The Skinny on Fat
You've shied away from eating it and worked on the treadmill to burn it off. But fat, it turns out, can be your friend. "Your body needs it in order to function," says Barbara Roberts, MD, director of the Women's Cardiac Center at the Miriam Hospital in Providence and author of
How to Keep from Breaking Your Heart. "Fats help you absorb vitamins A, D, and E, and they are vital for your nervous system." Not only that, women who ate a
Mediterranean diet filled with healthy monounsaturated fat lowered their risk of heart disease by 29 percent, according to a new study in
Circulation.
Of your total daily calories, 25 to 30 percent should come from fat. The keys: Pick good-for-you fats, and limit the bad kinds. Don't know a saturated from a poly? Here's the skinny on which fats to eat and which to avoid.
The Good: Unsaturated Fats
Monounsaturated Fats What they do: These fats, known as MUFAs, raise good HDL cholesterol, lower bad LDL cholesterol, and protect against the buildup of plaque in your arteries. They also help prevent
belly fat, according to research.
Where you'll find them: In
olive oil and olives, canola oil, almonds, cashews, peanuts, peanut butter, sesame seeds, and
avocados.
How much you need: Most of the fat you eat should be unsaturated, like MUFAs. "Just two to
three tablespoons of olive oil a day can raise HDL levels and protect against heart disease," says Dr. Roberts.
Polyunsaturated FatsWhat they do: In addition to lowering your LDL, these fats contain essential
omega-3 fatty acids — which boost
brain function and may help strengthen your
immune system and
improve your mood — and
omega-6 fatty acids, which in small amounts can keep skin and eyes healthy.
Where you'll find them: Omega-3s are primarily in fish like salmon, mackerel, and herring, as well as canola oil,
flaxseed, walnuts, and tofu.
Omega-6s are in corn and safflower oil, corn-fed chicken and beef, and farmed fish.
How much you need: Most of the polys you eat should be omega-3s. Too much omega-6 can lead to inflammation, which is linked to heart disease. Trade vegetable oil for olive and canola oils, and eat grass-fed beef and wild-caught fish.
The Bad: Saturated Fats
What they do: They raise cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease.
Where you'll find them: In meat and poultry, in dairy products like cream,
butter, and whole and 2 percent milk, and in some plant foods like
coconut and palm oil.
How much you need: Limit saturated fat to less than 10 percent of your total daily
calories. One easy way to cut back: "Remove any hard fat you can see, such as the skin on chicken," says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
What they do: Made from unsaturated fat that's been
chemically altered to prolong the shelf life of packaged foods, trans fats raise bad LDL and lower good HDL, increasing inflammation throughout the body. "They 100 percent promote heart disease," says Dr. Gerbstadt.
Where you'll find them: In shortening, margarine, doughnuts, french fries, and processed foods such as crackers, cookies, chips, and cakes.
How much you need: Zero. But know this: The FDA allows food manufacturers to claim that a product contains "zero
trans fats" if one serving of it has 0.5 grams of trans fats or less. "That means if you eat more than one serving, you could be getting a gram or more," warns Dr. Gerbstadt. Before buying foods, check the ingredient labels for "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" — trans fats' sneaky pseudonym.
Fight the Flab
"The average person has 10 billion to 20 billion fat cells," says Philipp Scherer, PhD, director of the Touchstone
Diabetes Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Researchers aren't sure what determines your number, but they do know genetics and lifestyle play a role. Eat too much for too long and your body can create new fat cells, says Susan K. Fried, PhD, director of the Adipocyte Core at the Boston Obesity
Nutrition Research Center at Boston University School of Medicine. "If you
lose weight, fat cells shrink, but they don't disappear."
To outfox your fat, follow a healthy, balanced
diet of lean
protein, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy, and whole grains. Do cardio and strength training regularly. And if you have
belly fat, which research has linked to an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and
diabetes, pick up your pace by doing
interval training four times a week: Alternate two minutes of sprinting with 60 seconds of
walking for half an hour.
Feeling Like You Need a Fat Fix?
You may have a "fat tooth." The tongue has a receptor for fat, just as it does for sweet and salty, research shows. "The richness and creaminess of foods like
ice cream and the texture of
chocolate can make them irresistible to us," says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. To curb your fat
cravings, eat every three hours, advises Emily Rubin, an RD at the Jefferson Digestive Disease Institute in Philadelphia. "Munch on lean
protein and
fiber-rich foods, such as chicken and vegetables, which keep you feeling full — and less likely to pig out."
Get-Slim Picks
Trying to
lose weight? "Have a small amount of fat at every
meal," says Katherine Zeratsky, an RD at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "It digests slowly, so you'll feel satisfied for a longer period of time, and you'll eat less overall." Reach for a few of these heart-healthy choices every day.
Almonds1 ounce (23 nuts): 163 calories, 14g fat (1g saturated)
Walnuts (chopped)
1/4 cup: 193 calories,18g fat (1g saturated)
Avocado 1/4 California avocado: 57 calories, 5g fat (1g saturated)
Olive Oil 1 tablespoon: 119 calories, 14g fat (2g saturated)
Peanut Butter (smooth)
1 tablespoon: 94 calories, 8g fat (2g saturated)
Olives (green or black)
8 jumbo olives: 54 calories, 5g fat (1g saturated)
Sunflower Seeds (unsalted, roasted, hulled) 1/4 cup: 186 calories, 16g fat (2g saturated)
Three Smart Swaps
Need to start small? Switch from...
- ...Regular bacon to turkey or Canadian bacon. "Pork bacon is loaded with saturated fat," says Emily Rubin, RD. Canadian and turkey bacon are much leaner choices.
- ...Stick margarine to tub — or even better, to butter. Stick margarine can have three times the trans fats the tub version does. Butter has no trans fats.
- ...Premium ice cream to low-fat. "Two scoops of the premium kind can have 11 grams of saturated fat — about half the amount you should eat for the entire day," warns Rubin. Low-fat ice cream can have less than one gram.
Source
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/tips/why-non-fat-isnt-the-answer/
