There were 500 cardiologists practicing in the U.S. in 1950. There are 30,000 of them now – a 60-fold increase for a population that has only doubled since 1950.
– Dr. Donald Miller
After almost 40 years of eating low-fat foods and cutting out meat, cheese, butter, and whole milk, it turns out that low-fat food was not good for us after all. The low-fat diet has ravaged the health of many Americans, and accounts for the increase in cardiologists. Doctors and scientists now agree that there is no real evidence that saturated (animal) fats are linked to heart disease or obesity, as originally thought. In fact, more and more research suggests that a diet that includes saturated fats may be the healthiest diet. Meat, cheese, and dairy products that are processed as little as possible are no longer the enemy of our cardio-vascular system; in fact they may contribute to its overall health. At IFC, our TEPC wrapped meals are made with fresh cut, high quality meats that go straight from the butcher to the pouch. IFC’s TEPC wrapped meals along with being easy to cook and delicious, are a great addition to a well-rounded and healthy diet.
At IFC, our TEPC wrapped meals are made with fresh cut, high quality meats that go straight from the butcher to the pouch.
In Nina Teicholz’s fascinating Wall Street Journal article she discusses the history of the low fat food movement in the United States. For years Americans had been told that saturated fats (i.e.- animal fat) are the heart attack inducing enemy, and began putting down the butter and picking up the bread. It turns out that our nation’s increased consumption of carbohydrates is what may be causing increased obesity and heart disease, not saturated fats as conventional wisdom touted. Eating refined carbs instead of fat can lower the body’s “good” cholesterol (HDL) and increase triglycerides, resulting in increased risk of heart disease. All these extra carbs are also being broken down into glucose. Excess glucose causes the body to produce more insulin; which not only raises the risk of diabetes but causes the body to store more fat. So it seems that all those decades of “low fat” eating actually made the US astonishingly fatter.
In response to cutting out saturated fats, the American diet has greatly increased its consumption of trans fats. Margarine, canola, and vegetable oils have replaced lard and butter in most home and restaurant kitchens. Trans fats are created during the hydrogenation process (adding hydrogen to vegetable oils to make it less likely to spoil, but also making it unstable and rancid), and all of these items contain these dangerous fats. Studies now show that trans fats are contributors to heart disease, cancer, and obesity. Unlike saturated, or other good fats found in meats, dairy, vegetables and fruits, unstable trans fats are extremely bad for our health. Through years of eating lowfat, carb heavy diets coupled wi~h a huge increase in trans fat use, Americans have unknowingly sabotaged their health.