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Why You Should Always Choose the Full-Fat Option
In order to eat a whole food diet, you need to eat the whole food.
I recently bought a tub of fat-free, natural yogurt. For a nutritionist, this was more than a terrible mistake. It was an entry-level error that made me feel like an amateur.
Removing the fat from whole food benefits no one, other than the manufacturer doing the removing. That may come as a surprise to some, but don’t believe the health hype. Here are five reasons why you should always choose the full-fat, unadulterated version over the hollowed-out shell of an alternative.
1. Low-fat foods make you fat
As chef and TV personality Julia Child once famously put it, “fat gives food flavor.” If you take something out, something that provides flavour and satiety, you have to replace it with an alternative. Sugar is the manufacturer’s go-to fat substitute. It fits the bill very neatly. It also increases the risk of obesity, all too well.
Sugar causes spikes in blood glucose, triggering the release of insulin to lower that blood glucose. Insulin does this by sending it off to be stored as fat in your adipose tissue. Sugar is literally transformed into fat.
“Ironically, individuals who believe they are choosing healthier versions of their favorite foods are trading fat for less healthy sugar.” (Nutr Diabetes 2016)
2. Low-fat foods rob you of nutrients
Without fat, your digestive system is unable to extract and absorb the fat-soluble vitamins from your food. These are vitamins A (retinol), D3, E, and K2.
Vitamin A is essential for vision and a good immune system. Vitamin D is also required for immunity (especially of the respiratory system), bone health, and mental health. Vitamin E, another immune protector, is an antioxidant that protects against harmful free radicals. Vitamin K is the one that promotes blood clotting so that you don’t bleed to death when injured. It is also important for bone and heart health.
“Low-fat, no-fat and vegan diets are…
