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Got Fat?
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Click on the image above to see the Chubby
Charlie.
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Doctors and dieticians have long known that
high-fat foods like dairy products contribute to obesity for a variety of
reasons. First, fat is calorically dense. Gram for gram, fat has more than
twice the calories of carbohydrates. That bowl of ice cream has far more
calories than an equal amount of grains, beans, fruits, or vegetables. Second,
our bodies store fat more readily than carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are fuel
and are burned up easily. Fat, on the other hand, turns into fat and makes
those who eat it fat. Also, fat doesn't fill us up as carbohydrates do,
especially complex carbohydrates and fiber.
Dairy products, which contain no fiber or
complex carbohydrates at all, are about as high-fat as they come: A glass of
milk is 49 percent fat; Swiss and cheddar cheeses are more than 65 percent fat;
ice cream and yogurt are almost 50 percent fat; even "low-fat" milk and
"nonfat" cottage cheese, which many consumers mistakenly believe to be
fat-free, are more than 20 percent fat . The dairy industry tries to deceive
us-labeling milk "2 percent," when, in fact, more than 30 percent of that
milk's calories come from fat, or labeling cottage cheese "non fat," when
one-fifth of its calories come from fat!
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| In his world-famous book, Baby
and Child Care, Dr. Benjamin Spock wrote, "I no longer recommend dairy
products. . The essential fats that are needed for brain development are found
in vegetable oils. Milk is very low in these essential fats and high in the
saturated fats that encourage artery blockage and weight problems as children
grow." |
When you put a "milk mustache" on your lips,
you are likely to add extra inches to your hips. Each year, the average
American consumes almost 600 pounds of dairy products, which is about three
times more dairy products than grains and almost five times more dairy than
fruit. Considering all the dairy and meat being eaten, it's no wonder that more
and more Americans are fighting the battle of the bulge. In fact, 59 percent of
American men and 49 percent of American women are overweight, putting them at
risk for heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and early death. According to
medical experts, 300,000 Americans die from weight-related illnesses every
year, making fat the country's number-two cause of preventable deaths (smoking
is number one). According to researchers at Tufts University, obesity "is now
of epidemic proportions in the United States" and "high-fat diets . are
strongly linked" to skyrocketing obesity rates.
Adults aren't the only ones putting on the
pounds: The number of overweight kids has more than doubled in the last three
decades and is now at "epidemic" levels, according to nutritionists. Two 1995
studies published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found
that meat and dairy foods are the main sources of fat in children's diets.
After reviewing 28 studies investigating the
relationship between fat intake and weight, researchers discovered that the
rate of obesity has increased in nations where fat consumption has risen. Their
findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also
showed that simply by switching to a low-fat diet, people can decrease their
caloric intake by up to 30 percent.
Dump the meat and dairy, and you're likely to
lose those unwanted pounds!
For more information on dairy-free weight loss,
please visit the following links:
Tips on
using a vegan diet to lose weight
Expert
advice, articles, discussion groups, and much more
Tips
on permanent weight loss from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
One
woman's story of her journey from titanic to trim
The
Great Debate: High v. Low Protein Diets, by John A. McDougall, M.D.
If you're ready to cut the fat out of your diet,
dumping dairy is a good first step.
For delicious dairy-free recipes, click here.
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