Having a fit and healthy body is the need and desire of many people. There are many diet methods to help you achieve that, including the low-fat diet. If you doubt whether this low-fat diet is effective, harmful to health, or how to do it? The post below can give you answers.

1.  Definition of the low-fat diet 

Suppose the low-carb diet is known as a method that requires an absolute reduction in sugar and starch. The low-fat diet minimizes the fat consumed in the body (including overall fat, unhealthy fat, and cholesterol).

You may need to follow this diet if you have trouble absorbing or digesting fats. You can also start the diet if your body has high cholesterol by increasing the consumption of soluble fiber. This type of fiber can help you reduce body fat and cholesterol.

In addition, a low-fat diet can also act as an effective weight-loss method if you'd like to get back in shape. 

However, keep in mind that our bodies always store energy in the form of fat. If you think you should consuming fat-free foods to lose weight, then no! It's a big mistake. You will not have enough energy for daily activities that way. Instead, you would yearn for high-calorie foods such as sweets to replace the energy deficiency, which can quickly bring a reverse effect!

2.  Should I start to follow the low-fat diet? 

To get started, you should know that not all fats are bad. There are fats that the body needs for building cells and enhancing metabolism. 

To ensure smooth body functioning, we should replace foods rich in saturated and trans fats with healthy fats. This replacement can help lower cholesterol levels elevation. The healthy fats include:

• Monounsaturated fats: found in avocados, nuts, and vegetable oils.
• Polyunsaturated fats: found in vegetable oils. Omega-3 fats from fishes, such as herring, salmon, tuna, and trout. Or they can also be found in plant-based foods, such as walnuts, almonds, and flaxseeds.

Besides that, there unhealthy fats, which can increase the risk of heart disease as follow:

• Cholesterol: the maximum cholesterol intake you should have is 200 mg per day. Animal viscera and fast foods are the sources of cholesterol for you.
• Saturated fat: saturated fat should only be less than 7% of your total daily consumption. You can get saturated fats from butter, cream, cheese, whole milk, palm oil, etc. Meats- such as beef, pork, poultry skin are also the sources of saturated fat.
• Trans fats: Avoid trans fats as much as possible. Fried and grilled foods are the sources of trans fats you should avoid. 

Furthermore, the low-fat diet is proven to be effective if you strictly adhere to reducing the fat intake to 10% of the daily diet. You are also required to keep the calorie intake under the amount your body needs. 

However, the low-fat menu is quite "difficult" compared to many other weight loss methods because it excluded many of your favorite foods and drinks. These include fried and stir-fried foods, meat, sugar, eggs, milk, etc.

3.  Kind of low-fat foods suitable for the low-fat diet

The low-fat foods that are suitable for those who want to start following this diet are as follow:

• Whole-grain foods - such as oats, kinds of pasta, etc.
• Lean meat - such as skinless chicken, chicken breast, lean beef, pork, etc
• Fish such as salmon, tuna, etc
• Skim milk or low-fat yogurt
• Dark green vegetables like kale, spinach, broccoli, etc
• Legumes such as lentils, peas, etc
• Fruits

4. Some tips for you to follow the low-fat diet

You can be implementing this diet simply with a few tips that we are about to introduce below: 

• When shopping, you should prioritize lean meat, skinless poultry, and fishes. 
• Read the nutrition label carefully before buying the product. They will help you distinguish which products contain less or more fat, making portion management easier! 
• Remove fat from meats and give up on fried and stir-fried foods. Instead, you can roast, boil, and steam the foods.
• Try to eat more whole-plant foods bit by bit (ex: whole grains, veggies, fruits). These help you to control your fat, cholesterol, and calorie intake.
• And if you like to eat salad, served the salad with low-fat sauces. 

For a start, you can put this diet on trial for about a week. If you feel that you can maintain the diet for a long time and there are no harmful effects on the body (stun, get hungry, make yourself eat more or lose your appetite, etc.), this could be the diet for you. Also, practice good eating habits will help to change the way you look. Remember to focus more on healthy foods and maintain a healthy diet!