Does the Low Fat Diet or Pritikin Diet to Lose Weight?

The Low Fat Diet or Pritikin Diet can be a double edged sword. While it does have several positive health benefits, I feel the negatives far outweigh the positives. Many have the common misconception that fat makes you fat. For most, carbs make you fat. Not all fats are created equal. Some have great health benefits and some clog your arteries. After doing a few hours of research, this is what I found out about the low fat diet.

Let's start with the positives, glucose tolerance is not inhibited by otherwise ingested fatty acids; glycogen stores remain pretty full; kcal reduction is large. What does glycogen do you ask?  It is main form of carbohydrate storage and it occurs primarily in the liver and muscle tissue. It is readily converted to glucose as needed by the body to satisfy its energy needs so you will have energy throughout the day with this diet.

Now onto the negatives, Low fat diets can depress Testosterone levels; all fats should not be collectively avoided ala omega-3 fatty acids which contribute to heart and vascular heath; avoiding fat is psychologically rough; limited dietary variety.

Animal proteins and eggs are avoided which makes it difficult to get your daily protein needs. There is also a potential fat + carb insulinogenic and lipogenic synergy due to the lack of protein which means basically, the fat + carb meal raises your insulin levels high and without the protein to aid it causes lipogenious response (lipogenic meaning The production of fat, either fatty degeneration or fatty infiltration; also applied to the normal deposition of fat or to the conversion of carbohydrate or protein to fat) This can actually make you gain weight.