Which fats are bad and which are good for you?
Let's find out which fats are good for the body. Fats are one of the key components of a healthy diet. Many people still mistakenly believe that fat is evil because it is the most caloric and they reduce it in their diet. However, fats can be different: harmful or beneficial. And some of them are vital for us.
For example, without omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids our existence is impossible, and fat-soluble vitamins cannot be absorbed at all if you don't eat fatty foods.
Can I eat fat to lose weight?
In the past, the rationale for reducing fat intake for weight loss was that fats contain about twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates or proteins. In fact, foods such as avocados, vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, and oily wild fish help the body absorb stored fat. They improve appetite, make you feel satiated and satisfied after eating and increase your mood.
Eating healthy fats when losing weight is not just healthy, but necessary. Healthy fats strengthen the immune and cardiovascular systems, improve metabolism and brain function, restore hormonal balance and reduce harmful inflammation in all body systems.
A list of foods that contain the healthiest fats
Gradually, studying the controversial topic and thinking about what foods contain healthy fats, I have formed a squeeze of recommendations on their proper choice:
1. Choose omega-3 fatty acids. omega-3 essential fatty acids fight inflammation. The body is not able to produce them on its own, so you need to get them from your diet. Good sources are wild salmon, walnuts, and chia seeds. It is very important to store omega-3 sources correctly so that they do not oxidize and lose their useful properties.
Prefer only cold-pressed olive oil. Refining or oil processing processes such as solvent extraction, bleaching, deodorization (when oil is stripped of its odor by distilling it with water vapor at temperatures above 230 degrees), hydrogenation (which produces hydrogenated trans fats widely used in cooking) make oil not only useless for health, but often dangerous. Don't be afraid of the fact that olive oil is fat. The fact is that olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat, which is essential for our health. It contains healthy fats, not unhealthy fats.
2. look for a rich flavor. "Any real butter should taste, have a distinct color and smell," says Lisa Howard, author of The Big Book of Healthy Cooking Oils. Heavily processed and "refined" oils are tasteless, almost odorless and clear in color.
Pay attention to the quality of animal fats. Butter from milk of cows fed on natural feed. Melted butter, from which milk solids with lactose and casein have been removed. These are all good sources of animal fat.
4. look for variety. Olive oil, for example, will provide a healthy dose of oleocanthal, an antioxidant with proven anti-inflammatory properties. But there are other vegetable oil options that can be used in place of olive oil: sunflower, sesame oil, flaxseed oil. Adding sliced avocado to your salad will help your body better absorb the carotenoids from the other foods in this salad and provide an extra dose of fiber and protein.
If you stick to the advice to consume healthy fats for weight loss, you will surely make salads. Remember the recommendation extravirginonly. Only cold-pressed olive oil retains its healthy properties. A number of studies prove the ability of olive oil to resist certain types of cancer, prevent the development of diabetes, lower blood pressure, strengthen the immune system, improve skin condition and slow down the aging process. But above all, we value olive oil because it significantly reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks, protecting our cardiovascular system from atherosclerosis and "bad" cholesterol. It's all about the high content of oleic acid, polyphenols and natural antioxidant vitamin E. Or cook with coconut oil.
5. Watch the quality of the fat source. If not stored properly, oil releases chemicals that cause oxidative stress in human cells and can provoke degenerative diseases. In addition, it is important to choose organic fats: toxins are often concentrated in fats and oils.
6. Avoid high temperatures during cooking. If you heat oil to a temperature where it begins to smoke, free radicals and other toxic compounds will form in it.
Thus, taking into account all the useful tips and choosing what tastes good to you, that is, combining theory and practice, you can decide for yourself which fats are the healthiest for the body.
You must be logged in to post a comment.