For too long, “fat” has been a dirty word, and had a bad name! So what better way to bust that stereotype then use the word “fat” in your brand, like Fat Snax has done?
(Disclaimer: This article is not sponsored by Fat Snax! I just want to take any opportunity I can to talk about how “fat” needs to stop being a bad word, associated with a bad diet. )
I’ve talked before about how low fat foods are just packed with substitutes that are actually unhealthy, and these companies prey on people’s misunderstanding of how fat is necessary for your body, as an energy store, and is especially important for brain health / memory.
So when did “fat” become bad in the first place, in terms of thinking it’s bad to consume? Well, it’s not just that people think “If you eat fat, you’ll become fat.” (Which is not true!) It’s because of studies that were done just after World War II, saying that saturated fats cause heart disease.
Why did they think saturated fats are to blame?
Well, basically, before World War II, heart disease wasn’t very common, but suddenly it was everywhere. And the researchers linked it to higher intake of saturated fat, which raises cholesterol levels. So the researchers made what we know today to be a leap of logic: saturated fat raises your cholesterol, and raised cholesterol leads to heart disease, so therefore saturated fat must cause heart disease.
But they didn’t have the nuanced understanding of total cholesterol, and good vs bad cholesterol, that we have today. It turns out that saturated fat raises both good and bad cholesterol, but actually it’s even less harmful than that…because now we understand how there are two types of bad cholesterol.
There’s the kind that really is bad, because it’s small, and so it gets stuck in your arteries. It also becomes oxidized, which is what allows it to cause heart disease.
But then there’s the kind that’s not really bad, because it’s big. These big “bad cholesterol” particles are dangerous because they bounce off the artery wall and they’re too big to get stuck.
And, guess what? Eating a diet with plentiful saturated fat makes the small LDL turn into less harmful large LDL, thus actually reducing your risk of heart disease!
So what does all this have to do with Fat Snax?
Well basically, their MO is making super yummy low-carb snacks that aren’t afraid of saturated fat (20% of daily value).
Fat Snax is billed as keto diet friendly, and while I’ve explained before why I personally don’t follow the keto diet…Fat Snax is built on the understanding that refined carbs and sugar is what causes heart disease, in the end.
NOT fat!
And especially not saturated fat, which actually converts BAD bad cholesterol into “less bad” bad cholesterol. That’s a form of damage control that everyone needs and can detox from, that you won’t find in any other nutrient.