For Heart Health: Should You Adopt a Low-Fat or No-Fat Diet?

For my heart health, I'm on a very strict low-fat diet, yet both my weight and cholesterol levels are up. What is the problem?

The low-fat and no-fat diets recommended by most cardiologists have a downside to heart health—they often restrict the intake of essential fatty acids. These healthy fats are not naturally made by the body and must be obtained from dietary sources. If you reduce your consumption of essential fatty acids too much, your body will make other fatty acids (called mead fatty acids) that will increase your total cholesterol and may make you more vulnerable to heart disease.

The diet I highly recommend for optimal heart health, as well as weight management and overall health, is called the Pan-Asian Mediterranean (PAM) diet. It’s chock full of essential fatty acids—particularly heart-healthy omega-3 fats—and suggests that you eat five to six servings of healthy fats and oils per day in order to reap all the heart health benefits of essential fatty acids.

Give PAM a try, and I'm confident that you'll see both your weight and your cholesterol falling soon.

Learn More From Dr. Sinatra

• Read more questions and answers about my Cardinal Principles of Health.
• Read more questions and answers on all topics.