Make Friends With Fat

Throughout the later part of the 20^th century the mentality surrounding weight loss was that less fat in the diet meant less fat on your body.  However the surge of low-fat and fat-free products in the stores only lead to American obesity rates skyrocketing as we entered the 21^st century.

If you examine many of the low-fat and fat-free products that were created, you would see that while the fat is not present, more sugar or sodium usually was.  More sugar in the diet eventually leads to body fat formation as well as increased risk of diabetes.  More sodium in the diet increases the risk of cardiovascular problems.  This is ironic because it was low fat diets that were being recommended to help people at risk for such health problems problems.

What we know now is that not all fat is created equal.  Starting at the bottom we have trans fats. Trans fats are the worst kind of fat.  You find them in certain fried foods and in packaged foods such as snack foods and icing.  These fats were man-made in a lab and are not natural to our body.  Not only do they clog your arteries, but they also attack HDL cholesterol, which is the “good” cholesterol that helps to remove the “bad” cholesterol from blocking your arteries.  Trans fats should not be consumed at all in the diet as they serve no benefit to the your health.  Saturated fats are the other fat that should be limited to only about 7-10% of the fat you consume.  It is solid at room temperature and found in animal fat such as meats, butter and cheeses.  Saturated fat also clogs arteries and is a main culprit in poor cholesterol.

Now we move on to friendly, unsaturated fats.  These include monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.  Both are liquid at room temperature and reduce bad cholesterol and cardiovascular problems as well as provide nutrients for cell development.  Many monounsaturated fats are also high in vitamin E, which is an antioxidant vitamin that protects against disease.  Monounsaturated fats can be found in olive, peanut, canola and sunflower oil.  They are also found in avocado and peanut butter.

In addition to being found in walnuts and seeds, polyunsaturated fats can be found in the form of omega fatty acids which are crucial to the body because we can’t make them on our own.  Many studies are coming out about the importance of omega fatty acids to improving our overall health.  Many doctors now recommend taking them in supplement form or getting them by eating fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and trout a few times per week.

Contrary to what was thought in the late 20^th century, not all fat is bad!  Now monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and omega fatty acids are seen as a crucial part of our everyday eating in order to fight against many of the problems we thought fat caused.  Replace high fat cheeses in sandwiches with half an avocado, replace meat meals with fatty fish a couple of nights a week, and snack on nuts and seeds to get the fat that you need to stay healthy and protect your health!