , Hartke is Online, We Are That Family, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Whole New Mom, Real Food Forager,and The Nourishing Gourmet.