| CELEBRITY GOSSIP AND TRENDS IN WEIGHT LOSS... |
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Good Fats and Bad Fats
One of the reasons we love fat so much is that it carries flavor. But
if you are trying to lose weight, it is important to remember that a
gram of fat contains more than twice as many calories as a gram of
protein or carbohydrate. Also, as explained in The Thermic Effect
of Food, dietary fat and body fat are so similar that dietary fat is
more easily stored as body fat than protein or carbohydrate.
Foods like cheese stand out as among the most fat-laden, with a
great number of calories coming from fat. But as important as it is
to select the healthiest foods, it is also important to consider how
they are prepared.
Fried foods, especially deep-fried, contain a great amount of fat.
While chicken and fish are usually leaner than beef or pork, they
can contain more fat when they are fried. Look at how the number
of grams of fat in a chicken breast changes depending on how it is
cooked:
Chicken Breast Cooking Method Fat
Meat Only, Roasted 3.1
Meat Only, Fried 4.1
Meat and Skin, Batter Fried 18.5
Be careful with salad dressings, mayonnaise, and other
condiments that are high in fat content. They greatly increase the
calorie count and can negate the healthy aspects of a meal.
Replace mayonnaise-based condiments with fat-free alternatives
like fat-free yogurt, mustard, ketchup and barbecue sauce.
Study after study has shown that people living in countries that eat
mostly low fat, plant-based diets have lower rates of obesity, heart
problems, cancer and many other maladies. But when these
people are introduced to the fat-laden Western diet -- either
because it is brought into their country or because they move to a
country influenced by it -- their rates of these maladies sharply
increase.
But don't try to eliminate fat altogether, as dietary fat is necessary
to maintain a healthy body. It is a vital component for building body
tissue and cells, and it aids in the absorption of some vitamins and
other nutrients. Many people eat too much of the bad fats, but also
eat too little of the good fats required for optimal health.
Types of Fat
The following paragraphs introduce some of the different types of
fat we eat. A high-fat diet typically increases the risk of heart
disease and cancer. But a low-fat diet could be even worse if it
contained the wrong kind of fats.
Saturated Fats: In saturated fats, the carbon atoms contain all the
hydrogen atoms they can hold, thus the term "saturated."
Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature.
Saturated fats are found mostly in animal products such as milk,
butter, ice cream, cheese, lard and the fat found on meat. In
plants, saturated fats are found in tropical oils such as coconut
and palm.
Saturated fats play the single greatest role in raising blood
cholesterol and putting us at greater risk for heart disease.
Unsaturated Fats:
Monosaturated Fats: Monounsaturated fats come from vegetables.
They remain liquid at room temperature, but become less fluid
when refrigerated.
Monosaturated fats are found in canola, olive and peanut oils,
avocados, olives and many nuts and seeds.
Polysaturated Fats: Polyunsaturated fats also come from
vegetables, but they remain liquid both at room temperature and
when refrigerated.
Polyunsaturated fats are found in corn, sunflower, safflower and
soybean oils, fish, mayonnaise and many nuts and seeds.
Unsaturated fats are better for you than saturated fats.
Hydrogenated or Trans Fats: Hydrogenated fats are created from
unsaturated vegetable fats through a process that adds hydrogen.
The process creates trans fats, which are more like saturated fats.
They last longer and remain solid at room temperature, making
them more marketable.
Trans fats are found in margarine, many commercially baked goods
including cookies, crackers, doughnuts and pastries, and many
deep-fried foods and chips. All the bad stuff we love to eat.
Trans fats raise blood cholesterol, though not as much as
saturated fats. They do, however, raise LDL or "bad" cholesterol
while lowering HDL or "good" cholesterol. Watch for trans fats on
package labels, and where they are not listed watch for
ingredients containing partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated
oils.
If you use margarine, note that softer margarines have been
hydrogenated less and therefore contain fewer trans fats. Tub
margarine is usually better for you than stick margarine because it
is less hydrogenated. There are also butter and margarine
substitutes available that contain neither cholesterol nor trans
fats.
A food containing no animal products and labeled "cholesterol
free" would look like a healthy food to anyone. But look closely. If
it contains hydrogenated oils (trans fats), it could be unhealthy for
everyone.
Essential Fatty Acids: Our bodies require these fats for good
health, but can't produce them, so they must be eaten. The primary
essential fatty acids are linoleic acid, an omega-6 fat, and
alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fat.
Most people eat more omega-6 fats than needed and fewer
omega-3 fats than are required for optimal health. Omega-6 fats
are found in polyunsaturated fats like corn and safflower oils.
Omega-3 fats are found in flaxseed, walnuts, green soybeans, tofu
and certain fish including albacore tuna, salmon, lake trout,
sardines, herring and mackerel.
The actual content of a particular fat is not as clearly defined as
these descriptions would lead you to believe. For example, beef
fat is listed as saturated, but its actual content is just over half
saturated. Olive oil is listed as monounsaturated, but its actual
content is just over three-quarters monounsaturated.
Olive oil is so often referred to as being a healthier fat that you
might think of it as being healthy. But it is still pure fat, and 14% of
it is saturated.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that our bodies require for good
health. However, excess cholesterol can accumulate on the walls
of our arteries and this can lead to heart disease.
Our bodies produce sufficient cholesterol on their own; most of
the excess cholesterol in our blood comes from eating other
animals. Cholesterol is found in high-fat dairy products, egg yolks,
shellfish, liver and other organ meats, and high-fat meats and
poultry skin. Plants contain so little cholesterol that they are
generally considered to be cholesterol-free.
But What about the Inuits?
Historically, the Inuit people of the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic
regions have eaten a very high fat, high cholesterol diet. Yet they
experienced very little heart disease until introduced to the typical
Western diet.
Since their diet was already high in fat, it wouldn't appear to be the
high fat aspect of the Western diet that is to blame. Perhaps it is
the heavily process foods of the Western diet that contribute the
most to disease, for Inuits and everyone else.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting foods high in
trans fats, saturated fats and cholesterol. While there appears to
be no debate that trans fats are bad for you, there are those who
believe that saturated fats, and even cholesterol, have been
unjustly blamed for causing disease only because all fats have
been lumped together and labeled "bad."
But it's not that simple. The Inuits' diet was also high in omega-3
fats, which protect from heart disease. And you can't simply look at
total cholesterol, as the ratio between "good" (HDL) and "bad"
(LDL) cholesterol can have a significant effect; an increase in HDL
may have a positive effect on health despite that fact that it raises
the level of total cholesterol.
So there are good fats, and bad fats, and some of the bad fats may
not really be that bad under the right conditions. We're sorry it
isn't a little less complex. But while all this is being sorted out by
science, there is one thing you can count on.
The more you move towards a diet of natural, unprocessed foods,
the healthier you will be. Just like the Inuits and other populations
of yesteryear. click here to go back or use arrow below.
One of the reasons we love fat so much is that it carries flavor. But
if you are trying to lose weight, it is important to remember that a
gram of fat contains more than twice as many calories as a gram of
protein or carbohydrate. Also, as explained in The Thermic Effect
of Food, dietary fat and body fat are so similar that dietary fat is
more easily stored as body fat than protein or carbohydrate.
Foods like cheese stand out as among the most fat-laden, with a
great number of calories coming from fat. But as important as it is
to select the healthiest foods, it is also important to consider how
they are prepared.
Fried foods, especially deep-fried, contain a great amount of fat.
While chicken and fish are usually leaner than beef or pork, they
can contain more fat when they are fried. Look at how the number
of grams of fat in a chicken breast changes depending on how it is
cooked:
Chicken Breast Cooking Method Fat
Meat Only, Roasted 3.1
Meat Only, Fried 4.1
Meat and Skin, Batter Fried 18.5
Be careful with salad dressings, mayonnaise, and other
condiments that are high in fat content. They greatly increase the
calorie count and can negate the healthy aspects of a meal.
Replace mayonnaise-based condiments with fat-free alternatives
like fat-free yogurt, mustard, ketchup and barbecue sauce.
Study after study has shown that people living in countries that eat
mostly low fat, plant-based diets have lower rates of obesity, heart
problems, cancer and many other maladies. But when these
people are introduced to the fat-laden Western diet -- either
because it is brought into their country or because they move to a
country influenced by it -- their rates of these maladies sharply
increase.
But don't try to eliminate fat altogether, as dietary fat is necessary
to maintain a healthy body. It is a vital component for building body
tissue and cells, and it aids in the absorption of some vitamins and
other nutrients. Many people eat too much of the bad fats, but also
eat too little of the good fats required for optimal health.
Types of Fat
The following paragraphs introduce some of the different types of
fat we eat. A high-fat diet typically increases the risk of heart
disease and cancer. But a low-fat diet could be even worse if it
contained the wrong kind of fats.
Saturated Fats: In saturated fats, the carbon atoms contain all the
hydrogen atoms they can hold, thus the term "saturated."
Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature.
Saturated fats are found mostly in animal products such as milk,
butter, ice cream, cheese, lard and the fat found on meat. In
plants, saturated fats are found in tropical oils such as coconut
and palm.
Saturated fats play the single greatest role in raising blood
cholesterol and putting us at greater risk for heart disease.
Unsaturated Fats:
Monosaturated Fats: Monounsaturated fats come from vegetables.
They remain liquid at room temperature, but become less fluid
when refrigerated.
Monosaturated fats are found in canola, olive and peanut oils,
avocados, olives and many nuts and seeds.
Polysaturated Fats: Polyunsaturated fats also come from
vegetables, but they remain liquid both at room temperature and
when refrigerated.
Polyunsaturated fats are found in corn, sunflower, safflower and
soybean oils, fish, mayonnaise and many nuts and seeds.
Unsaturated fats are better for you than saturated fats.
Hydrogenated or Trans Fats: Hydrogenated fats are created from
unsaturated vegetable fats through a process that adds hydrogen.
The process creates trans fats, which are more like saturated fats.
They last longer and remain solid at room temperature, making
them more marketable.
Trans fats are found in margarine, many commercially baked goods
including cookies, crackers, doughnuts and pastries, and many
deep-fried foods and chips. All the bad stuff we love to eat.
Trans fats raise blood cholesterol, though not as much as
saturated fats. They do, however, raise LDL or "bad" cholesterol
while lowering HDL or "good" cholesterol. Watch for trans fats on
package labels, and where they are not listed watch for
ingredients containing partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated
oils.
If you use margarine, note that softer margarines have been
hydrogenated less and therefore contain fewer trans fats. Tub
margarine is usually better for you than stick margarine because it
is less hydrogenated. There are also butter and margarine
substitutes available that contain neither cholesterol nor trans
fats.
A food containing no animal products and labeled "cholesterol
free" would look like a healthy food to anyone. But look closely. If
it contains hydrogenated oils (trans fats), it could be unhealthy for
everyone.
Essential Fatty Acids: Our bodies require these fats for good
health, but can't produce them, so they must be eaten. The primary
essential fatty acids are linoleic acid, an omega-6 fat, and
alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fat.
Most people eat more omega-6 fats than needed and fewer
omega-3 fats than are required for optimal health. Omega-6 fats
are found in polyunsaturated fats like corn and safflower oils.
Omega-3 fats are found in flaxseed, walnuts, green soybeans, tofu
and certain fish including albacore tuna, salmon, lake trout,
sardines, herring and mackerel.
The actual content of a particular fat is not as clearly defined as
these descriptions would lead you to believe. For example, beef
fat is listed as saturated, but its actual content is just over half
saturated. Olive oil is listed as monounsaturated, but its actual
content is just over three-quarters monounsaturated.
Olive oil is so often referred to as being a healthier fat that you
might think of it as being healthy. But it is still pure fat, and 14% of
it is saturated.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that our bodies require for good
health. However, excess cholesterol can accumulate on the walls
of our arteries and this can lead to heart disease.
Our bodies produce sufficient cholesterol on their own; most of
the excess cholesterol in our blood comes from eating other
animals. Cholesterol is found in high-fat dairy products, egg yolks,
shellfish, liver and other organ meats, and high-fat meats and
poultry skin. Plants contain so little cholesterol that they are
generally considered to be cholesterol-free.
But What about the Inuits?
Historically, the Inuit people of the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic
regions have eaten a very high fat, high cholesterol diet. Yet they
experienced very little heart disease until introduced to the typical
Western diet.
Since their diet was already high in fat, it wouldn't appear to be the
high fat aspect of the Western diet that is to blame. Perhaps it is
the heavily process foods of the Western diet that contribute the
most to disease, for Inuits and everyone else.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting foods high in
trans fats, saturated fats and cholesterol. While there appears to
be no debate that trans fats are bad for you, there are those who
believe that saturated fats, and even cholesterol, have been
unjustly blamed for causing disease only because all fats have
been lumped together and labeled "bad."
But it's not that simple. The Inuits' diet was also high in omega-3
fats, which protect from heart disease. And you can't simply look at
total cholesterol, as the ratio between "good" (HDL) and "bad"
(LDL) cholesterol can have a significant effect; an increase in HDL
may have a positive effect on health despite that fact that it raises
the level of total cholesterol.
So there are good fats, and bad fats, and some of the bad fats may
not really be that bad under the right conditions. We're sorry it
isn't a little less complex. But while all this is being sorted out by
science, there is one thing you can count on.
The more you move towards a diet of natural, unprocessed foods,
the healthier you will be. Just like the Inuits and other populations
of yesteryear. click here to go back or use arrow below.
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