Low Fat diets bad for skin?

[klarabelle]

I would like to lose weight and there is no doubt that low fat diets do help you lose body fat but I just can't help but feel they are bad news for the skin and face. I am in my mid 30's and a few of my friends the same age are doing slimming world at the moment and while they are losing weight quickly I don't think it is doing their skin any favours. Looking at the diet it seems to promote cheap processed low fat food like mugshots over healthy fresh wholefoods. It isn't just slimming world of course but any diet based around being low fat. Healthy fats are so important in helping us get the maximun nutrition from out diets as well as being benefical in their own right especially in skin health, I just think it is a mistake to cut them out even if it does make your weight loss faster.

I think at 35+ it is quite hard to get away with cutting out fat if we want to help mantain our skin but perhaps i am wrong what do you all think?

[BlankXpression]

I admit to knowing much about the science behind it, but I'm on a healthy eating thing at the moment and am eating lots of 'good' fats - nuts, eggs, oily fish, avocados, chicken and lean meat - and my skin is definitely looking more glowing.

I know nothing about SW, but WW seems to promote sugary 'fat free' desserts and minuscule, processed ready meals. I can't see how that is all that healthy, although people do lose weight on it.

[FrugalFashionista]

Ageing is about loss of volume and if you lose a lot of weight, you are going to get excess skin and a slightly sunken look no matter how you lose weight. Look at long-distance runners, many of them have that dry leathery look.

If going fat free means going overboard with sugars, it may not be worth it. The reason people cut out fat is that it is so much more energy-dense than proteins or carbohydrates. You can keep your portion sizes much bigger by cutting down fat and alcohol as they are the most enegy-dense components of what we eat.

Personally I believe in eating everything in moderation. It's not about how to lose weight, it's about how to maintain a balanced lifestyle over time.

[canny1234]

I'm doing Slimming World and don't eat anything low fat.I have IBS and therefore have Lactose and gluten free alternatives which are generally not low fat.Slimming world is about lots of fruit and vegetables plus lean meat and fish.I've never tried a mugshot and the ready meals are pretty terrible.Even my kids won't eat the meatballs.

If you are overweight you will look much better slimmer quite simply.If you become very skinny you will look more aged ( not much chance of that with me sadly).

[klarabelle]

Hmm, well it is good to know that it is possible to work slimming world while having wholefoods.

FrugalFashionista, I do agree that loss of volume is a major part of facial aging however that isn't just about weight loss for example it is now becoming known that sun exposure causes the break down of fat deposits in the face as we age which causes sagging and hollowing. Weight loss does contribute at any age but by eating a balenced diet as you suggest it can be kept to a minimum. For example full fat cheese is calorie dense but it is also rich in bioavailable vitamin K2, which isn't the case with low fat cheese because it is a fat soluble vitamin. Vitamin K2 protects the skins elastin so that skin stays elastic and bouncy even as you lose weight. Also fats in your diet help your skin stay hydrated and maintain a healthy barrier function which would also impact on its appearance.

I do agree that it losing excess weight does make you look better in general but I suspect that their must be a way of doing it that prevents the negative impact on your face!

[specialsubject]

fat doesn't make you fat. Eating more than you burn off makes you fat.

crash and yo-yo dieting (ie any diet used more than once) is bad for health and can make skin saggier quicker than it would otherwise be.

if a diet company is suggesting eating the kind of food you mention; they are telling you what they are.

[Stinkersmum]

Fat is not the enemy. Sugar is.

[Crutchlow35]

I have lost 3 stone eating lots of fat like butter and cream.