Eating Healthy Fats to Lose Weight
Posted by Dr. Della Parker on July 5, 2016
According to Dr. Mark Hyman, author of Eat Fat, Get Thin, eating the right type of fat can help you get lean and healthy. People have been told for years that saturated fats are bad and vegetable oils are good….Wrong! Our bodies need fat for growth development and cell functions, transporting vitamins, and forming essential hormones. Get the facts about fats below to boost your metabolism, stop cravings, and stimulate fat burning.
Sugar, not fat, makes you fat
The average American eats 152 pounds of sugar and 146 pounds of flour (which converts to sugar) every year. That’s nearly a pound of sugar and flour combined every day! More sugar means your cells become numb to insulin’s “call.” Your body pumps out more and more insulin to pull your blood-sugar levels back down. You can’t burn all the sugar you eat. Inevitably, your body stores it as fat, creating insulin resistance and overall metabolic havoc, among other mayhem.
Dietary fat is more complex than sugar
There are some 257 names for sugar, but despite very minor variations, they all create the same damage. In other words, sugar is sugar is sugar; it all wreaks havoc on your health. Fat is more complex. We have saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and even trans fats, not to mention subcategories within each group. Some fats are good, others neutral and, yes, a few are bad.
Low-fat diets tend to be heart-unhealthy, high-sugar diets
When people eat less fat, they tend to eat more starch or sugar instead, and this actually increases their levels of the small, dense cholesterol that causes heart attacks. Studies show 75 percent of people who end up in the emergency room with a heart attack have normal overall cholesterol levels. But what they do have is pre-diabetes or Type II diabetes.
Saturated fat is not your enemy
A review of all the research on saturated fat published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found no correlation between saturated fat and heart disease. As with all fats, quality becomes key here. The fats in a fast-food bacon feedlot cheeseburger will have an entirely different effect than saturated fat in coconut oil. Let’s stop classifying it all as the same.
Some fats are unhealthy
Unhealthy fats include trans fat and inflammatory vegetable oils. Unfortunately, these fats have increased in our diet – and they make us fatter and contribute to inflammation, which plays a role in nearly every chronic disease on the planet.
We all need more omega-3
About 99 percent of Americans are deficient in these critical fats. Ideal ways to get them include eating wild or sustainably raised cold-water fish (at least two servings weekly), buying omega-3 rich eggs, and taking an omega-3 supplement twice a day with breakfast and dinner that contains 500 – 1,000 milligrams of omega-3 fats (a ratio of roughly 300 EPA to 200 DHA is ideal). You’ll find several quality professional omega-3 supplements in my store.
Eating fat can make you lean
Healthy cell walls made from high-quality fats are better able to metabolize insulin, which keeps blood sugar better regulated. Without proper blood sugar control, the body socks away fat for a rainy day. The right fats also increase fat burning, cut your hunger and reduce fat storage. Eating the right fats makes you lose weight, while eating excess sugar and the wrong fats make you fat.
Dr. Della Parker promotes what she calls the Real Food Diet. To follow the real food diet or a modified paleo diet you basically need to eat real food! So here it is… Meat, vegetables, and fruit. This is why our stomach pH is acidic and we have teeth meant for shredding and tearing. Animal protein provides you with nutrients, amino acids, and collagen that cannot be found in other foods. Click to learn more about this Real Food Diet.
Amy Hardesty is an Integrative Nutritionist at Stellar Health & Wellness. Read how Amy provides three essentials for weight loss.
At Stellar Health and Wellness, we are moms and know how much work moms do. If you are a mom and want to focus on your wellness, contact Dr. Della Parker, Integrative Nutritionist Amy Hardesty, or Massage Therapist Yvonne Schroeder for an appointment today or call 503-344-6631.
SRC: Click to learn more Facts about Fats.