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Introduction of low-fat food:
Researchers at Cornell University in the United States recently found that eating so-called "low-fat" fast food will only lead people to indulge their diet more. Compared with eating regular food, you will get more calories in this way.
Researchers say that when food labels say "low-fat" foods, it implies that people can still increase their calorie intake, and such foods are particularly attractive to overweight people. The label of low fat may mislead people to equate "low fat" with "low calorie", giving people more reasons to eat.
The calories of low-fat fast food in this study are only 15% lower than those of conventional food. But foods with low-fat labels are enough to give consumers the illusion that "all low-fat foods are healthy", which makes overweight people flock to such fast food. Even people with normal weight are often tempted by it.
The comparative study of the experimental results of the two groups of subjects found that these seemingly innocent low-fat fast foods actually brought more calories into the diet. This suggests that foods with low-fat labels can make people relax, so they eat more, and they no longer feel guilty about eating too much.
In the past few decades, Americans have always regarded fat as the enemy of weight and health. This kind of worry is not unreasonable. Scientists discovered in the 1960s that saturated fat in red meat and dairy products would increase the cholesterol content in human body and lead to cardiovascular diseases.
Therefore, in the "food guide pyramid" promulgated by the US Department of Agriculture, fat, cooking oil and so on are "shelved" and listed as "restricted food intake". Smart food producers immediately followed suit and played "low-fat cards" one after another. It seems that as long as they are labeled as "low-fat", they are healthy foods.
But the theory that "low fat is health" has not stood the test of time. In the past 20 years, Americans have been reducing fatty foods in their diets, lowering their cholesterol levels and smoking less and less, but the incidence of heart disease has not decreased as expected.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia low-fat food