I'm a bit of a compulsive supermarket label checker and have long been worried about fat intake (personally I blame too much scaremongering in school and on TV). However I've heard that the Mediterranean diet is regarded as one of the healthiest diets in the world, and read today that in Greece people consume on average a staggering 18kg of olive oil per person, per year (about 21.5 litres a year or a small bottle per week!). By contrast I would guess I'd consume about 2-4litres of olive oil a year, if that! That would mean that just from olive oil alone people in Greece would be getting daily about: 7grams saturated fat (30% RDA) 41.5grams unsaturated fat (50% RDA) My question is this: do we really need to be that concerned about fat intake (provided we don't go overboard eating cakes everyday)? I've heard unsaturated fats are beneficial, but does saturated fat as dangerous and demonic as its made out to be? Do the benefits of "good fats" balance out the harms of "bad fats"? To be honest I'd just like a bit of relief. Currently I do get anxious eating treat foods like cake or chocolate (as with the current "traffic light system" on packaging they are always a glaring sea of red warnings!). It would be nice having the knowledge that these things aren't going to kill me.
You should research the "basis" for the governments pronouncements for what a "healthy" diet is. Baseless from the articles I've read on it. There's a healthy balance for your body, metabolism, and lifestyle, that can only be determined by you really. Everything else is just a recommendation. I hardly eat anything fried anymore, though burgers are a habit. If you are conscious of what you eat, just make sure you don't over indulge in anything regularly (except caffeine)
I think they're starting to focus more on excessive sugar intake as one of biggest culprits causing obesity and related problems. But it also seems common sense that eating extremely greasy foods every day can't be good. You also have to think about daily exercise and activity levels though. I'm sure if you worked as hard as a Sicilian farmer, you could eat as much pasta and olive oil as you want lol.
I wouldn't worry so much. As a vegan I sort of have to be a compulsive label checker but please don't worry so much about fat. Even sugar isn't the main culprit when is comes to obesity otherwise I myself wouldn't be at under 18% body fat. It comes down to listening to your body and calories rather that all the little things, trans fats are really the only "awful" fat I know of.
I think the reason why fat was demonized is because people ate too much bad fats. Since that was the majority of people, the government simply said indiscriminately that "fats are bad!" Not all fats are the same, though. Omega-3s obviously have a lot of research supporting their beneficial effects. Similarly, olive oil, as you mentioned, is said to be very healthy. Even some saturated fats, such as coconut oil, is touted as being a health food. Apparently it's structure is different that makes it healthy. As someone else said, sugar is now demonized by public health officials. I even hear people say they don't want to eat fruits because the sugar. Really? Fruits may have sugar but nobody got fat eating too many apples. The sugar in fruits is balanced by fiber to slow its absorption. It should not spike your blood sugar as much as processed sugar. Not all sugar is the same, just like fat. The bottom line is the human body needs all three basic groups: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Too much of each or the wrong kind of each can cause problems. Excess carbs can make you fat or cause diabetes, excess proteins can damage your kidneys (I think), and excess fat can make you fat, cause heart problems, etc. Your best bet is a good balance of each. My philosophy is to eat what you like as long as it is a whole food or not intensely processed. Some people get crazy with eating a certain way to stay healthy, but then the science reverses itself in 20 years. You mean margarine was worse than butter after all?? Although, I'm not the epitome of health.
