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It is not uncommon in dieting to completely eliminate or significantly reduce the consumption of certain food groups within your day to day eating plan in order to achieve the results you’re looking for on the scale. However, regardless of what that group may be, total elimination of any food from your diet can create a mindset of deprivation which will ultimately make your new eating plan much more difficult to stick to over an extended period of time.
Your body then may take a more significant hit when the food group you remove from your diet is one of the primary macronutrients you need to survive. A low-fat diet has skyrocketed in popularity as it touts claims of significant weight loss and an overall healthier body, but what impact does cutting out a vital nutrient really have on your body?
While it may be true that removing fat from your eating habits may offer you visible weight loss, there are other implications of a low-fat diet which may fly under the radar and should be better discussed if you intend on making this your eating plan of choice. We checked in with Kimberly Gomer, MS, RD, LDN, Director of Nutrition at Pritikin Longevity Center and Dr. Macklin Guzman, DHSc, MPH and Chief Science Officer for Medi-Weightloss to get some clarity on what actually happens inside your body when you remove fat from your diet, and this is what they had to say.
The primary reason that people often remove fatty foods from their diet is that some of these items are naturally higher in calories than other foods. Achieving a sustainable calorie deficit is essential for seeing visible weight loss results, but when that comes at the expense of valuable nutrients it can actually negatively impact your overall health.
“Fat is the most calorically dense food – coming in at 9 calories per gram compared to protein and carbohydrate at 4 calories per gram. So by decreasing fat, weight loss will come easier,” explains Gomer. However, not all fats are created equal, and while you may be saving on calories by cutting out fat across the board, you’re losing out on valuable nutrients that help preserve the function of your body in the day to day.
Including fat in your diet can help to provide your body with ample energy, improve your immune system, make it easier for you to absorb other vital nutrients, and even support healthy hair and skin. Therefore, removing this food group from your diet can come with an onslaught of side effects such as poor brain function, hormone imbalance, and even vitamin deficiency.
“The human brain is made up of mostly fat and requires a constant flow of fatty acids to perform optimally. Notably, cholesterol has a significant role as an essential brain nutrient and as a source of fuel and energy,” notes Guzman. “Inadequate cholesterol intake due to a very low-fat diet may lead to negative cognitive effects such as poor performance in abstract reasoning, concentration, and executive function.” Not only this, but removing fat from your diet can affect your mood and energy levels, leaving you feeling lethargic and exhausted.
The other issue with removing fats from your diet is that these calories will often be replaced by other food groups that do not necessarily support your weight loss goals. When you deprive yourself of one food, cravings will likely crop up as a way of your body telling you what it needs. You will then work to satisfy those cravings by filling in other food items in the place of high fat ingredients which can end up negating the calorie deficit you hope to achieve.
Instead of simply cutting out fat and expecting that to give you the results you want, you must make holistic and healthy changes, tempering your intake of foods such as processed items which are typically at the crux of weight gain. “Not just reducing added fats – but also eating a whole foods – non-processed diet will improve your health. The biggest changes people can make for health is to reduce or eliminate packaged, processed foods – laden with salt, fat, and sugar,” suggests Gomer.
If you are struggling with your weight, reducing the amount of trans fats in your diet can help to regulate your heart health, minimize the risk of diabetes, and even aid with weight loss. However, this does not refer to fat across the board, including the healthy variety that comes from foods such as olive oil, avocado, and certain fish. “Not all fats are created equal and thus it is important that the focus be on healthy fats versus unhealthy fats—saturated and trans fats,” warns Guzman. Instead, if you plan on cutting back to a lower fat diet, foods such as margarine, baked goods, and fried food should be the first ones to go.
It’s also important to remember that following a low-fat diet does not mean turning towards foods advertised as “low-fat” as this can bring about a whole slew of health issues as well. “Although low-fat diets may be effective for some weight loss, many “low-fat” products consist of processed foods that promise a lower fat content but are also filled with many artificial additives that may be harmful in the long-term because they cause inflammation,” Guzman adds.
Ultimately there is no one size fits all diet to follow for surefire weight loss, and you will most likely be better served simply working to include more whole foods in your diet while limiting processed items instead of cutting out valuable nutrients like fat.
Eliminating or severely reducing fat in your diet may help you to achieve short term weight loss, but it can also cause unnecessary health complications in your body, as well as spark cravings that may make it more difficult to achieve the necessary deficit for healthy weight loss. You can still consume healthy fats in the form of avocado, olive oil, and even nuts and seeds as you work to achieve your fitness goals, and avoiding a diet that hinges on deprivation will award you with the most sustainable approach to weight loss while still including every food group.
