The Fat Paradox: Eat Fat and You'll Lose Weight!
Eating fat is essential to reaching your ideal size. Fats do
not, as a friend recently suggested at lunch, go directly
from one’s mouth to the fat cells on the tummy and hips.
Of
course, anyone who overeats fat could gain weight. But when our
fat-phobic clients add fat back into their diet, their
stubborn weight starts coming off. So get ready to eat some
fat and reach your ideal size!
Dietary fat is an important component of a healthy diet. By
eating the right fats in the right proportions, you can
enjoy watching your own body fat melt away.
The Benefits
of Fat in Your Diet
Before we get into some of the nitty-gritty details about
dietary fat, let’s list some of the known benefits of fat:
- Fat is required to manufacture hormones. Without fat, your
hormones get out of whack. This includes your thyroid and
the regulation of women’s hormonal cycles, including
menopause. Men require optimum hormonal activity for
high-energy sex and good muscle mass.
- Fats are required for proper insulin function.
- Fat is necessary for red blood cell formation.
- Fat lubricates your joints.
Aside from this list of benefits, fats also help satisfy
your hunger because they take longer to digest than
carbohydrates or protein. And, let’s not forget that fats
carry the flavor of food and feel satisfying in the mouth.
Fats are the most highly concentrated form of fuel. They
contain more calories per ounce than either proteins or
carbs.
How Much Fat Is Too Much?
Be sure to eat about 20 to 30 percent of your daily food
intake as fat.
Studies show that the average American diet consists of
about 39 percent fat. Wow! That is more than enough. The
American Heart Association suggests we keep our fat intake
to 30 percent or less.
Types of Fat
Fats come in three basic forms: saturated,
polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated.
Limit saturated fats to 10 percent of your total food
intake, with the rest of your fat intake coming from
monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Consume at least
10 percent, preferably 20 percent, of total calories from
food sources or supplements with essential fatty acids (EFAs).
Fats to Avoid
Stay away from most low-fat processed foods. Search them out
in your house and toss them. True, they’re low in fat, but
they simply can’t deliver on the implied promise of a lean
trim body.