Good fats, bad fats, saturated, unsaturated, trans-fats – which fats are good for you?

For decades we have heard that fats should be avoided at all cost. Fat has always allegedly, been the problem in our diets. It has been blamed for high cholesterol levels, blood pressure and heart disease as well as the obvious weight gain that we so desperately try to avoid.

Since then a lot has changed. The ‘experts’ now agree that a little fat in your diet doesn’t do as much harm as once thought and that we should all be having a bit more of the good fat variety in our diet. They have discovered that weight gain, high cholesterol and blood pressure, risk of heart disease and diabetes are actually exacerbated by sugar and refined carb intake than by fat. Now they say that it is sugar that makes you put on weight and excess weight is associated with the above conditions. Bottom line. Sugar makes you fat, fat doesn’t.

Now don’t run away with this and think that you can happily eat your cream cakes and that they will do you good! Firstly cakes contain sugar and lots of carbs so that’s a no-no, but also the cream in your cakes is not the type of fat you want to be eating. That fat will make you fat and very unhealthy.

So which fats are good for you?

Fat
Fat comes in two forms: Saturated and unsaturated. As a rule of thumb you should try to eat more unsaturated fat and less saturated fat and avoid trans fats as much as possible. (Trans fats are artificial fats that are formed when oil goes through a process called hydrogenation, which makes the oil more solid in room temperature known as hardening).

Here are some examples of saturated and unsaturated fats.

Saturated fats are found in:

fatty cuts of meat
meat products, including sausages and pies
butter, ghee and lard
cheese, especially hard cheese
cream, soured cream and ice cream
some savoury snacks and chocolate confectionery
biscuits, cakes and pastries

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature.

Although a few saturated fats are now not deemed as bad for you as once thought, care still should be taken to not over consume these as they can raise cholesterol levels. Depending on the diet you’re having, whether healthy or unhealthy, you may not benefit from having too many saturated fats if you are eating other foods that can also raise cholesterol levels.

How can you lower your intake of saturated fats?
You can choose to buy leaner cuts of meat, remove chicken skin and drop the mayo. BEWARE some foods that say ‘low-fat’ have added sugar and salt to make them more tasty.

Unsaturated fats are found in:

oily fish such as salmon, sardines and mackerel
nuts and seeds
olive oil
avocados

Unsaturated fats are liquid in room temperature.

Unsaturated fat, especially in the form of monounsaturated fat, helps transport and absorb vitamins such as Vitamin A and Vitamin D. It helps to clean up the arteries of bad fats (cholesterol). It helps with brain cognition and memory, improves moods (we could all use that sometimes!) and has been known to alleviate depression. Fat is responsible for hormone production. Fat makes you feel satiated (feeling full) and having a correct amount of healthy fat in your diet means you will not binge as much.

How can you have more unsaturated fats?
Drizzle olive oil over you salad and veg. Eat a handful of nuts a day. Eat olives or half an avocado. Choose oily fish at least twice a week.

Thank goodness that the ‘experts’ have finally realised the benefits of fat and that it is essential that we keep good fats and small amounts of saturated fats in our diets.

Believe me we need fats. It’s sugar and processed carbohydrates that we do not need.

So keep healthy fats on your plate and ditch the sugar!

DISCLAIMER: I must emphasise that fat will make you fat and unhealthy, even the good type of fat if you overeat it. It only works as part of a healthy diet. So please take care not to over consume fats of any kind!

Have a great day.

Sally x

Any questions? Want to book a 1:1 consultation?
Please email info@sallyhumphries.com or call 07983 033 310

Next week: Why you are bloated

Wednesday, 21 January 2015

A calorie is not a calorie

Are you calorie counting? Do you follow a point system diet where you have a certain daily allowance? In the effort to shed those few extra pounds, calculating what goes in to what goes out is a good way to keep track of where you are. However, it isn’t always as simple as that. Read on.

Have you ever heard the old adage that, ‘A calorie is a calorie’? A lot of diets are based on this premise that as long as you don’t go over your allowance it doesn’t matter what you eat. So eating the equivalent in doughnuts to what you would in vegetables is the same, as long as you don’t exceed the allowance.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that a 1,000 worth of doughnut calories will not do you any good but how does it work?

You see while all foods provide a certain amount of energy, the way these foods are metabolised is different and each food, even those that yield the same calorie amount to each other may still cause fat storage much more than the other.

Take for example protein and carbohydrate. Each yield 4 kcal of energy per gram but did you know that it takes twice or three times as long to digest protein and the process itself actually burns calories? So to eat protein you will burn calories just to digest it. You will also stay fuller for longer reducing your need to eat again soon. Double result! Carbohydrate on the other hand is pure energy. We need energy in the body for movement and organ function. Carbohydrate, including sugar is metabolised by the body quickly. Insulin makes sure of that and after glycogen has been stored in the muscles and liver the rest is stored as fat. It also can cause further carvings. Unless carbs are the non-refined types such as whole grain or from veggies, you’ll find that this food induces fat storage over any other food. Even fat.

"Even fat? But I thought fat was the main culprit with weight gain? I thought that when you eat fat you get fat?”

This is yet another myth. When you eat fat your body uses it for cell structure, hormone production, brain function, vitamin absorption and much more. Fats are essential in the diet and without them we can get sick and suffer from emotional disorders such as depression and memory loss. The problem is the type of fat that is eaten. If you eat good fats, high in monounsaturated and low in saturates you will be doing yourself a favour. Fat is also responsible for satiety (the feeling of being full) and taste. Low-fat diet foods are packed with sugar and salt to give them flavour to compensate for the lack of taste derived from fat.

Your body responds best to nourishment. It will stay content and full and burn more calories. Giving it low calorie foods that are in no way nutritious will defat the object. Even if you lose weight to start with, you will plateau over time and worst still you’ll lack lustre and vitality.

So, next time you are ‘calorie counting’, remember to consider: Is this a healthy option or just a low calorie option?

Healthy is best regardless of the calories.

Go be healthy!

Love Sal x

Next week: Which fats are good for you?