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DECEMBER 6, 2013
FAT IS
GOOD! EVIL!
W
ithin reason, that is. Smack dab in the middle of 2013’s Eating Season may seem like a crazy time to run a front page story that fat is good, but then again, maybe it’s the perfect time. Health-conscious readers across Augusta may even now be gathering their pitchforks and torches to storm Medical Examiner world headquarters, but at least read this article before you attack. There are respected medical scientists and dietitians who say the obsession to eliminate fat from our diets has gone beyond healthful and has now advanced well into dangerous territory. Fat reduction is dangerous? Sound impossible? Last year an article in New Scientist (Issue 2873) said fat has been unfairly demonized, and doesn’t deserve the bad press it gets day in and day out. “Not a day goes by without an article in a newspaper or a magazine telling you how to reduce fat. Not a single article will say, look, not only is a certain amount of fat good, but it is essential to your well-being.” Granted, with obesity rates at all-time record highs in country after country, it may not seem like front-pageworthy news. But New Scientist reminded readers that strict diets can cause health problems when they zero in on fat as the enemy: “Supermodels tend to have a lot of liver fat,” said the publication, “which is unhealthy, even though their BMI can be as low as 15 to 16.” It would be healthier, says New Scientist, to have a BMI of 24. The key is where the body stores the fat. Here at the Examiner we learned a new term courtesy of New Scientist: “Tofi.” That’s how they spelled it; capital T. It’s an acronym for “thin on the outside, fat on the inside.” Tofi people are at heightened risk of certain diseases — like type 2 diabetes and heart disease — because like supermodels, they have fat deposits in and around internal organs even though they may appear slender. Yes, fat is not uniformly bad. What makes it good or bad is determined by two factors: how much of it there is and where it is in the body. Perhaps many of us could and should reduce our fat intake. However, keep this in mind in closing: “Fat...helps maintain homeostasis within the body. Fat controls and modulates fertility, your appetite and your mood. Your immune response will not work properly” without the right amount of fat. You might be surpised to read one particular word that New Scientist uses to describe body fat: “beautiful.” +
H
old on just a cotton-pickin’ minute. Before we all jump on the fat is beautiful bandwagon, let us take stock of some promising — or perhaps we should say ominous — research. There is a growing suspicion that diabetes causes Alzheimer’s. Or that Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes are the same disease. Or that “each condition fuels the damage caused by the other.” The link is not fully understood and at this moment should be viewed as theoretical. Even so, there are compelling clues leading in that direction. Think about the basic facts: most people know diabetes rates are off the charts and growing. The latest figures: 270 million Americans have type 2 diabetes. It’s also not a secret that diabetes can cause circulation problems. We think of extremities (like feet), but diabetes can also cause “vascular dementia.” Simply put, diabetesfueled problem areas for circulation include the brain, with dementia as the result. That’s particularly unfortunate considering that diabetes, type 2 especially, is considered a “lifestyle disease,” typically caused by obesity, lack of exercise, and poor diet. Conversely therefore, it can also be prevented, alleviated and even cured by lifestyle changes: reducing obesity (that is to say, fat); increasing exercise; improving diet. So what may have sounded like bad news — Alzheimer’s and diabetes as a one-two punch — could actually be very encouraging news. Just imagine if you could eradicate the flu, and in so doing eliminate cancer too. That’s the promise that this suspected link holds: eliminate (or even reduce) diabetes and in the process automatically eliminate (or reduce) Alzheimer’s disease. What’s more (in our hypothetical example), think about how many cases of the flu are preventable through flu shots, hand-washing and other means. Each and every case that’s prevented is another patient that doesn’t have to face cancer. That might sound like a fantasy, but if the suspected link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s is confirmed by further research, that’s exactly what we’ll have: a disease with no real cure that can be halted in its tracks by putting the brakes on a second disease, one that is very preventable. Exhortations to live healthier often fall on deaf ears. Here’s another promising reason to listen up. +