All Fats Are Not Created Equal

In an article from the October 20, 2003 issue of TIME magazine, the authors states that all fats are not create equal. For more than 30 years researchers agreed that the healthiest diets were low in percentage of calories attributable to fat.  Now they realize that just as there are good and bad types of cholesteroll, there are good and bad types of fat. The good fats are found in foods like fish, olive oil, avocados and walnuts.  They actually improve cholesterol levels in the blood and significantly reduce the risk that the heart will suddenly stop.  As for the bad fats, there are now two villains instead of just one.  Saturated fats, typically found in red meat, butter and ice cream are still artery cloggers.  But trans fats, found primarily in processed foods such as margarines and many commerically baked or fried foods also in whole milk are not good for you. 

Good fats do more than help protect the heart.  They also seem to delay hunger pangs.  "People on these high-starch, low-fat diets are often hungry soon after they eat.  They would be more satisfied eating nuts or a salad with a full-fat dressing," says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and author of Eat, Drink and Be Healthy.  "Any longer-term studies are showing that people tend to be able to control their weight better over the long term on a moderate or higher-fat diet than on a low-fat diet"