Wait just a darn minute, so you mean to tell me fats are not the bad guys? That they are merely “accomplices,” or the subject of peer pressure?
Yep, chances are you have been wrong about fat your entire life. Kind of like that one guy in high school who was too weird to be friends with, but now owns a fortune 500 company!
See, for years, decades even, we have been fed with misinformation, as a result of a correlational, and not a causational link. To illustrate, a great example would be to say, “People that are born have a 100% chance of dying.” We know that we all have to diet, but being born is not the direct cause of it. That sums up the similar assumptions made on fat.
Interestingly, fat began to get a bad rap sheet the same time the introduction of readily available carbs appeared. Think breakfast cereals, and snacks. At this time, cases of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, a range of metabolic disorders and obesity began to spike.
Yes, in fact, by approaching studies involving fats with a biased eye, the verdict was met before having a fair trial.
So what is the truth? Read on and find out yourself!
Insulin Calls The Shots Behind The Scenes
When we ingest foods, be it fats, carbs or proteins, the molecules contained in them do not magically turn into fat, or new cells or whatever. They must be “shuttled” to their final destination by something. This conductor is insulin.
Under normal circumstances (by normal, we mean occasional stimulation), insulin is the prodigal hormone. It is important for ensuring nutrients get where it has to go, so that cells and subsequent organs function, as they should.
However, following the introduction, and subsequent frequent consumption of carb heavy foods, insulin started working overtime, “hoarding” nutrients into cells, more particularly, fat cells.
As these fat cells grew, and insulin lost sensitivity, a dangerous cocktail of elevated blood sugar and fat levels resulted, setting the stage for diabetes and high cholesterol.
Fat Does Not Like To Be Stored
You may or may not know insulin by its name “the storage hormone,” as its primary role is that defined. However, fat had different things in mind. Research has shown that our ancestors were very lean and healthy, all thanks to a primary fat metabolism.
Their diets consisted mainly of wild animals, with the occasional forage consumed too (such as berries). The result was a metabolism that used fats for fuel, the way we were meant to function but altered via means of mass produced cheap carbohydrate foods. Under the influence of insulin, however, fats are powerless to be burned directly as fuel, and will only be called upon in cases when sugars are low.
It is then, or when following a ketogenic diet (low carb eating that results in ketosis where the body uses fat for energy instead of dietary carbs), that the true beauty of using fat as a primary fuel source is revealed.
Fats Do Not Stimulate Insulin Release
Fact- you can literally eat a whole cow and not experience a surge of insulin, causing your body to begin oxidizing the fat directly for fuel. However, the typical idea of a meal includes both carbohydrate and fat, resulting in storage of both in cells until needed (if ever).
Without the influence of carbs, and associated insulin spikes, fats are easily burned off and not stored in fat cells.
Conclusion
Truth: fat is not bad for you by itself; rather only when under insulin’s grasp.
What’s even more revealing is the fact that the ketogenic diet; one high in protein and fats, but extremely low in carbs, promotes weight loss and leads to improved health, far over the “approved diets” of the world’s governments.
A deliberate ploy to enrich pharmaceutical companies? Hmmm we hope not!
The many studies that have shown low carb diets to be more effective in actual pounds lost and reducing cholesterol levels than low fat diets support the theory, that low carb is more effective for weight loss and burning body fat.
Of course, you can also ask the thousands of people, many of whom were obese, who have successfully lost weight and kept it off with a low carb diet if you are still not convinced.
