So, anyone within the health and fitness universe will understand the importance of including good fats in your diet. However, a disturbing trend is emerging among the general population that fats, in nearly all forms, are a bad thing. In my eyes, this is a complete fabrication from the food and diet industries, backed up by clueless government policy. In this post, im not going to go into the science of why fats are essential- im just hoping you take my word for it for now. What I am going to do is attempt to explore the mechanisms by which the “fats are bad” myth has developed, and why industry is maintaining this ludicrous claim.
The Diet Foods Industry
The diet foods industry is huge. The global value of weight control food and drink alone is expected to exceed $46 billion by 2015. This surge in popularity for diet foods, such as low fat yoghurts, low fat breakfast cereals and various diet drinks is clearly the result of industry taking advantage of the growing worldwide obesity epidemic. But, in my opinion, products such as these may be doing more harm than good.
Lets look at the logic of a “low fat” product. Im going to compare a high fat yoghurt, the favourite of many a fitness fanatic but crushed by the diet foods industry, with a low fat “healthy” yoghurt.
Greek yoghurt is a great addition to any nutrition plan. It is a versatile source of high quality proteins and fats. The average 100g serving of greek yoghurt will provide you with 9g protein and 5g fats, coming in at 96 calories.
Now, lets take a look at a “Low-fat diet yoghurt”. In this case, I will use Activia 0% Fat yoghurt. Now, this “diet product” contains 61 calories per 100g serving and, obviously, less fat- 0.1g. So, if it is lacking fat, the most calorie-dense macronutrient, where does its calories come from? Protein, I hear you say? Not quite; this product contains 4g of protein per 100g. Each serving contains 10g of sugar. Thus, over 60% of the calories from this product come from sugars. Dietary? Do me a favour.
So, why doesn’t the diet industry just remove the un-needed sugar instead of the fats? There are several reasons. Firstly, it’s a taste issue. I would theorise that obese people will tend to go for these diet products because they believe that they can consume similar sweet tasting foods like these yoghurts without the calories of a standard-fat yoghurt. As such, the sweetness of the product remains, enhancing its general appeal. The notion that just constricting calories, regardless of macronutrient intake, is beneficial is wrong. This is almost an IIFYM approach, and if you read my last post you will know my thoughts on that”
I also think high carb diets are almost seen as a modern western staple. Carb sources, be it from sugar, wheat etc are generally cheaper and easier to source than quality fats and proteins, thus making it more desirable to include them over said quality proteins and fats.
Industry Economics
I may sound like some mad conspiracy mongerer with this next point- but hear me out. Any educated nutrition expert will be baffled by the nutrition recommendations being spouted out by the government, be it the “Five A Day” campaign or any other stupid programme they have promoted. The government do see the low fat diet as being a beneficial means for solving the obesity epidemic and I can half see where they are coming from. High trans fat diets from fast and processed foods are horrific for the body. They are a source of empty calories with adverse hormonal and metabolic pathway manipulations. However, the government have failed to educate people on the benefits of healthy fats. One of the most absurd government recommendations I have seen is that people should swap real butter for margarine- essentially swapping a source of high quality fats and omega 3 for a source of saturated fats and little else.
The aforementioned size of the diet foodstuffs industry makes it economically unviable for the government to dismiss its recommendations and properties. However, I urge you to be more educated with your food choices, and don’t be fooled by marketing and PR scams.
Patrick Chapman Fitness 
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