Dr. Mark Hyman debunks myths about dietary fat, explaining why high-fat diets don't cause weight gain or disease. He promotes his book Eat Fat, Get Thin and an upcoming Fat Summit, offering science-backed reasons to rethink what you've been told about fat.
Hey everyone, this is Dr. Mark Hyman. Welcome to my weekly house call, your chance to ask me your questions. And this week's question is, what does a high fat diet look like and what are the benefits and are there any consequences to eating a higher fat diet? Well, this is the perfect question to introduce you to my new book called Eat Fat, Get Thin, which comes out at the end of February 2016. I'm so excited to share this book with you because we all can finally separate fat from fiction. Eat Fat, Get Thin is all about the myths that we've been told about fat that have made us fatter and sicker than ever. And it's about how eating a high fat diet good in the right fats can actually increase weight loss and even reverse disease. So before I tell you what a high fat diet looks like, let's talk about the myth that dietary fat makes us fat. I mean, it makes sense, right? Fat equals fat. But it's actually not true. You see, sugar is sugar. All forms of sugar with small and relatively insignificant differences have the same negative effect on your body. It doesn't matter if it's table sugar or high fructose corn syrup or agave nectar or any of the other 257 names for sugar. It's all sugar. But fat is not fat, is not fat. There's saturated fat and monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat and even trans fat. And within each fat, there are different types. Bottom line, not all fats are to be condemned. In fact, eating lots of the right ones will not make you fat. In fact, including the right fats in your diet is the key to health and weight loss. When you eat more fat, you actually increase the speed of your metabolism. Eating fat also stimulates fat burning and it cuts your hunger. It improves the overall quality of your cholesterol profile and it reduces your risk of heart disease. If you've watched my videos over the years, this should come as no big surprise because it's actually sugar that makes you fat. The more sugar and processed carbs you eat, the more resistant or numb your cells become to the effects of insulin. and so your body pumps out more and more of this hormone in an attempt to keep your blood sugar normal. And since you can't burn all the sugar you eat, you store it. And this creates metabolic havoc. But there are some fats actually that can harm you, like trans fat and lots of refined omega-6 oils. Shortening and vegetable and seed oils like corn and soy and safflower and feedlot raised beef are all high in Omega-6 oils. Now, the consumption of these foods of Omega-6 oils has increased dramatically over the last years and it's also led to higher rates of heart disease and obesity. These oils are inflammatory and they're pretty dangerous. So, yes, there are fats that you want to avoid, but there are some fats that you want to eat a lot of. We're going to get into all of this in great detail in my book, Eat Fat, Get Thin. And in my Fat Summit, which is so exciting, it's called the Fat Summit: Separating Fat from Fiction, And that's where I'm going to be interviewing the world's top scientists, doctors, researchers, health experts who are going to help separate fat from fiction. And they're going to help us get to the truth about what it really takes to stay healthy and lose weight all while reversing chronic disease. So stay tuned for more information about that. All right, so what does a healthy high-fat diet look like? Well, it's rich in omega-3 fats, and it's rich in things like olive oil and coconut oil and avocados and wild fatty fish and nuts and whole eggs, and even grass-fed meat if you eat meat. Now these foods can actually help you prevent disease. And they are brain foods. They make you happy and smarter. I eat fat with every single meal of the day and I've never felt better. In fact, the benefits of eating fat are incredible. Eating more of the right kinds of fat leads to improved mood, better skin, better hair and nails, not to mention preventing dementia and heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer. One of my patients who could never lose weight and she had cholesterol way over 300, she started eating up to 70% of her diet as fat and I don't recommend that for everybody, but for her it was the right thing. And she included lots of grass-fed butter and extra virgin coconut oil, which are both, by the way, saturated fats. And guess what? Her cholesterol plummeted from 300 to 190 and her triglycerides dropped 200 points and she lost 20 pounds that she could never lose. This is not the end of our discussion about fat. In fact, it's just the beginning. It's just a quick overview of a way of eating that's rich in healthy fats and it's designed to help you get started. But I want you to stay tuned because we're going to be talking about fat for the next few months. We're going to dispel some of the biggest fat myths. I'm going to tell you how we got into this big fat mess and I'm going to provide you with the right tools to stay happy and healthy and fit for life. So if you've enjoyed this video, I want you to share it with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter and be sure to submit your questions to DrHyman.com and maybe next week I'll make a house call to you. And be sure to stay tuned for more information about the release of Eat Fat, Get Thin.
