Health Topics

Myth: Eating a low-fat Diet is the best way to curb obesity.

Facts:

* The obesity rates for Americans have doubled in the last 20 years, coinciding with the advent of the low-fat revolution.
* In the 1960s, Americans ate 45% of their calories from fat – and only 13% of us were obese. Now, while most of us get only about 33% of our calories from fat, 34% of us qualify as obese!

Low–fat diets are essential to help you lose weight

Facts:

* Ironically, cutting fat out of our diets seems to have the opposite effect: while Americans have been eating less fat, we’ve been gettingfatter. In place of fats, many people turn to foods full of easily digested carbohydrates, or to fat-free products that replace healthful fats with sugar and high-calorie, refined carbohydrates.
* You need to cut calories to lose weight - fats are more filling, and curbing hunger can stop you from indulging in additional calories.
* The 2006 Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial showed that women on low-fat diets didn't lose any more weight than women who followed their usual diets.