I have already discussed the dangers to your health and your waistline of
exaggerated insulin secretions caused by low-fat diets and excess carbohydrates.
But that’s not all—low-fat diets go on to condemn many healthy natural fats
needed to optimize sex hormones. Additionally, low-fat diets encourage
dangerous amounts of manufactured or refined vegetable oils, which are horrible
for your health. As a result, your diet may be low in essential fatty acids, such as
the omega-3 fatty acids found in eggs, fish, and nuts. It may also be high in
omega-6 fatty acids, found in highly processed vegetable oils like corn and
soybean, which have been linked to cancer.
Why are we consuming so many manufactured fats? One big answer is
lobbyists. Sadly, politics have played a major role in influencing nutrition
organizations and government guidelines. As a result, Americans have been fed
a great deal of misinformation about the relative virtues of the types of fats that
are considered healthy, such as this statement from the American Heart
Association: “Eliminate butter, coconut, and palm oil from your diet. Include
polyunsaturated oils (corn, soybean, and cottonseed).” Let me be clear about
this: these types of oils are highly processed, and should not be part of anyone’s
diet.
A century ago, the average person consumed less than 1 pound of these oils in
a year. Today people in industrialized countries, including the United States,
consume in excess of 67 pounds of polyunsaturated oils a year. Fast-food chains’
proliferation is playing a big role in this dramatic surge. Polyunsaturated oils are
truly the heart-clogging fats. It’s not surprising to see that the rate of heart
disease increased right alongside the surge in consumption of these types of
manufactured oils.
How an Excess of Refined Polyunsaturated Oil Is Dangerous to Your Health
On average, we get as much as 30 percent of our daily calories from refined
manufactured polyunsaturated oils, but research indicates this is too much.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are considered to be essential fatty acids. They
are essential to our health because they cannot be manufactured in our bodies.
For this reason, essential fatty acids must be obtained from food. Omega-3 fatty
acids are found in eggs, fish, and nuts. In a healthy diet, the goal is a 1-to-1
balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. The average American diet distorts
this ratio to 20-or even 30-to-1 because of its massive amounts of omega-6s
(vegetable oils) and low levels of omega-3s. This imbalance in the omega-3 to
omega-6 ratio has contributed to a rapid increase in the incidence of many
illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer, and depression.