this is an extract from Jackie's Health & Diet Club Magazine Number One
There are several varieties of Low Fat Diet popular at the moment. They are mostly based on three meals a day, no limit on quantity of certain foods, no calorie counting and no snacks. These are plenty of recipes to choose from for meat eaters and vegetarians alike and suitable options for entertaining, with three course dinners and a moderate alcohol allowance. The main rule is to avoid or greatly limit the intake of fat. Butter, cream, fried food and sausages are out; red meat is restricted to two helping a week. Vegetables are in, with no limit on the amount consumed. The result is a 1,400 to 1,600 Calorie-per-day diet with less than 20% of the calories coming from fat. Little advice, however, seems to be given to the necessity of eating sufficient quantities of certain types of fat in order to supply your body's needs for essential fatty acids (EFAs).
What are Essential Fatty Acids?
EFAs are needed by the body to regulate many functions. For example the level of cholesterol in the bloodstream is controled by EFAs; a shortage of EFAs combined with an intake of saturated fats will upset this balance, in the long term leading to heart disease. The production and regulation of sex hormones is also controled by EFAs, which explains why the symptoms of PMS (pre-menstral syndrome) can be alleviated by taking Oil of Evening Primrose, a rich source of EFAs, especially linoleic acid and linolenic acid. The word 'essential' doesn't just mean they're essential for life and health - which they are - but also that it's essential to take them in the diet, as essential fatty acids cannot be produced by the body. Fatty acids that can be made by the body can only be made if sufficient quantities of the essential fatty acids are taken regularly. Foods such as raw nuts, seeds and cold-pressed seed oils such as sesame and sunflower are the richest sources of EFAs. One of the many bodily functions that cannot work without a supply of EFAs is the reduction of inflammation. The first time I came upon somebody on a low fat diet - which became popular in the seventies and eighties - was when a lady came into my shop suffering arthritis so badly that her hands were like claws and she was in so much pain. She would not believe me when I explained that your body needs EFAs because the diet that she was following did not say that she needed EFAs. She left the shop so pleased she had lost weight but did not realise the pain in her hands was through her diet. EFA deficiency is quite common even among people who are not on a low fat diet so the risk of deficiency is increased by restricting fat intake. These days promotors of low-fat diets do acknowledge that you need Essential Fatty Acids, but in the past a lot of damage has been done.
Why the Low Fat Diet doesn't work for you
Certain fatty acids are known as 'the fat busters' because without these in your bloodstream your body can't use up your deposits of stored fat. Rather than trying to cut out all fats, which would be a very unhealthy thing to do if it were possible, you should concentrate on cutting out animal fats, saturated/hydrogenated fats and trans fatty acids, whilst maintaining an adequate intake of polyunsaturated fats containing the essential fatty acids.
The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet/Dr Atkins Diet
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