Shaving off pounds is about going for low-fat labels, right? Wrong, according to a study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Low-fat diets are no healthier than moderate-fat or even high-fat diets and for some, they may even be worse.

When dieters choose low-fat options, they often end up with foods that have less of the healthy fats they need and more of the sugar and carbohydrates they don’t. HSPH teamed up with nutritionists from the Culinary
Institute of America to dispel “the low-fa” myth” by starting where most of us start each day—breakfast. The organizations’ Great Muffin Makeover program takes on that morning staple, pointing out that the fats in normal café muffins which dieters are avoid are actually healthy, since chains substitute canola oil for trans fats.

The size and sugar and flour content are what make muffins an unhealthy choice (your morning muffin is about three times the size of your grandma’s).

The dieticians created five new muffin recipes using whole grain and nut flours and even beans for better breakfasts. The HSPH website also helps home bakers make their usual recipes healthier with tips like cutting a recipe’s sugar by 25 percent to cut down on empty calories.

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2 Comments

  1. Showing a woman with a salad and than talking in the article about bad fats and big muffins with too much sugar and nurient devoid flour, is contra productive.

    You are suggesting with this picture(because the brain works with pictures more than written words) and the headline, that people should throw away their healthy low fat diet because it doesn´t work..and just go to a high fat diet or something.

    A picture with so called low fat chocolat pudding, low fat chips, low fat fries, coke and gummy worms(low fat) and a low fat, but high sugar, nutrient devoid flour, muffin would have been much better.

    As you say, the salad or low fat isn´t the culprit..the nutrient devoid ingredients in convinience food are the problem…

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