This holds true for most diets that restrict a certain type of food or macronutrient such as carbohydrates. However, to keep this weight off, you will need to continue limiting fat in your diet. A low-fat diet is likely to be healthy and may help you lose weight if it is still balanced with "good" fats and nutrient-rich carbohydrate and protein sources. But there are drawbacks to be aware of, most notably the change in expert advice regarding fat consumption. Lack of Scientific Evidence. The year Nurses Health Study, involving 80, women, showed no correlation between the risk of heart disease and dietary fat.
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A subsequent meta analysis of several studies similarly showed no association between dietary fat and heart disease or death. Those in the low-fat group received intense behavior modification to reduce their daily fat intake to 20 percent of total calories and to increase consumption of grains and vegetables. After eight years, there was no reduction in the risk of coronary artery disease CAD in the low-fat group.
In fact, the trend was for higher risk. Other randomized trials have similarly failed to show a heart-health benefit to a low-fat diet. Additional studies have failed to show a reduced risk of cancer with low-fat diets, or that low-fat diets are associated with less obesity.
Research is ongoing into the benefits of a very low-fat diet less than 10 percent of calories from fat. Some important vitamins including vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, which means your body can't use them unless you are consuming dietary fat.
So cutting out too much fat means your body won't be able to absorb these important nutrients. Mental Health Risks. Dietary fat meaning fat your body gets from food is important for brain health and development.
A low fat diet worsens cardiovascular risk factors in male and female runners
In particular, some research has shown that fatty acids from unsaturated fats might protect against depression. Many experts now recognize other diets, such as the DASH diet, as heart-healthy choices. In February , the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee the group that reviews nutritional science every five years on behalf of the U.
The Ornish diet , and other variants of ultra-low fat diets, claim to not only prevent CAD but also to reverse it. These diets are far more rigorous in their restriction of dietary fats—especially from animal sources—than are the low-fat diets recommended by the AHA. Proponents of Ornish-type diets correctly claim that the studies that have failed to show a benefit with AHA-type diets do not necessarily apply to their far more fat-restrictive diets.
However, the claims that Ornish-type diets are proven effective are themselves based on imperfect data that does not hold up well to objective scrutiny. The hypothesis that a very-low-fat vegetarian diet prevents or reverses heart disease has been neither convincingly proven nor disproven, although it is a hypothesis that deserves more study.
The recommendation that everyone should eat a low-fat diet was from the beginning based on a flawed theory, and on a conscious decision to sacrifice precision for the sake of simplifying the message. After more than three decades of attempting to confirm that low-fat diets reduce heart disease, clinical trials did not support longstanding recommendations that everyone should be on a fat-restricted diet.
If you are looking to lose weight, consult your doctor to help design a plan that works for you. Did you know the most common forms of heart disease are largely preventable? Our guide will show you what puts you at risk, and how to take control of your heart health.
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Dietary fat intake and risk of coronary heart disease in women: 20 years of follow-up of the nurses' health study. Am J Epidemiol.
The Benefits of a Low–Fat Diet - Weight Center - Everyday Health
Skeaff CM, Miller J. Dietary fat and coronary heart disease: Summary of evidence from prospective cohort and randomised controlled trials.
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Ann Nutr Metab. Effect of low-fat diet interventions versus other diet interventions on long-term weight change in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol.
Benefits of a low-fat diet
Vannice G, Rasmussen H. Position of the academy of nutrition and dietetics: dietary fatty acids for healthy adults. J Acad Nutr Diet. Table of Contents View All. How It Works. Pros and Cons. How It Compares. Compliant Foods Carbohydrates Protein Heart-healthy fats in moderation. Non-Compliant Foods Saturated fats in excess Trans fats. Low-fat diets can help to lose weight, but it is more important to make healthy choices, not just limit fat intake, according to Dr.
Dana S Simpler, an internist that practices in Baltimore, Maryland. Though a person can lose weight with a low-fat diet, it may not be the best choice of diet. As long as calorie intake is lowered, then a diet will more than likely help a person succeed in losing weight. The benefits of a low-fat diet are much contested and many studies have found very little, if any benefit. Several of the experts Live Science contacted for this article said they would not recommend a low-fat diet. This is because the body needs fat. The vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble, meaning the body stores them in fatty tissue and the liver.