Fit with Fats: Learning About Healthy Fats
Get Fit with Fats, Learning Which Fats are Best for Skinny Living
Healthy fats are not bad for they are important nutrients. In this article, we focus on the importance of learning about monosaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and saturated fats. More importantly, we identify the danger of trans fats in fried foods, margarine, and baked goods. People working at losing weight and keeping it off should learn about the failure and danger of low-fat diets with increased carbs and sugars. The incorrect information about food was taught for too many years and we are all learning more about losing weight and being healthier by enjoying our essential healthy fats and avoiding carbs and sugars.
Obesity and heart disease are existential risks not only to our health, but to our ability to be effective parents, partners, and contributors to society. Armed with the right information, it is time to change eating habits and allow ourselves to realize the proven effects of proper nutrition when we enjoy all our healthiest fruits, grains, and vegetables with our new favorite healthy fats like avocado, olives, almonds, fish, seeds, cheese, milk, meat and more. Getting skinny requires getting smart about healthy fats.
At Smaller U Weightloss, we work with our members who lose weight on customized nutrition plans with a balance of healthy fats and meal ideas, while losing weight and keeping it off.
Fats Are NOT Bad for You: Monosaturated, Polyunsaturated, and Saturated Fats are Healthier Fats
Fats do a lot of things for our bodies. Fats coat membranes, they store energy to protect vital organs, and they insulate tissues. The science behind fats involves carbon bonds and hydrogen molecules. Fats act differently in the body depending on the structure of hydrogen carbons. The mono and the poly refer to only one, or more than one carbon bond when we talk about monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. At room temperature these fats are liquid, and when they are chilled those fats solidify. Think about avocados staying hard when refrigerated and ripening on the counter at room temperature.
Avoiding Trans Fats Because Hydrogen is Added to the Fat
Eating food through a window is generally a bad idea because fast foods are more likely to contain trans-fatty acid, also called trans fats, the bad fats found in fried foods, margarine, and baked goods. Trans fats have Hydrogen added to solidify the fat. The use of Hydrogen for consistency in food preparation, baking, and preserving the food for later consumption. These artificial trans fats can be found in commercially baked and fried foods made with vegetable shortening. An example of bad foods with artificial trans fats is fries and donuts.
Trans fats are linked to several negative health consequences. Increased LDL (bad) cholesterol, memory loss, heart disease, weight gain, and obesity are all correlated to trans fats.
What We Learned About Healthy Fats Since the 1950s
Looking back in modern history, many industries have advanced over time, research, and studied results. This is true not only of medicine, but also health, weight loss, and the food industries. American diets went from more simply prepared meals with natural ingredients to easy on-the-go foods. The fast and processed food that became cheap and easy was full of unhealthy additives and trans fats, with that extra Hydrogen, making it difficult for the body to metabolize.
1950s physiologist, Ancel Keys, conducted a poorly run and biased study finding that dietary fat and cholesterol directly caused heart disease. That was the platform launching the “low-fat” diet era, especially because the United States government acknowledged and promoted these errant fat-free diets, which did more harm and helped open the door to obesity and heart disease.
Research Article: Oxford Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, How the Ideology of Low-Fat Conquered America
The Failure of "Low-Fat" Diets of Increased Carbohydrates and Sugars
The 1980s were the years of low-fat diets and exercise. Especially by the mid-80s when VCRs became common in homes, we had workout tapes and more gyms for everyday friends and neighbors. As people studied the available information, they learned the wrong thing about nutrition and metabolism. All the low-fat foods are loaded in carbs and sugars. Why? Because when fat is removed from food so is the taste, so the increased carbs and sugar were supposed to make food taste better. That said, most can also taste the artificial sweeteners and ingredients in low-fat food; it just does not taste the same as the real thing. Additionally, your body knows what to do and how to metabolize whole foods that have not been processed with additives and artificial ingredients. For example, eating an apple is better than an apple-flavored gummy candy that your body does not recognize, cannot metabolize, and turns into fat.
There are many articles online from health journals and fitness industry thought leaders who confirm the failure of low-fat diets and show how they caused weight gain in the United States where over 60% of Americans are overweight or obese and heart disease is the leading cause of death.
Research Article: Harvard School of Public Health, Have Low-Fat Diets Made Us Fatter?
Combating Obesity and Heart Disease, Eating Healthy Fats
When eating proper whole foods not processed and made with artificial ingredients and sweeteners, we can get our blood sugar, metabolism, and fat reducing and burning systems back in proper working order. It may be a challenge losing weight from excess carbohydrates and sugars but once it happens, keeping a proper weight by eating a proper diet becomes easy with newly developed habits and real food that tastes great.
Read Our Article, Alcohol, and Weight: Why Drinking Slows Weight Loss
Monosaturated Fats: Avocado, Olives, and Almonds
Now that nutritionists and consumers better understand the importance of eating healthy fats, there are many options. We all know how much people are into Avocado toast and learning to enjoy their olives and almonds as snacks on their own and with healthy meals. Avocados are also a great source of fiber and since they grow all year long, they are an affordable smart addition to anyone’s healthy eating plans to lose weight.
Polyunsaturated Fats: Fish, Seeds, and Walnuts
Losing weight tastes good when fish, seeds, and walnuts are ingredients in your lunch or dinner menu. Salmon is full of good monounsaturated fats and proteins. While it might first take some getting used to, seeds and nuts like walnuts are natural sources of healthy fats and it makes it easier to lose weight and keep it off when we keep eating these natural foods. Seeds and nuts can be mixed in salads and all kinds of recipes that are becoming much more common as people learn to eat correctly with healthy fats.
Saturated Fats: Cheese, Milk/Dairy, and Meat
In the correct servings, like everything else, saturated fats like cheese, dairy, and meats are good for your weight loss when balanced with unsaturated fats. Of course, many interested industries spread fear about eating cheese, milk, and meats. We see advertisements for plant-based meat substitutes, and new forms of milk to entertain any diet. While alternatives to saturated fats might not all be a bad idea, not giving the body the proper healthy fats, it needs can interrupt current and permanent weight loss.
Smaller U Weightloss Helps You Eat Healthy Fats with their Whole Food Nutrition Program
Planning healthy meals with fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats takes time and many do not know where to start. The great thing about Smaller U Weightloss is they plan the optimum nutritious delicious meals and provide high-quality whole foods to keep weight loss under control and learn long-term healthy meal preparation and planning. Get great meals with healthy fats at Smaller U Weightloss.
Get Fit with Healthy Fats and Nutritional Meals at Smaller U Weightloss.