Low-fat diets are harmful to human health

(NaturalNews) Low-fat diets sound like a good way to lose weight and get healthy, but when it comes down to nutrition, a low-fat diet actually does more harm than good, depriving cells of key components. Strangely, the federal government's 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee (DGAC) came out in support of destructive, low-fat diets and continued to criticize foods like eggs and meats. Their recent Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended low-fat diets and didn't mention the important role that healthy fats have in a person's body for cell membrane development. That report is open for public comment.

The Weston A. Price Foundation, a foundation that focuses on nutrition education, was quick to blast the government's inconsistencies and point out their bias.

Federal Dietary Guidelines support destructive low-fat diets

Firstly, the federal report details serious deficiencies throughout the population in protein, iron and zinc, but they strongly advise consumers to avoid red meat based on its fat profile alone. Healthy, grass-fed meat not only provides protein, iron and zinc to a malnourished body but also provides beneficial cholesterol and other essential fatty acids which act as messengers, helping proteins perform their jobs in the body. These fats also store energy, insulate the body and protect vital organs while acting as a catalyst for chemical reactions that help control growth, immune function, reproduction and other aspects of basic metabolism.

Regardless of the important role that fat has in the body, the federal report warns consumers about fats like butter and lard and urges consumers to consume omega-6 vegetable oils instead. Interestingly enough, vegetable oils with a higher profile of omega-6 oils have been linked to heart disease and cancer. Consumers who follow this kind of federal low-fat diet advice may find themselves deprived of the very things their cells need. For instance, cholesterol is needed to create the semi-permeable membranes of cells to protect the organelles inside. With the right balance of good cholesterol, cell membranes are able to determine which molecules are allowed to enter and exit cells.

Nutrition experts for the Weston A. Price Foundation set the record straight

Registered dietitians Pam Schoenfeld, MS, RD, and Adele Hite, MPH, RD, from the Weston A. Price Foundation detested the federal report. "Every week in my nutrition practice, I see children and adults who have been negatively impacted by the government's low-saturated fat nutrition dogma," said Schoenfeld. "As a nation, we must end this population-wide nutritional experiment we call the Dietary Guidelines. It is clearly failing."

The federal report did lift its restrictions on cholesterol consumption, taking away long-standing limits that kept consumers and doctors in fear of cholesterol levels. However, the report was inconsistent and continued to bash consumption of cholesterol-rich foods like whole eggs and organ meats.

"The tragedy is that these unscientific and agenda-driven guidelines are applied to breakfast and lunch in schools and day-care centers," said Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation. "For example, growing children need the nutrients in the butterfat of whole milk, but whole milk is not allowed in federally funded meal programs."

"It is particularly alarming that the DGAC has devoted a significant amount of space in the Report to calls for policies, programs and regulations to ensure that Americans conform to the Committee's idea of what a healthy diet should be," said Hite, director of Healthy Nation Coalition, a public health advocacy group working to reform federal nutrition guidance. "They want to enforce a diet that will result in poor health for many Americans. The DGAC expects us to eliminate foods that are traditionally found in nourishing dietary patterns. Instead, the federal government should focus on recommendations that help all Americans acquire adequate essential nutrition."

Sources:

http://www.westonaprice.org

http://www.livescience.com