To Your Health
July, 2016 (Vol. 10, Issue 07) |
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A Little (Good) Fat Goes a Long Way
By Editorial Staff
For years, we were taught to avoid all fat at all costs if we wanted to maintain a
healthy weight and avoid cardiovascular disease and other health scares. But times they are a changin', and research is supporting the value of healthy fats for promoting longevity. Case in point: a recent Harvard-led study that suggests eating more mono- and polyunsaturated ("good") fats actually reduces the risk of death compared to eating more saturated and trans ("bad") fats – a 27 percent reduced risk attained by replacing just 5 percent of bad fats with polyunsaturated fats and a 13 percent reduced risk by replacing with the monounsaturated variety.
But it wasn't just the overall risk of death that was impacted by eating more healthy fats; specific disease risks also declined by swapping out bad with good – namely a reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease, cancer, and even respiratory and neurodegenerative disease.
If you think the study only involved a few subjects or tracked their eating habits for only a short time period, think again: we're talking more than 125,000 men and women whose health and dietary habits were assessed every 2-4 years for more than 30 years, from 1980-2012.
So, what foods feature the "bad" fats we want to limit, and which contain the "good" fats we want to consume more? Click here to learn more about good vs. bad fats and where you can find them.
