The skinny on fats
It’s a bit more complex than you may think.
It is easy to associate any fat in a diet with weight gain—it is in the name, right? Or maybe you have heard that some fats are considered healthy, so they should be incorporated into your diet in high amounts. The truth is, the full story on fats is more complex than either of those extremes.
Fats and your heart
In the right amount, unsaturated fat is considered a healthy part of the diet. According to Nathaniel Dittoe, MD, FACC, a cardiologist at Kettering Physician Network Cardiovascular Care - Southwest Cardiology, unsaturated fats have been shown to be heart-protective and to lower your risk of heart disease.
They can also lower your lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL)—or “bad” cholesterol—and can lower triglycerides, another lipid that is associated with poor health when raised.
Still, even with these benefits, all fats should be eaten in moderation.
“As a general rule of thumb, all of the fats in your diet should be less than 30 percent of what you are eating,” says Dr. Dittoe. “Too much fat in general causes you to gain weight, which is hard on the heart.”
Too many fats in the diet can also contribute to high blood pressure and diabetes, which put stress on the body and indirectly affect heart health.
Watch your food labels
While the front of food packages may boast supposedly healthful claims, like fat-free or low-fat, the back of the package may tell a different story. Dr. Dittoe urges people to check out the nutrition facts, as something low in fat may contain larger amounts of other unhealthy additives, such as salt or sugar.
The best way to stick to a healthy diet is to eat foods that contain saturated fats in moderation, rather than filling up on the “fat-free” versions.
Food label readers, beware: Trans fats are not always listed clearly and may be disguised under the name partially hydrogenated fats.
“To spot trans fats, remember they tend to be in the worst foods that have a long shelf life, like pastries, cookies, snack foods—a lot of the stuff that’s bad for you anyways,” Dr. Dittoe says.
Be wary of high-fat diets
Dr. Dittoe warns against fad diets, like the ketogenic diet, which advise high-fat and lowcarb eating.
“I really caution people who are approaching that diet because there have been some patients who have lost weight, but their bad cholesterol numbers went through the roof,” says Dr. Dittoe.
Though patients may lose weight on these diets, they could be paying the price in other areas, as weight loss does not necessarily equal improved health.
Kettering Health Network is a faithbased, not-for-profit healthcare system. The network has eight hospitals: Grandview, Kettering, Sycamore, Southview, Greene Memorial, Fort Hamilton, Kettering Behavioral Health and Soin.