NO fat whatsoever

Question
Tim
I have (had) I.B.S. and was trying hard to cut down on fatty foods and increase fibre.
Being an old school guy however, I just couldnt give up the red meat, although I ate leaner cuts, and I still used lots of salad dressings and margerine.
Last week, more in an effort to get my stalled weight loss going, I decided to give up the red meat and ALL fats altogether, including milk, low fat cheese, and spreads. This meant no butter on toaast, or potatoes, or dressings on salads etc.
Also, being on a low carb diet off and on, the only thing that ever helped, if only a bit, it was a 180 degree turn around.
To my surprise, the scales are going down again, the big bloated belly is getting smaller, and my I.B.S. symptoms are almost gone!
This is not what a lot of other 'experts' have said that promote eating low carb and high healthy fat.
In my case its zero fat of any kind, medium carbs, and no red meat protein.
I think everyone is different. In my case maybe I am hyper sensitive to fats, even low fat products? I also feel warmer, so maybe the reintroduction of carbs-without fats- has kick started my metabolism.
Thanks for your thoughts

Answer
Hi Bud, sorry to not get back to you sooner. This is a very interesting question though.
To start with I understand IBS. I suffered from it for many many years, of course a number of those years I was overweight, as much as 70 pounds over my current weight.
For many years doctors tried to treat it to no avail and it didn't subside until I lost all that weight.
Ok that was off subject.

First of all let me congratulate you on your progress and success thus far.
Your no fat approach is interesting but does concern me for the reason that some level of fat is necessary. There are some essential fats that the body requires and is unable to substitute for. Actually carbohydrates are the only macronutrient that the body is able to substitute in their absence.
Two essential fatty acids (or EFA's) are necessary for health and can't be synthesized by the body. The good news for you is it is possible to get these in supplement form. You might want to look into a flax oil or gelcap supplement. This will help you get in these necessary Omega 3 and 6 fats.
Another strong reason that it it wise to keep some fat in your diet is the fact that Vitamins A, D, E, & K are fat soluble, meaning they are transported and assimilated with fats.
It is fine to avoid the dairy and beef fats but you might consider monounsaturated fat sources like olive oil.

Please don't think that I am trying to sway you in anyway here against what is working for your weight loss.
I almost wonder if you may have low levels of lipase (the enzyme that digests fat) and this was causing digestion issues including the IBS. Ok sorry, just shooting in the dark here, not trying to diagnose or play doctor.

Another thing to consider is CLA, this is a fatty acid actually known as conjugated linoleic acid. It has been found to boost the metabolic rate (the rate in which your body utilizes calories for energy) and it helps to stop the uptake of fat into the cells to be stored.

As an aside though I'd like to ask you to be careful of Fat Free foods. By this I mean foods with the fat removed, not those naturally fat free. Usually when fat is removed from food it loses its flavor. This is remedied by adding sugar, which is not something you want.

Hopefully this helps you and sorry if I rambled too much. Feel free to write in again.
Best of luck to you.


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