Cutting
Fat Wisely
Fat
Facts
Fat in the diet has
always been looked at with scorn. We’re so used to being told that fat is bad
for us; that the idea that it is actually good is difficult to digest. But hold
on! There's good fats.. and there’s bad fats. It’s the good fat that's good for us. Now what’s this
good and bad fat? What's good about fat, you may ask!
Quality matters just as
much as quantity when it comes to consuming fats. Diets with a higher
percentage of fats - if they are the good sort - can actually be better for you
than their low-fat counterparts, according to a report issued by the American
Heart Association (AHA).
Dietary
Fat
Let’s look at dietary
fat in little detail. There’s saturated fat and unsaturated fat. More on
saturated fat later but for now let’s assume that it’s the fat that everyone tells
you to stay away from. Besides other health problems, it can sabotage a weight
loss program. It's easy to understand why. At nine calories per gram, it packs
more than twice the calories of carbohydrate and protein.
But wait! It’s wrong to equate only dietary fat with body fat. You can get fat by eating excess carbohydrates and protein too. Excess calories from any source is responsible for weight gain.
Trans Fat
And worse than the saturated fat found naturally in meat, butter, cream, ice cream and other animal and dairy products, is the man-made Trans Fat. Trans Fat is found in margarine, packaged food, pastries, fries, fast food and all bakery products. It’s a trend today to buy packaged foods, so read labels carefully to find foods you like that are low in Trans Fat.
Harmful Effects of Trans Fats
Trans fat is a cholesterol raising, heart weakening,
diabetes causing, belly building chemical.
It raises LDL and lowers HDL. Also raises blood levels of
other lipoproteins. The more lipoproteins in your blood greater the risk of
heart diseases.
The higher up on the ingredient list partially
hydrogenated veg oils is, the worse food it is for you
Saturated Vs. Unsaturated Fat
Then there is Unsaturated fat - the healthy fat that everyone is endorsing. Unsaturated fat comprises monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). While foods tend to contain a mixture of fats, MUFA is the primary fat found in olive, canola, and sesame oils, avocados, almonds, pistachios, peanuts and peanut butter. PUFA is the main fat in corn, cottonseed, safflower oils, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil, soybeans and soybean oil, flaxseed and flaxseed oil and seafood.
Benefits
of MUFA
It helps lower LDL
cholesterol, the kind that can build up in arterial walls and increase your
risk of heart attack.
Lowers blood
pressure, improves blood clotting and normalizes blood insulin levels
Lowering
carbohydrate intake and eating more MUFA foods is said to cut abdominal fat
Developers of the Flat
Belly Diet suggest eating MUFA at every meal. MUFA targets
belly fat. It helps control satiety
But you still have to
consume limited amounts of this healthy fat to avoid adding too many calories
to the diet.
PUFA
It supplies Essential Fatty
Acids (EFAs). Our bodies are incapable of producing EFAs so it has to derive
them from food. EFAs include linoleic
acid and alpha-linolenic acid. Linoleic
and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) are required to support growth and reproduction. The
retina and nerves need ALA. An adequate supply of EFAs is a
basic dietary requirement.
Effect
of EFA Deficiency in Animals
Reproduction fails in
males. Females may become pregnant but frequently miscarry and rarely carry a
litter to term
Wounds don’t heal
because of failure of formation of connective tissue
Normal growth fails to
occur
All body membranes
become exceptionally permeable. Skin loses its ability to prevent passage of
water. Large amounts of water are lost across the skin, the animal is thirsty
but the urine is concentrated.
Kidneys hypertrophy and
are prone to hemorrhage and renal failure
Liver undergoes fatty
degeneration
Immune system is
defective and there is susceptibility to infection
Omega
3 Vs. Omega6 fats
But not all PUFAs are
created equal. It is of two types – Omega 3 and Omega6. Simply replacing
dietary saturated fats with polyunsaturated fatty acids might not be enough to
lower the risk of heart disease. To obtain the heart benefits of PUFA, the
emphasis should be on alpha linoleic acid, an Omega-3 fatty acid, and not on
linoleic acid, which is an Omega-6 fatty acid.
Balancing
Act
The critical factor in any diet is the balance between Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Balance of Omega-6 to Omega 3 in the ratio of 3:1 is
important to reduce inflammation, risk of heart disease and stroke. Omega-6
fats are naturally found in all vegetables. So it is unhealthy to cook in
sunflower, safflower and other vegetable oils.
Omega-3
Fats
Omega-3
fatty acids come in more than one form. The best forms of Omega-3 fatty acids -
DHA and EPA - are found in fish. Salmon, mackerel, herring (bhing), sardines
and tuna are good sources. Omega-3 fats is also important for a child's brain
development and eyesight, and heart health. DHA and EPA have the strongest
health benefits than ALA found in flaxseed and walnuts. The body can change a
small amount of ALA into EPA and DHA, but not very well.
Heart-friendly
Omega-3 fatty acids
help your heart in several ways:
They curb
inflammation in the blood vessels (and the rest of your body)
Lower your
level of triglycerides
Curb plaque
buildup inside the blood vessels.
Curb joint
pain and stiffness in people with rheumatoid arthritis. A diet high in omega-3s
may also boost the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs
Beware: Avoid
the Omega-3 Hype
Many food products now
boast that they have added omega-3 to support various aspects of your health.
But be aware that the amount of omega-3 they contain may be minimal. They may
contain the ALA form of omega-3, which hasn't yet shown the same health
benefits as EPA and DHA.
