Would all of our weight loss troubles be solved by eliminating fat from our diet? I can assure you they wouldn't. Like carbs and proteins, fats play a vital role in our body. They provide us with a great source of energy, keep our skin soft and our brains healthy. They also help deliver fat soluble vitamins like A, D, K and E. Eliminating fat from your diet would mean all these vitamins would not be able to be absorbed by the body.
People have longed believed (thanks to a very outdated study by a man called Dr. Keys), that fat is bad and is the main cause of heart attacks. There have been many studies recently like this one (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20071648?dopt=AbstractPlus) that disprove this. It's only recently that the media have reported this and that the whole saturated fat being bad for us is a myth.
But anyways, back to the main point that fat doesn't make us fat. Dietary fats (the fat you eat from foods) do not directly turn into body fat the moment you eat it. Weight gain is basically caused by consuming more calories than we expend. One gram of fat contains 9 calories, whereas carbs and proteins both have 4 calories per gram. This is another reason why fats are demonised, because they are so easy to over consume. However, if you understand portion sizes and are aware of the amount of calories per serving, it will be very hard to over consume.
My next point is that not all fats are equal. We've already talked about saturated fat being falsely accused of causing heart disease, so these can be consumed. We also have mono/poly unsaturated fats which we all know are great for you. But then we have trans fats, these types of fat are ones you will want to avoid. They raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol! These fats are found in deep fat fried foods, margarines, biscuits, cakes, cookies and most processed foods.
And the next time you see a product marketed as "low fat" or "low calorie", I want you to ask yourself, is this REALLY going to be healthy for me? The short answer is no. With a bit of simple math, I will tell you why...
So "company A" has a product with 140 calories and 10g fat. This same company is going to make a "low fat" version, so they remove 10g of fat (thats 90 calories), but to keep the flavour of the product replace it with 10g of sugar/carb (thats 40 calories). So;
140 calories - 90 calories (from fat) = 50 calories.
50 calories + 40 calories (from added sugar) = 90 calories
As you can see, the original product contained 140 calories, but by removing fat and adding sugar, the company has been able to make a product that is only 90 calories, contains 0g fat and one that tastes near enough the same as the original. The only difference is that they can now market it as a "healthy" low calorie and low fat product.
But they've just added 2.5 teaspoons of sugar to the product, how are they allowed to market it as healthy? This, I just do not know. This is the reason I do what I do, to try and educate you all so we do not fall for their sly "tricks"!
So to conclude, fats do not make us fat, they are important for our health and we must be aware of how much we eat. A list of some healthy fats that you can include in your day to day meals include...
Avocados
Cheeses (I'm talking stuff like good quality cheddar, not the fake American style rubbery squares)
Coconut oil
Eggs
Full fat Greek yogurt
Full fat Milk
Grass fed butters
Grass fed meats
Nuts
Oily fish
Olive oil
Omega 3 supplements
Seeds
My next point is that not all fats are equal. We've already talked about saturated fat being falsely accused of causing heart disease, so these can be consumed. We also have mono/poly unsaturated fats which we all know are great for you. But then we have trans fats, these types of fat are ones you will want to avoid. They raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol! These fats are found in deep fat fried foods, margarines, biscuits, cakes, cookies and most processed foods.
And the next time you see a product marketed as "low fat" or "low calorie", I want you to ask yourself, is this REALLY going to be healthy for me? The short answer is no. With a bit of simple math, I will tell you why...
So "company A" has a product with 140 calories and 10g fat. This same company is going to make a "low fat" version, so they remove 10g of fat (thats 90 calories), but to keep the flavour of the product replace it with 10g of sugar/carb (thats 40 calories). So;
140 calories - 90 calories (from fat) = 50 calories.
50 calories + 40 calories (from added sugar) = 90 calories
As you can see, the original product contained 140 calories, but by removing fat and adding sugar, the company has been able to make a product that is only 90 calories, contains 0g fat and one that tastes near enough the same as the original. The only difference is that they can now market it as a "healthy" low calorie and low fat product.
But they've just added 2.5 teaspoons of sugar to the product, how are they allowed to market it as healthy? This, I just do not know. This is the reason I do what I do, to try and educate you all so we do not fall for their sly "tricks"!
So to conclude, fats do not make us fat, they are important for our health and we must be aware of how much we eat. A list of some healthy fats that you can include in your day to day meals include...
Avocados
Cheeses (I'm talking stuff like good quality cheddar, not the fake American style rubbery squares)
Coconut oil
Eggs
Full fat Greek yogurt
Full fat Milk
Grass fed butters
Grass fed meats
Nuts
Oily fish
Olive oil
Omega 3 supplements
Seeds
I hope this post has been helpful. Do let me know what you would like me to blog about next!
Hadee x
Twitter: @GymForWomen
Facebook: GymForWomen
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