High-fat Diet and a Low-fat Diet Essay
Nowadays there exists a big variety of diets, and each diet has its positive and negative effects on human health, while each person chooses the own diet in accordance with the own necessities and state of health as well as desired results. Thus, the main aims of the assignment are to compare and contrast a high-fat diet and a low-fat diet, as well as to describe their effects on the human body.High-fat Diet and a Low-fat Diet Essay
First of all, it is possible to mention that both diets of our discussion may have a different influence on human health and their main difference lies in the amount of fats in each of them (Schwingshackl and Hoffmann, 2013). A high-fat diet uses a meal plan in which people consume different kinds of foods high in fat, while a low-fat diet focuses its attention at foods low in fat. Contrasting the diets, it becomes obvious that a low-fat diet extremely limits amount of fat in the meal plan, while animal saturated fats are almost completely eliminated, and foods containing polyunsaturated (and /or monounsaturated) fats are used only in small quantities. Proportion of fat in providing total calories may be different for different diets.
A low-fat diet often contains a lot of carbohydrates (most diets low in fat prescribes eating large amounts of complex carbohydrates, such as paddy grains, potatoes and beans, and many fruits and vegetables), so it allows the person not to experience hunger. A high-fat diet, in its turn, contains a lot of fats; for example, fats can be found in cream, butter, red meat, egg yolks, whole milk, etc.High-fat Diet and a Low-fat Diet Essay
Observing the effects of diets on human body, a low-fat diet helps people to lose weight by reducing the number of calories consumed, so there is a shortage of energy, providing a slow but steady weight loss. A high-fat diet can be also useful, especially for sportsmen, according to recent estimates. Experts say that athletes get a lot of calories due to fats (Pool, 2001). It is widely believed that fats cause damage to health, and this is true if the person has a sedentary lifestyle (fats will accumulate in the body, changing the appearance and negatively affecting the blood vessels); but in a case of active lifestyle, athletes are able to achieve benefit even from fats.
I do believe that complex approach to nutrition is more effective than low-fat or high-fat diets. In a case, when the speech is going about beauty and weight loss, it is better to choose a low-fat diet; however, experts state that a high-fat diet sometimes can be useful too. In my opinion, complex approach to nutrition is effective in preventing heart disease, even though they cannot reduce cholesterol levels. For instance, mediterranean-style diet is low in animal products and saturated fats and encourages the consumption of monounsaturated fats from nuts and olive oil. In particular, the diet involves the consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains and seaweed. Thus, the diet helps people not only to be healthy but also to have good skin and hair.
In conclusion, this assignment allows us to compare and contrast a high-fat diet and a low-fat diet, and to describe their effects on the human body. Moreover, we have also demonstrated that human health greatly depends on a daily meal, so complex approach to nutrition may help many people to solve their body and health problems without experiencing many difficultiesHigh-fat Diet and a Low-fat Diet Essay
Works Cited
Pool, Robert. Fat: Fighting the Obesity Epidemic. Oxford University Press, 2001.
Schwingshackl, L, and Hoffmann, G. Comparison of effects of long-term low-fat vs high-fat diets on blood lipid levels in overweight or obese patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Acad Nutr Diet, vol. 113. no 12, 2013.
Sims, Laura. The Politics of Fat: Food and Nutrition Policy in America. M.E. Sharpe, 1998.
Ungar, Peter S. and Teaford, Mark. Human Diet: Its Origin and Evolution. Bergin and Garvey, 2002.High-fat Diet and a Low-fat Diet Essay