Report on news: fat isn't so bad!

[Beth H]

I was watching the NBC news last night, and one of their stories focused on a study that fat might not be so bad after all. In fact, the conclusion of the story indicated that people could eat about whatever they wanted, as long as it was in moderation. Now, to me, this isn't too different from the CL philosophy -- eat well, creatively, sometimes using ingredients like butter, oil, etc. Has anyone else heard about this study? Any reactions?

[Jewel]

I agree up to a point because it's long been known that fat satisfies your hunger (usually) and actually helps you eat less. People on severely lowfat or NO fat diets end up eating more to reach a flavor 'set point', so their caloric intake is usually more than those on a moderately reasonable diet including all the major food groups, like chocolate, butter, eggs and peanut butter.

I know that as I was trying to lose weight and 'get healthy' I thought nothing of eating a half a bag of fatfree cookies only because I thought of them as a 'free' food. I would have been better off, and probably more quickly satisfied, if I'd had 3 regular Oreos instead! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif I totally agree with fat being good for you in moderation. No other culture in the world considers fat a dietary enemy, and the US is the only country where obesity is an epidemic! Lesson to be learned there...

[Joyce]

I don't even watch these things any more. First they touted margarine, then it was no better than butter. Things we were told were bad for you or good for you, two years later are the opposite, according to new studies. That is why I love C/L. My philosophy has always been to eat whatever I want in moderate portions. I don't believe that there is anything one should NEVER consume. (If I did, it would probably drive me nuts to be able to have it!!) On the other hand, I don't believe there is anything one should eat constantly.

[emilycat]

I actually didn't really think this was really "news" -- I've been reading the same things in Runner's World and Shape for a couple years now. The important thing to remember is, to paraphrase something written in CL recently, that not all fats are created equal. Saturated and trans fats are bad (I say this having eating some reduced-fat Jif this morning with my oatmeal http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/redface.gif ), but if you make good food and nutrition choices and prepare your meals focusing on the good fats, fat can certainly be a decent-sized portion of a healthy diet (15-30%).




[This message has been edited by emilycat (edited 04-26-2001).]

[AD]

I've heard this from every doctor and dietician I've been to and have read it in all the nutrition books. We need a little fat just to live. I've been trying to increase the fat in my diet as I often have a personal preference for plain foods. So far, nuts and peanut butter have been my best bet.

[kwormann]

Emily...buy natural peanut butter.....

http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif Kim http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[emilycat]

I suppose I deserve that after all of my little whole grain jabs... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Seriously, after this jar's gone (which won't take very long), I'm off to try the real stuff.

[Grace]

Here's info from the recent Prevention Magazine article that you all might find interesting regarding this topic. (I'm sticking to Peter Pan brand because I like how creamy it is - natural stuff is hard to spread):

"Natural peanut butter is healthier because the homogenized kind is full of trans fat (which comes from partially hydrogenated oils and is known to raise cholesterol) and sugar, right? Let's check the facts.

Prevention magazine had a laboratory measure trans fat in four homogenized brands: Skippy, Jif, Peter Pan and Finast (a supermarket label). The good news: The levels of trans fats per 2-tablespoon serving in all four brands were far lower than 0.5 gram. They were so low that, under proposed laws, they can legally claim 0 gram trans fat on labels. This confirms tests by the Peanut Institute that we reported last July. While only natural brands are totally trans-free, homogenized brands are ultralow in trans fat.

What About Sugar?

Again, we compared labels. Per 2-tablespoon serving, homogenized brands contain an average of 3 grams of sugar, while natural brands contain 2 grams. No meaningful difference there.

So choose natural or homogenized, whichever you prefer. We think both are healthy. But we don't recommend homogenized reduced-fat peanut butter. You get less healthy monounsaturated fat, and you save few, if any, calories!"