A low fat diet may shift your focus to whole foods, but beware of possible unintended consequences.
The Episode: Low Fat Diet – Pros and Cons
Ever wonder why the push for a low fat diet died? The health and fitness industry goes through cycles pushing the next best thing for your health. Well the low fat cycle didn’t last and for good reason. Before you decide to cut back on fat, here are a few things to know about the low fat diet, the good and the bad.
“What is really beneficial about going on a low-fat diet, or any diet, is that you become more aware of what you’re eating, being conscious about food choices and how they’re prepared.” — David Minishian
The Power of Paying Attention
Any diet you adopt will make you more aware of what you are eating. By forcing you to make conscious nutritional decisions, you won’t automatically eat everything in front of you. As you shift your eating patterns to a low fat diet, you will naturally begin to reduce your consumption foods that are higher in fat, like dairy and meat. Instead, you’ll be more aware of your consumption of whole foods like fruit, vegetables, legumes, and grains that have a lower fat content.
The All or Nothing Approach
Restrictive diets, like a low fat diet, prove difficult to adhere to long term. They make social activities like dining out with friends or family cumbersome. If you’ve went out to dinner during a diet and felt like you can’t eat anything on the menu, it sucks. Being forced to break your diet makes you want to throw in the towel and eat whatever sounds amazing. This all or nothing approach is a product of a restrictive diet.
Bad Relationships With Food
Avoiding fats in your diet can be detrimental to the way you see foods, because you start to view foods as low-fat or high-fat, good or bad. The truth is that there are no bad foods, only foods you should eat in greater or smaller amounts and higher or lower frequencies. Some high fat foods that you should eat often like nuts and seeds are important for your overall health. But when you completely cut out foods for non-medical reasons, it does more than create nutritional imbalances. It creates a bad relationship with food.
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David Minishian, MPH
Fitness and Nutrition Coach
David is the owner and head coach at Sculpt Fitness in Long Beach, CA. He leads the mission at Sculpt to educate, equip, and empower the local community to make the best decisions for their health. For over 10 years he has coached exercise and nutrition, helping clients create sustainable lifestyle to build the body they want. When he's not training, coaching or cooking, David is on an adventure with his wife and kids or teeing up his next shot on a golf course.