American culture is often notoriously depicted in an extravagant manner. Ah yes, the baseball game in the summer afternoon. The home of all things free, and the place where money talks. And of course, don’t forget the juicy hamburgers and hotdogs with a side of fries that clog your arteries with every single bite. The American diet certainly isn’t something to be proud of.

Taking the American diet into consideration, approximately 42.4% of American adults are obese, with a 10% increase over the past 20 years. That’s over 70 million Americans. That’s not a good number.

This has led to the American craze of dieting. Logically speaking, if we were to cut out a certain amount of something, surely we would lose weight and not gain fat, right?

Reducing Fat Consumption

Of course, the most seemingly sensible option to get rid of fat is to not eat fat. As the food industry grew to a more industrial approach of mass production, trans fat and other types of fats were used to preserve foods for a longer shelf life and to make them incredibly delicious.

There was a visible correlation between obesity rates and increase of fat consumption . So the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) took action on this. In the late 1970s to early 1980s, they adapted the dietary guidelines focusing on having a low fat diet.

From then on, most Americans believed that fat is the ultimate dietary evil and to avoid it as much as possible. And it did work. Americans have decreased their fat consumption by at least 20% over the past 20 years.

But it doesn’t make sense why obesity rates are still on the rise. It would make sense that generally if fat makes you fat, then eating less of it would be good for you. However, the facts aren’t quite so simple.

The Sugar Industry Has Demonized Fat

In the 1960’s, the sugar industry was trying to find a way to blame fat for the obesity problem and direct it away from sugar. They skewed much of their research in their favor. In 1967, the Sugar Association paid $50,000 worth to 3 Harvard scientists to prove the harm in fat and the benefits of sugar. The The New England Journal of Medicine published this article on August 3, 1967.

A famous Minnesota physiologist named Ancel Keys also popularized this idea showing the correlation between fat consumption and cardiovascular disease. His “conclusions” greatly influenced the public into believing that fat was the root of the increase of coronary heart disease.

Ancel Keys (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

A lesser known British scientist known as John Yudkin was one of the physiologists and nutritionists at the time who was fighting back against the skewed research. His book, Pure, White, and Deadly conveys the hazards of sugar and simple carbohydrates, and why having a low-carb diet is the best weigh to lose weight. The general idea is that the liver isn’t able to use all the glucose, and transforms the excess into fat. Unfortunately for Yudkin, the Sugar Association dismissed all of his research. Ancel Keys himself ridiculed Yudkin publicly. In the end, no one accepted his ideas until much later after his death.

John Yudkin (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

So Is Fat As Bad As We Think?

Well, not necessarily. There are four types to pay attention to: Trans, Saturated, Monounsaturated, and Polyunsaturated. Invented in the early 1900s, trans fat is an artificially made type of fat. They tend to raise your cholesterol levels, and don’t give you any nutrients. Saturated fat is fat that is typically found in animal and dairy products. They can be generally bad for your cholesterol, but some argue that a small quantity is essential for your body.

The two types of unsaturated fats are actually really beneficial for you. Both can help lower your bad cholesterol, which would reduce your risk of heart disease. They also contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, which are vital for your body as they are one of the nutrients that it can’t produce, but gets from food. Olive oil and avocados are quintessential examples of foods with unsaturated fat.

Of course, always eat fat in moderation. They are calorie dense (9 calories per gram). Try taking a rule of thumb of only 25%-30% of your diet being fat.

So Why Is America Still Obese?

Unfortunately, the sugar industry has already made enough damage to public perception of fat that is going to be very hard to reverse the done damage. Nowadays sugar is often hidden within most processed foods. As most people adapt to a low fat diet, they typically look at foods that are labelled in being low fat. While it is true that they are low in fat, food brands need to substitute it with something else to make it taste good. And you probably know what they replace it with. Sugar. And lots of it.

Even if you don’t directly consume sugar, you can get it in other forms, such as simple carbohydrates, like refined flour in white bread, white rice, pastries, etc. They easily break down in your body, and one of the things that carbs consists of is glucose, which as you may know, is a type of sugar. Too much carbohydrates means you have an excess amount of sugar which your body doesn’t need, so it stores it as fat. Complex carbs like most vegetables on the other hand, take much longer to break down, so they don’t spike your blood sugar as much.

It seems the best way to have a healthy diet to lost weight is by eating unsaturated fats in moderation, as they are necessary in your body as almost every other nutrient. Eat a low sugar and low carb diet, as John Yudkin suggested. When having carbohydrates, consider having vegetables, as they don’t spike your sugar levels.