Invaluable Fats For Your Diet

Have you ever searched for low-fat options of your favorite food, only to realize they’re higher in calories or have a ton of sugar added? Yogurt, for example, has healthy fat that makes it palatable and gives it a creamy consistency. When they remove the fat, they often add sugar and artificial ingredients to give it flavor and texture. Instead of focusing on eliminating all fat, focus on eliminating unhealthy fat and consuming healthy fat.

Healthy fat performs many functions in your body. ‘

If weight loss is your goal, include fat in your diet. Fat fills you up, making it easier to say no to sweet treats and high-calorie foods. Polyunsaturated fats—PUFAs—improved satiety and hunger markers both after a meal and during fasting when consumed for as little as seven days. When they remove fat from food and replace it with sugar, the sugar causes spikes in blood glucose levels that drop as quickly as they rise, leaving you ravenous. Fats are necessary for cell growth and brain and nervous system functioning. Fat plays a role in producing hormones that may affect your weight. It’s vital for healthy skin.

Not all fats are equally healthy.

Trans fats are the villains of the fat world. While some occur naturally, the vast majority are manmade. They hydrogenate fat. That changes the bonding and gives the fat a longer shelf life. Unfortunately, that long shelf life also affects your body. These fats provide no benefits. They only increase calories and health issues such as arterial damage and unfavorable cholesterol levels. Trans fats are products are banned, but some food, like snack food, still contains them. The FDA says anything under half a gram can be shown as zero trans fats. If you have a junk food diet, those half-grams add up.

Trans fats are unhealthy, but what about saturated and unsaturated fats?

Fat received a bum rap back in 1967. The sugar industry paid three Harvard professors to do a mega study that blamed fat for coronary heart disease and negated the claims that sugar was the possible culprit. People cut fat out of their diet and focused on fat-free food. When manufacturers removed fat, they added sugar. It was a bonus and additional return on the sugar industry money. Saturated fat and unsaturated fat both have health benefits. Polyunsaturated fat, a type of unsaturated fat, can be heart-healthy. Think omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

• Fats are necessary to transport fat-soluble vitamins. These include vitamins A, D, K, and E. Obese people often have vitamin D deficits. Whether obesity caused the deficit or the deficit caused the obesity isn’t yet known.
• Some foods with healthy fats are avocados, extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil, organic eggs, and nuts or nut butter. These also provide other valuable nutrients.
• Medium chain triglycerides—MCT—are a type of fat in coconut oil. They metabolize differently and are used immediately for energy rather than being stored. They also increase metabolism and torch calories quickly.
• Fat from whole foods is the best type of fat. Many healthy diets contain healthy fat. The Mediterranean and KETO diets are high in fat. Both have proven beneficial for weight loss and health.

For more information, contact us today at Thrive Fitness!