The Pros
One of the major benefits of a low fat diet is the potential for cutting back on calories in an attempt to better manage your weight. Since fat serves up more than double the amount of calories per gram (9 calories per gram) as compared to carbohydrates and protein (4 calories per gram each), cutting back on fat, theoretically, will provide you with more caloric trimming for your efforts. For example, dousing your dinner salad with two tablespoons of an oily Italian salad dressing will glisten your greens with approximately 140 extra calories while the same amount of a low fat Italian salad dressing will cover your salad for a mere 32 calories, a trimming of over 100 calories. With over 5,000 low fat food products available, fat-conscious consumers have a plethora of leaner options available in supermarkets that will meet their needs and satisfy their palates.
Since the Nutrition Fact Panel on the back of the food product label must list the grams of fat in a serving of food, it is relatively easy to keep track of your fat intake. (See the food label panel below.) The front of the food label can also help you when you are low fat shopping. By law, a food product that is labeled as "low fat" must contain 3 grams or less of fat per serving, whereas a "fat-free" food must contain less than 0.5 grams of fat in a serving.
Low fat diets could also help lower your risk of heart disease. Since the total amount of fat that you eat is a combination of both artery-clogging saturated fat and heart-healthy unsaturated fat, reducing the amount of fat in your diet to between 20 to no more than 35 percent of your calories will help you harness your saturated fat intake. A high amount of saturated fat in your diet can raise your "bad" LDL cholesterol levels in your blood. Too much of the "bad" LDL cholesterol in your blood can increase your risk for heart disease. In fact, if more than 35 percent of your daily calories are coming from fat in your diet, it would become extremely challenging to keep your saturated fat intake to a modest amount.
The Cons of a Low Fat Diet
Many individuals mistakenly think that a diet chock full of low fat foods is automatically a low calorie, healthy diet. It isn?t. Jelly beans, soda, fat free ice cream, cookies and pretzels are all low in fat but they aren't low in calories, especially if you eat them without regard to portion sizes. In fact, a diet that is full of low fat treats can quickly add up to a high calorie, unhealthy diet. It isn't a coincidence that the weight of Americans has been steadily climbing over the last couple of decades, and they have also been simultaneously tacking on approximately an extra 300 calories daily, on average. Interestingly, the majority of these extra calories are coming from sugars and refined grains (products made with white flour), which are both low in fat. Any excess calories in your diet, whether they are from full fat or low fat foods, can contribute to weight gain.
Reducing fat too dramatically in the diet can also be unhealthy for certain individuals. For some sedentary, overweight individuals, a diet that is low in fat and high in carbohydrates can cause an increase of triglycerides (fat) in the blood, a decrease of the "good" HDL cholesterol, and an adverse change in the size of the "bad" LDL cholesterol. All of these changes add up to an unhealthy combination for your heart. (A high amount of the "good" HDL cholesterol is protective against heart disease.)
Also, a diet too low in fat can also cause you to come up short with some important dietary nutrients, such as the mineral zinc, some B vitamins, and certain essential fatty acids that your body needs. (A fat is made up of fatty acids.) You also need some fat in your diet in order to help your body absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well some compounds such as lycopene. Lycopene is found abundantly in tomatoes and tomato products and may be protective against prostate cancer.
