Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest is one of my favorite magazines. I admit, I mostly read it for the jokes ("How many fisherman does it take to change a lightbulb? Five, and you should have seen the size of that lightbulb! Five of us almost weren't enough!"... No? Not funny? Fine.), but I also love reading the health section. And this week, I was especially happy: there was a little blurb about vegetarians!

I'll recap.

In a study by Dean Ornish, MD, and Elizabeth Blackburn, MD, subjects ate a low-fat, vegetarian diet, walked for thirty minutes a day (six days a week), and used stress-reducing techniques. In doing so, they reduced their LDL cholesterol levels and exhibited a 29 percent increase in telomerase, an enzyme responsible for repairing and lengthening telomeres (protein complexes on the ends of chromosomes). Higher telomerase levels are not only critical for immunity and longevity, but they decrease your risk of heart disease and cancer. So, the conclusion? Follow a low-fat vegetarian diet, of course!

But what constitutes a "low-fat" diet, anyway?

Well, first off, it does not mean no fat whatsoever, so you can go ahead and have that peanut butter sandwich. Low fat simply means no more than 30% of your calories should come from fat. For a 2000 calorie diet, that translates to about 66 grams a day. Not too bad, right?

An easy equation to figure out your maximum daily value of fat...

Calories a day x .3 = Calories from fat
Calories from fat / 9 = maximum grams of fat

Just make sure your fat is good fat. Nuts, seeds, high quality oils (olive, etc.), and avocados are all excellent sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Try to limit your intake of saturated fats to a maximum of about 20 grams for a 2000 calorie diet (or 10% of Calorie intake).