Low Fat Diets: The Hidden Dangers
When we cut too much fat from our diets, we may eliminate the very element we need to absorb the nutrients and vitamins that keep us healthy…
Based partly on studies from Ohio State University, here’s a list of some vitamins and nutrients that may be absorbed better if you eat them with fat:
1. Astaxanthin (found in salmon, trout, shrimp, crabs, and lobster)
Astaxanthin protects your skin from environmental damage and may have anti-inflammatory properties to help your heart.
2. Beta Carotene (found in cantaloupe, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, spinach, broccoli, romaine lettuce, apricots, and green peppers)
To better absorb the nutrients, eat salads with full-fat dressing.
Or try a Pittsburgh-style Boston cooler.
Cut a cantaloupe in half (leaving the rind on), clean the seeds out of the middle, and place a scoop of ice cream in the hollow of the half-melon.
Put the half-melon in a bowl, then eat the ice cream and melon with a spoon.
It’s a tasty dessert with only 250 calories. Plus the fat in the ice cream may help you to absorb nutrients in the cantaloupe.
3. Lutein (found in egg yolks and spinach)
Lutein can help your skin and eyes, especially in reducing the risk of macular degeneration.
4. Lycopene (found in watermelon, pink grapefruit, and tomatoes)
This is a potential cancer fighter. Our bodies absorb the lycopene in tomatoes better as sauce, juice or ketchup.
Rather than eat a tomato salad with full-fat dressing, how about cheese ravioli with tomato sauce?
The cheese in the ravioli may help to absorb the lycopene in the tomato sauce.
5. Vitamin E (found in spinach, broccoli, mangoes, and peanuts)
This vitamin may help your heart and prevent blood clots.
6. Vitamin K (found in broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, cheese, liver, asparagus, bacon, coffee, and green tea)
This vitamin helps your blood to clot normally.
7. Zeaxanthin (found in corn and egg yolks)
Zeaxanthin protects your retina from the damaging effects of light and reduces your risk of developing cataracts or age-related macular degeneration.
What Should You Do?
While it’s unhealthy to go to extremes with high fat, it may be unhealthy to go to extremes with low fat, too.
So talk to your doctor about whether you really need to cut so much fat from your diet. Or is it healthy to have some ravioli and ice cream once in a while?
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