Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat – This Does

Fat doesn’t make you Fat?

Many people believe that the best way to lose fat is simply by cutting out fats from their diets. They have visions of the fat in their food clogging up their arteries.

Most diet enthusiasts or people trying to eat healthy will look at the back of a packet see a high fat content and put it straight back on the shelf.

I have heard people say “as long as its 3% fat or less I can have it”.

They become blind to the fact that we need fats in our diet and are only concerned in avoiding anything high in fat.

Big mistake.

Your brain is over 60% fat.

The Fat you eat gets turned into the building materials for your hormones. If you want to feel good its pretty important.

A low fat diet will make you feel like rubbish and throw your hormones out of balance.

There is a massive problem.

The diet advice given by the government trained advisers like dieticians and some nutritionists is to eat high carbohydrate, low fat diet. Unfortunately after many years we now know this makes people more overweight not less.

Say NO to Low Fat

There are many low in fat substitutes which I will tell you to stay well clear of, things like low fat crisps yoghurts and cereal bars I wouldn’t bother with.

Low fat more often than not means high in sugar and high in toxins. Exactly what we are trying to avoid. Toxins clog up our cells and carbohydrates are the real offenders in making us overweight.

I will say it now, a lot of people probably need to be eating more fat and less carbohydrates.

It is important though that it is the right type of fats and carbs.

There are good fats and bad fats, I’m sure you have all heard of saturated fats and trans-fats and You should stay well clear of these.

There are good fats out there though; you should stick to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats whilst reducing your intake of trans-fats and saturated fats, there is a reason that these fats were banned from food products in certain places around the world!

It is true if you ate a diet high in fatty foods such as chips, burgers, pastries, pizza and fried chicken, or anything you buy from McDonalds or KFC you would get fat and ill.

However if you want lots of energy and health the types of fat you need to be consuming include nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocados and fish.

Coconut oil is a good product to buy, you should use it for cooking and it supplies a good source of omega 3 fatty acids which are anti inflammatory. Coconut milk is also another good ingredient you should try! If you struggle to include fish in your diet I would recommend purchasing a good quality fish oil supplement.

You should also eat good quality eggs and red meat as there are lots of hormone boosting fats in there. The cholesterol found in red meat and eggs can boost a mans testosterone significantly.

You should swap margarine for normal organic butter.

Why do we need fats?

Fats make up a crucial part of a well balanced diet, a well balanced diet will help you with fat loss, so really eating fat can help you lose fat. Combining your good fats with some quality protein and good carbs is a recipe for success.

Fats are necessary for energy, if you cut out all of your fats you would feel tired and fatigued and be unable to do anything properly. Fat helps to boost your immune system, aids brain functioning, stops harmful diseases and without it your hair, skin, nails and joints would suffer. Eating fats is a great way of filling you up and helps to prevent you from snacking on junk foods, as well as that, fats are rich in flavour!

What Does Actually Make Us Fat?

As I have already mentioned carbohydrates in excess are one of the main contributors to what makes people overweight.

Along with your body being toxic from the many years of inadvertent intake of the 100 thousand chemicals found in our bodies, our hormones play a big part in our ability to gain or lose weight.

Its all linked obviously as one thing affects the other, becoming toxic leads to hormone imbalances.

Often the reason why people become overweight is through their sedentary lifestyle and their carbohydrate intake.

Popular meals amongst people who are trying to eat healthy but don’t have the knowledge to do so would include things like pasta dishes, baguettes with white bread and rice dishes.

The problem with carbs is usually the type and quantity.

Poor type and too much of it.

When carbohydrates enter the body they trigger an increase in our insulin levels, the insulin helps the body convert the food you ate into energy for the body to use called glucose. Insulin is a growth hormone.

When these insulin levels are constantly increased by the high carb meals that we eat it can lead us to store these foods as fat, particularly around the stomach area.

Things like chocolate, sweets, bread, pasta, beer(is mostly sugar) and biscuits (products containing wheat and gluten) are very inflammatory (bad!) and have a greater potential to be stored as fat.

The amount of carbohydrates you eat need to be limited and the types of carbohydrates you eat need to be looked at. As a rule of thumb you should try and eat more carbs on exercise days where your body needs more energy.

As mentioned you need to address the types of carbs you eat, try swapping normal white rice or pilau rice for brown rice, wild rice or basmati rice, noodles for rice noodles and normal pasta for rice pasta. If you are going to eat bread then try and eat rye bread or spelt bread and have just a couple of slices a week.

Stay away from the refined carbs and things high in sugar if you want to lose fat.

When you do reduce your carb intake this increases the importance of fats, without your usual ‘filling’ carbs you could feel very hungry, as you probably know feeling hungry all the time will eventually lead to snacking.

So eating fats helps to fill the void left by cutting out those unhealthy carbs. Also if you do have a sweet tooth like me, try a couple of squares of 70-80% organic dark chocolate 2-3 times a week when you feel the need for it, this food is a great way or curbing your hunger.

So there you have it, fat is not the enemy and without it we can’t function.

Rather than looking for the low fat option of everything why not just have enough high fat foods to keep us going. Low fat foods can leave us hungry where the full fat versions will satisfy the hunger more and damage our body less.

Hopefully I have opened your eyes a bit to the importance of fat and given you a bit more information about carbohydrates and why you need to keep an eye on them. You now have all the information you need to maintain a well balanced diet.

Thanks for reading,

Richard Clarke