Liar, Liar!
Nutritional myths come and go, but one that has persisted for decades despite the damage done is the idea that we should all be eating low-fat diets. Those blindly convinced by this myth believe that if a label says “low-fat,” the product must be healthy.

Let’s explore the role fat plays in the body so that we can dispel this myth once and for all.

First, it helps to realize that every cell in the body is surrounded by a membrane of fat. Therefore, the health of your cells is largely dependant upon the quality of fats that comprise the membrane. If you do not consume healthy fats, your cells will not have the healthy, flexible cell membranes that can allow nutrients in and flush toxins out.

Fat Can Be Your Friend
Fats have been a part of a traditional diet for centuries. Foods such as butter, animal fats, olive oil, coconut oil and marine oils have long been consumed and enjoyed by healthy populations around the world. New fats that have emerged into the Western diet, such as hydrogenated oils, soy oil, canola oil and corn oil, may be culprits in the increasing incidence of diet-related diseases.

Many people switch to a low-fat diet with the erroneous belief that it will help them lose weight. After all, eating fat means you will get fat, right? Actually that theory is based on misconceptions and a serious lack of knowledge about how the body works.

The truth is that the body’s fat storage mechanism is triggered by a hormone called insulin, which is released upon the consumption of carbohydrates, not fat. Eating carbohydrates (sugar, grain products, juice, etc.) triggers the release of insulin, which escorts the sugars into the cells for energy production. When we consume an excess of carbohydrates, insulin converts the excess sugar from these carbohydrates into fat for storage.

The Truth Be Told
However, unlike carbohydrates, dietary fats do not trigger the release of insulin. So why does fat get all the blame for weight gain?

Gram for gram, fat does contain more calories than carbohydrates, so this has led to the belief that if you reduce fat intake, you will reduce calories and therefore lose weight. But the farther our nation has gone down the road of this “low-fat” craze, the fatter we have become.

This is largely because we have substituted large amounts of carbohydrates for the fats that were traditionally found in our diets. Instead of having eggs for breakfast, it’s now cold cereal (carbohydrate) with milk (carbohydrate) and a glass of orange juice (carbohydrate). You can find the same kind of switch from fat to carbohydrate-based foods at every meal and snack of the day.

As a result, obesity is now epidemic, cancer is on the rise, heart disease is our number-one killer and mental stability is becoming a rare phenomenon. What have we done to ourselves? It appears we believed a big, fat lie.  

Instead of following traditional diets, we have turned to commercial, pre-packaged, high-carbohydrate foods that are wrecking our health. This low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet is clearly linked with underlying health issues and deficiencies of fat-soluble nutrients. While we don’t want to eat just any fat, there are many healthy fats that deserve a prominent place in our diet.

Fighting Back
For example, Omega-3 fats are an excellent example of essential fats that must be consumed in our diet and not just in supplements. Omega-3 fats should be included in the diet by consuming two to three servings of fish per week, walnuts and flax seeds. And while it’s fine to take fish oil supplements, ensure the oil they contain comes from a pure source and is not rancid. For a pure vegetarian source of Omega-3 fat, try RBC Life’s product I.Q. DHA.

Fat plays an important role in mental health. More than 60 percent of the brain is fat, so obviously it’s an important nutrient for learning and memory. There are specific fats that appear to play a critical role in brain health, including phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine. These special fats found in our brains have shown remarkable health benefits when supplemented into our diet.*

Funny Names, Serious Business
Studies show that phosphatidylserine appears to enhance the mood and increase mental acuity during times of stress. Phosphatidylcholine levels in the brain appear to decline with age, which may be the culprit in age-related memory loss. Often referred to as lecithin, this fat is a major component of cell membranes, even brain cells.*

RBC Life has introduced a new brain health product, NeuroBright, which is formulated with a combination of legendary herbal antioxidants, whole food nutrients and RBC Life’s proprietary super-antioxidant, Microhydrin. A recent animal study showed that NeuroBright improved subjects’ learning and memory by nearly 50 percent.

Take Control
To protect your health, control your weight and preserve your cognitive function, it’s time to toss out the old myth of the low-fat diet. Focus on limiting carbohydrate intake to a reasonable level and include the whole, unprocessed fats of our once-traditional diet into your eating plan. Banish trans-fats and processed vegetable oils from your diet. Raw nuts and seeds, fatty fish, organic butter, coconut oil, olive oil and other healthy fats can be a satisfying part of your diet once again.