For several decades, we’ve all been told that carbohydrates should be the foundation of our diet and our primary source of energy, while dietary fats (the fats found in food) are bad for us. It all started when some scientists studied the effects of different types of fats on health, and determined that some fats — such as trans fats — are bad for us, and that other types of fats are actually healthy and necessary for proper bodily functions.

However, the message to the general public got oversimplified, and nutrition experts starting telling us to cut all fats out of our diets. As a result, low-fat, reduced fat, and fat-free foods started lining the supermarket shelves. The low-fat message is now so ingrained in our culture that many of us reach for these foods without even thinking about it. After all, it sounds reasonable: if we don't want to be fat, we shouldn't eat fat.

Unfortunately, it isn't really that simple. When fat is removed from food, a lot of the flavor is lost. To compensate for this, food manufacturers typically add more sugar or artificial food additives. And it’s these types of ingredients — not fat — that play a large role in weight gain and many other health problems facing Americans today.

Plus, fat is not as bad for us as we have been led to believe. Fat is actually necessary for many processes throughout the body and for the absorption of certain nutrients. Our obsession with low-fat diets often creates more health problems than it solves.

Health conditions such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are virtually unseen in parts of the world that follow a more traditional hunter-gatherer diet. In fact, these diseases are so closely linked to the modern Western diet (high in carbohydrates and processed foods) that they are often referred to as diseases of civilization. Our diet is without a doubt the biggest determinant of our overall health.