March 22, 2011 –
If you haven’t memorized the (5) key things that are the core ingredients to a healthy diet, I will review them again.
1) Whole Grains
2) Fruits
3) Vegetables
4) Lean Proteins
5) Healthy Fats
Healthy Fats? Yes, healthy fats. If you were like me, you have no idea what a healthy fat is. Aren’t all fats bad for you? there are two types of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats are the ones to mostly avoid as the body cannot easily convert them into useful energy. As you might expect, these fats are found in butter, chicken skin, whole milk, cheese, and red meat. The body does require a small amount of saturated fat for cellular function. Unsaturated fats include mono and poly. The body can more readily use these fats as they do not “solidify”within the digestive or circulatory system.
Some good material came out from Beachbody this week on this topic and I wanted to share it with those who have not seen it. Why reinvent the wheel when the experts have detailed it out so nicely?
Healthy Fats are a critical and necessary part of your diet. The (5) examples they use in the article below are all staples in my diet. Below there is also a short video below by Danny Teeson. Unfortunately, it does not allow you to embed it in your website, so just click below and it will take you to it.
Good Fat / Bad Fat – Danny Teeson for Thin Kitchen
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By Whitney Provost
You might think that to lose weight, you need to cut the fat out of your meals. After all, fat is higher in calories than protein and carbs, and low-fat diets have been popular since the Senate Nutrition Committee first recommended them in the late 1970s. But research shows that a moderate-fat diet (with about 35 percent of calories consumed coming from fat) will help you drop pounds permanently, feel full longer, and avoid bingeing. The trick is to eat the right kind of fat to increase satisfaction and boost weight loss. Here’s why it’s important to eat fat—and we offer five of the best fat sources to add to your diet.
How eating fat will help you lose fat
In 2008, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel found that people who followed low-fat diets lost less weight than people who followed low-carb or moderate-fat diets. The low-fat group lost an average of 6.5 pounds over 2 years, but the low-carb and moderate-fat groups lost about 10 pounds. Women did especially well on the moderate-fat diet, losing an average of 13 pounds during the study.
Fat is an important element in weight loss for several reasons:
Eating more fat may also help you stick to your diet longer. In a study conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, participants got either 20 percent of their calories from fat or 35 percent of their calories from fat. After 6 months, both groups had lost weight. But after 18 months, only 20 percent of the people in the low-fat group were still following the diet, compared with 54 percent of the people in the moderate-fat group. Likewise, the subjects in the moderate-fat group had maintained their weight loss, while the low-fat group participants had gained most of the weight back.
If you reach for a box of low-fat or fat-free crackers or cookies when you want to lose weight, you may actually be sabotaging your diet. Manufacturers frequently replace fat with sugar in packaged food items to make them taste better. You think you’re making a good decision by eating fat-free products, but the excess sugar and refined flour can lead to fatigue, cravings, mood swings, and weight gain caused by the overproduction of insulin, the fat-storage hormone. As a snack, a sliced apple with some peanut butter or a salad with oil and vinegar dressing would be a better weight loss choice. The complex carbs and healthy fats will maintain your blood sugar levels, boost your energy, and keep you satisfied longer.
What kind of fat should you eat?
To get lean, you need to eat the right kind of fat. Avoid saturated and trans fats (which are found in red meat, full-fat dairy products, and many packaged foods), and instead choose monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Here are some of the best sources of fat to help you reach your weight goal.
Making room for fat
Certain fats might be considered necessary for health, but that’s not a cue to overindulge. At 9 calories per gram, fat is a more concentrated energy source than either protein or carbohydrates (each has 4 calories per gram). You need to be mindful of your overall caloric intake if you want to eat more fat and lose weight. But when you feel full and satisfied after eating the right kinds of fat, you’ll probably find it a bit easier to manage your calories.