Diet Guidelines: Fats

Low-fat, high carbohydrate diets are not working; they are actually making you unhealthy and fat. The best diet recommendation is to eat the right ratio of fat, protein and carbohydrates. Here are some guidelines on fat:

•  You must eat fat to be healthy. Healthy fats are found in nature, in their closest to natural, whole form:
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Avocados
  • Olives
  • Seaweed
  • Dark leafy greens
  • Corn
  • Grains, wheat, rice, barley
  • Legumes
  • Animal products
  • Dairy products
  • Coconuts

• Low-fat, high carbohydrate diets will actually make you unhealthy and fatter.
• Avoid all types of fat substitutes. Eat BUTTER, not some non-food formula yellow goo. Natural IS healthy, others are not. Non-organic dairy of any kind can be scary, so spring for that extra dollar per pound to get organic butter, or find bulk Amish butter (often less expensive than grocery store butter).
• Avoid bad oils. This takes in pretty much anything you’ll find on the grocery store shelf. You can use the “bad oil” test: does it have an odor? Does it have a distinctive flavor? If NO, it’s bad. Grocery store oils start out rancid and are then cooked at 400+ degrees until they are clear and have no odor or flavor. Yummy.
• In general, avoid oils that are packaged in clear containers. Light breaks down oils, however if the oil has been high-temperature treated (as above) then it doesn’t matter about the light.
• Avoid foods cooked in high-temperature “mystery oil” at restaurants. If it’s pan-fried in olive oil, that might be great, but shun the deep fryer.
• Eat a good balance of all fats: Saturated Fat, Mono Unsaturated Fat and Poly Unsaturated Fat. Most people eat way too much Omega 6 fats and not Omega 3 fats, at a 20:1 ratio instead of a healthy 2:1 ratio. So change your ratios, especially if you have problems with inflammation. You can up your Omega 3 intake by eating:
  • Cold water, wild caught fish (such as salmon, mackerel, herring)
  • Flax seeds (Read more about how to use flax seed and get great recipe ideas)
  • Also you can ask your health care professional about what supplements can help balance your Omega 6 and Omega 3 oils, such as Standard Process Tuna Omega Oil and Calamari Oil.
• Saturated fat is NOT bad for you. The best saturated fat you can eat is cold pressed, unprocessed, unfiltered coconut oil.
• Limit damaged fats such as those made with vegetable oils: corn, soy, safflower and canola.
• Olive oil is great oil, but don’t use it in high heat cooking.
• Watch out for trans fats in processed foods. Don’t just go by the nutrition label, also check the ingredients list. If you see the words “partially hydrogenated” put that food back on the shelf! No matter what the packaging says it will contain trans fats. Some common sources of partially hydrogenated foods are:
  • Fast foods
  • Doughnuts
• Processed foods with partially hydrogenated oils
• Don’t ever cook with Flax seed oil. This oil is so unstable that any heat will damage it and you will lose all its health benefits.

More Information

Fantastic and Incredible Fats, We Need Them! Explains how our body uses fats to keep us healthy. Also helps identifying all the different types of fats and why we need to eat them all, even saturated fat!

Good Fats Gone Bad Explains how fats become damaged and why we need to balance fats properly.

Video of Mary Toscano, certified nutrition educator, explaining why pregnant mothers MUST eat enough Omega 3 fats:

Other Nutrition Articles:

Eat your Protein! Stay Healthy! This article discusses why we need protein, what protein really is and how much we need to consume on a daily basis.

Nutritional Challenges of Vegetarianism As much as vegetarians want to be healthy, they can have some major challenges, especially if you don’t know about combining foods to make a complete protein. This is a must read for all vegetarians/vegans.

Soy is Not Your Friend All the hype about soy and its health benefits is simply not true. You are being misled. If you eat soy and soy products, please read this article and the others linked from it. You’ll be glad you did!