What Is a Lean Food Diet?

There is no name-brand lean food diet. The American Heart Association recommends that you consume 30 percent of your total daily calories from fat, though other experts, like Dr. Dean Ornish, recommend that you go as low as 10 percent. A healthy diet plan must include some fats to help you process vitamins like A, D, E and K. Eating lean foods is good, but balancing them with healthy fats is better.

Identification

Lean foods are simply those that are low in fat. The leanest sources of protein are beans, fish, low-fat dairy, skinless poultry and peas. Beef and pork are high in saturated fats, but even they can be included in a lean diet if you trim all visible fat or purchase meats that contain less than 3g of fat per ounce. Egg whites contain no fat or cholesterol, but almost all other foods contain at least trace amounts of fats. The natural fats in fruits, vegetables and whole grains are too low to matter, so cook them with no added saturated fats to keep them lean.

Misconceptions

Lean does not necessarily mean low in all types of fats. According to data gathered in a two-year study done in Israel, published in 2008 in The New England Journal of Medicine, dietary fat has very little impact on weight loss. Proponents of low-fat diets that limit intake to 10 percent, like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine founder Dr. Neal Barnard, question the fact that the study used the American Heart Association's guideline of 30 percent fat. They postulate that the findings would have been different had the test subjects been put on a diet that contained 10 percent fat. But, according to director of the Prevention Research Center at the Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. David L. Katz, it's less important to count percentages than to simply cut out saturated fats and trans-fats, which are found in animal products and processed foods. Heart-healthy fats like olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids are an essential part of a lean diet.

Types

There are several different types of fats. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are considered "good" fats, while saturated fats are considered less healthy, and trans-fats are definitely bad. This determination is based on the effect the different fats have on your body. Excess saturated fats can build up in your body, clogging your arteries and leading to high blood pressure and heart disease. Unsaturated fats help your body clear out these clogs. Trans-fats not only raise the level of low-density lipoproteins in your blood, they lower the levels of high density lipoproteins, or HDLs, which help clean out clogged arteries.

Benefits

The benefits of maintaining an all-around low-fat diet have not been proven as decisively as was expected. A diet that is lean in saturated fats and devoid of trans-fats seems to show the greatest sustained weight loss, as well as showing a reduction in high blood pressure and serum cholesterol. This reduces your risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke and some cancers. According to director of the Southern California Evidence-Based Practice Center at the RAND Corporation, Dr. Paul Shekelle, people trying to lose weight are more likely to stick to a diet that includes lean protein and healthy fats like olive oil, rather than one that eliminates or severely restricts all fats. The longer you stay on a lean diet, the more likely you are to reap the health benefits it promotes.

Procedure

Eating a lean diet that is high in vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, whole grains and lean protein is recommended by all recognized nutrition experts. Get your lean protein from beans, nuts, fish and skinless poultry. Use heart-healthy oils like olive oil and canola oil for cooking instead of lard or butter. Avoid trans-fats which are mostly found in mass-produced baked goods, fast foods and snack foods like chips and cheese-flavored puffs.