EAT FAT TO LOSE FAT

WOW! Enjoying delicious, satisfying fats restores cellular communication to rev metabolism, support hormones and shed trapped pounds, says a top doctor. Plus: How newly discovered omega-7 can help!

- LISA MAXBAUER

The FDA is expected to make a decision soon on banning food dye Red No. 3, which has been linked to cancer. It’s another example of the damaging effects of chemicals and artificial additives on our health.

Many of these additives entered the food supply in the 1970s during the low-fat craze to improve the taste of diet foods after the fats were removed. But low-fat diets are problematic, says world-renowned internist and regenerative physician Michael Aziz, M.D., author of the bestselling book The Perfect 10 Diet. “We eat more sugar, chemicals and refined carbs that spike insulin, the fat-storing hormone, making us hungrier.” (That equals 400 more calories per day.) He’s been telling people to eat real foods—especially real fats—for years. He was ahead of his time a decade ago, talking about the benefits of fats, including butter, which he calls a “superfood.”

Chemicals in even seemingly healthy processed foods interfere with the body’s natural weight-loss mechanisms. And in addition to driving the obesity epidemic, processed foods are a big reason the United States has the lowest life expectancy of any Western nation, according to the Global Change Data Lab. “One of the reasons we get old before our cells don’t communicate well anymore. And how do cells talk? Through hormones,” says Dr. Aziz. He cautions that chemicals and free radicals in processed seed oils damage cell walls and block the entry of hormones and nutrients. “That’s how we get prediabetes, diabetes and obesity.”

Dr. Aziz experienced this health decline in his own life. After losing a family member, he got depressed, started eating fast food and gained weight. Now he’s sharing his healthy-eating approach—which allowed him to lose 28 pounds and look 15 years younger—in his new book,