Fats and Cholesterol - The Good, The Bad, and The Healthy Diet

Fats and Cholesterol - The Good, The Bad, and The Healthy Diet

"Eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet." Most of us have heard this simple recommendation so often over the past two decades that we have become imune to this recommendation. Promoted as a good way to lose weight and prevent certain types of cancer and heart disease, it's no wonder much of the nation - and food producers - hopped on the band waggon.

Unfortunately, this simple message is now largely out of date. Detailed research - much of it done at Harvard University - shows that the total amount of fat in the diet, whether high or low, isn't really linked with disease.

What really matters is the specific type of fat in the diet. New results from the large and long Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial showed that eating a low-fat diet for 8 years did not prevent heart disease, breast cancer, or colon cancer, and didn't do much for weight loss, either.

What is becoming clearer and clearer is that bad fats, meaning saturated and trans fats, increase the risk for certain diseases while good fats, meaning monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, lower the risk. The key is to substitute good fats for bad fats.

And cholesterol in food? Although it is still important to limit the amount of cholesterol you eat, especially if you have diabetes, dietary cholesterol isn't nearly the villain it's been portrayed to be. Cholesterol in the bloodstream is what's most important. High blood cholesterol levels greatly increase the risk for heart disease. But the average person makes about 75% of blood cholesterol in his or her liver, while only about 25% is absorbed from food. The biggest influence on blood cholesterol level is the mix of fats in the diet.

Article courtesy of Harvard University