{"id":2689,"date":"2023-12-11T16:14:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T16:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allyoucaneat.org.uk\/wp\/?p=2689"},"modified":"2024-02-13T15:35:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T15:35:15","slug":"why-choose-full-fat-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allyoucaneat.org.uk\/wp\/why-choose-full-fat-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Always Choose the Full-Fat Option"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In order to eat a wholefood diet, you need to eat the whole food<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently bought a tub of fat-free, natural yogurt. For a nutritionist, this was more than a terrible mistake. It was an entry-level error that made me feel like an amateur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removing the fat from a whole food benefits no one, other than the manufacturer doing the removing. That may come as a surprise to some, but don\u2019t believe the health hype. Here are five reasons why you should always choose the full-fat, unadulterated version over the hollowed-out shell of an alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. Low-fat foods make you fat<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As chef and TV personality Julia Child once famously put it, \u201cfat gives food flavor.\u201d If you take something out, something that provides flavour and satiety, you have to replace it with an alternative. Sugar<\/a> is the manufacturer\u2019s go-to fat substitute. It fits the bill very neatly. It also increases the risk of obesity, all too well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sugar causes spikes in blood glucose, triggering the release of insulin to lower that blood glucose. Insulin does this by sending glucose off to be stored as fat in your adipose tissue. Sugar is literally transformed into fat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIronically<\/a>, individuals who believe they are choosing healthier versions of their favorite foods are trading fat for less healthy sugar.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2. Low-fat foods rob you of nutrients<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Without fat, your digestive system is unable to extract and absorb the fat-soluble vitamins from your food. These are vitamins A (retinol), D3, E, and K2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin A is essential for vision and a good immune system. Vitamin D is also required for immunity (especially of the respiratory system), bone health, and mental health. Vitamin E, another immune protector, is an antioxidant that protects against harmful free radicals. Vitamin K is the one that promotes blood clotting so that you don\u2019t bleed to death when injured. It is also important for bone and heart health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLow-fat<\/a>, no-fat and vegan diets are woefully lacking in fat soluble vitamins.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

3. You lose important fatty acids<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Fat is crucial to good health. Specifically, certain fatty acids. The full-fat version of that yogurt, or milk, or cheese, contains important fatty acids that are much reduced or absent in the fatless version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are quite a few of these health-enhancing fatty acids, but let\u2019s just focus on one, butyrate. Butyrate \u2014 abundant in butter, hence the name \u2014 has a particularly shiny health halo. It provides a source of energy to the colon and is an important anti-inflammatory agent that helps fight inflammatory disorders of the gut, such as Crohn\u2019s disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A short-chain fatty acid that is created when the bacteria in your gut ferment fibre, butyrate comes ready-made in natural foods, such as dairy. Ruminants in the field ferment fibre all day long, making butyrate in the process, which is why dairy products are such a rich source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Full fat foods give you conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is the true superstar of fat, and it is a travesty that most people have never heard of it. CLA is found exclusively in dairy and red meat. It\u2019s so good it\u2019s won awards: CLA is the only fatty acid acknowledged by the National Academy of Sciences<\/a> in the US to show consistent anti-tumour properties, even at very low levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is no crazy claim: CLA has been the subject of quite a bit of scientific research, even if that research hasn\u2019t yet attracted the attention of the fat-averse media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This research, most of which has been carried out over the past two decades, has confirmed that CLA has anti-cancer<\/a>, anti-atherogenic and anti-diabetic properties. In animal studies<\/a>,it blocks the growth of numerous types of tumours, including colon cancer, mammary, and stomach tumours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a caveat: intensive farmin<\/a>g of livestock reduces the amount of CLA found in meat, and therefore consumed by meat eaters. If you want your meat to be rich in CLA, it must come from cattle that has been fed their natural diet: grass and forage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Full fat foods give you more MCTs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are saturated fats found in dairy, coconut and palm oil. People add them to their coffee and call it bullet coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aficionados of the ketogenic diet will already know that MCTs are fats that are readily converted into substances called ketones, and ketones provide fuel for the brain in the absence of glucose, that is, when you cut out carbohydrates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For that reason, scientists believe that these MCTs may be beneficial to people who have Alzheimer\u2019s or some form of memory impairment. If they can\u2019t use glucose to fuel the brain and make it work properly, they can use MCTs instead. The coconut is an especially rich source of MCTs. In fact, it has been singled out as a \u201cpotential cognitive strengthener\u201d <\/em>for people with Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facts about fat<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When you get to know fat, you realise that its bad reputation is undeserved. It\u2019s time to decriminalise this essential macronutrient, so here are some facts to help put the record straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n