Bodybuilding Fat Loss

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Are All Saturated Fats Unhealthy?

Nope! Surprisingly, there are healthy fatty foods that you can eat...

And I know all about the confusing information out there -- it just drives me nuts. Tons of people say no this, no that and the real truth of the matter is you don't know what their actual agenda is...

So today, I am going to ask you to open up your mind because some of what I say is going to be contrary to the politically correct media and nutritional advice that is being dispense...

And yeah, many of the advice is being dispensed by doctors, so-called health experts and the granddaddy of them all -- the mass media.

The way I figure it out is all the usual suspects above treat everyone like you and me like mushrooms. Shovel manure over us and keep us in the dark with confusing and conflicting information.

To start with, we absolutely NEED healthy fats in our daily diet! It is so vitally important to our overall health. Did you know that fats are critically needed for all the cell membranes in our body? However, if you eat the processed foods that contains chemically altered fats -- guess what? Your cells ain't gonna be happy...

It means your cellular functions won't work right. It means your body has to work harder to find the right fats to repair and maintain the cells. It means you have greater risk of degenerative diseases.

You need healthy fats for creating energy, for breaking down vitamins and minerals. And so on and on...

In short, FATS are absolutely, critically needed for a lots of important functions in your body -- and if you listen the one of the most dangerous advice you hear from all those so-called health experts listed above... about following a restricted fat diet or even a no-fat diet...

Don't do it! You are putting yourself in great danger! It is one of the most unbelievable piece of garbage information about health that I have ever heard!

And if you think about it, or even followed that advice for a period of time... did you lose your body fat? I'm guessing no.

And no wonder... fat is also critical to digesting your food intake. You NEED healthy fats to lose body fat, to become lean and healthy. To be disease-free.

So don't fall for that clap trap. It is utter nonsense and I think the whole reasoning behind that is the hysteria that if you have excess body fat, restricting your fat intake will force your body to use up the internal fat. That simply isn't true.

Let's use some hard, cold facts. There is a researcher by the name of Dr. Mary Enig who is a P.H.D., and one of the leading experts on fats -- she said that there is very little scientific evidence supporting the theory that high fat diets is bad for us.

Let's use a real world example. Hundreds of years ago... the Pacific Islanders had a typical diet of mostly coconuts. As you know, Coconuts is saturated fats. And in spite of getting 75% to 66% of their total daily calories in Coconuts, these Pacific Islanders enjoyed a very healthy life -- free from heart diseases and obesity.

But modern Pacific Islanders eat typical western diets that are unhealthy and many of them are obese or fat... but that is another story for another time.

My point is, even if you eat a diet that is mostly saturated fats -- you would be healthier than anyone who followed a no-fat diet.

Another example would be the traditional diets of Eskimos. Their diet has the same proportion of fat as the Pacific Islanders did because they ate whale blubber, seal fat, and cold water fish. And Eskimos were famous for health and longevity!

I can also point to tribes in Africa -- the Masai tribes and Samburu tribes -- they ate a diet of whole milk, blood and meet. These folks enjoyed low body fat.

And don't forget about the Mediterranean diets which is very high in fats from Olive oil?

And then you can compare all the groups mentioned above with the North Americans -- a lot of them eat unhealthy western diets with little or unhealthy fats.

And guess which group is overweight and obese?

I think it is pretty clear from the evidence I pointed out above that many of the so-called experts who promote no-fat or low -fat diets don't know what they are talking about...

In fact, they say if you repeat it often enough... it must be true.

But we aren't sheep and we are much smarter then them... So we are going to look at the list of healthy fat choices that you can incorporate into your diet:

Coconut fat. Although it is 92% saturated fats, it is one of the healthiest natural fats you can consume. It is also an excellent cooking oil because saturated fats are more stable and don't oxidize as easily as the unsaturated fats do. Which can create free-radicals which can damage your body. Good sources of coconut fat is coconut milk, coconut oil or fresh coconuts.

My favorite source of oil -- extra virgin olive oil! It contains 16% saturated oils and 71% unsaturated oils. Extra virgin olive oil is from the first pressing of the olives and has a higher percentage of free-radical fights -- antioxidants. Unlike a lot of the other cooking oils, industrial solvents weren't used to extract the extra virgin olive oils. So it is much healthier for us!

Chocolate! More specifically, bittersweet chocolate which contains over 70% cocoa fats. It has lots of antioxidants and the cocoa butter contains about 59% saturated fats. This is important -- even though some folks prefer milk chocolates -- that chocolate isn't as beneficial as the dark, bittersweet chocolates. Milk chocolate has more sugar and corn sweetener which isn't good for you.

Avocados! One of my most favorite ingredients for my scrambled eggs in the morning. Avocados on the other hand is mostly monosaturated fats but it still has 25% saturated fats. But you can use avocados in your sandwich and salads.

Fish with high fat contents. I try to stick with wild caught fish such as salmon, sardines, herring and trout. They tend to have healthier diets and are much healthier sources of fats for us. Wild caught fish is a great source of Omega 3 which is important for our diets. And I'll have to talk about that another time.

Nuts! I love 'em. I like to snack on mixed nuts and dried fruits. No peanuts though... Nuts are a great source of healthy fats plus minerals. Try to avoid any nuts that were roasted in oil. Use the ones that are either raw or dry roasted.

Seeds! Sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds. All are good but flax seeds are famous for having a high ratio of omega 3. I like to sprinkle fresh ground flax seeds in my yogurt and fruit for a well-balanced meal. And for the guys -- big health tip -- eat a handful of pumpkins (or pepitas) seeds each day. It may be beneficial to keeping away a swollen prostate.

Of course I should list the fatty foods that you should absolutely stay away from. Don't touch these with a ten foot pole!

Hydrogenated oils. These are the trans fats that you have no business putting into your body. Look at your processed food labels. If this ingredient is listed -- I suggest you toss those in the trash and never buy them again!

Deep fried foods. Come on here! Sure it tastes good but it is really, really bad for you. In fact, I would say that french fries is probably one of the worst foods you can ever eat. It is pure glucose and contains trans fat oils. And all of that goes straight to your love handles. So just say no to fried foods.

Homogenized milk and butter. Raw milk fat is great for you but the pasteurizing process ruins it. And turns milk fat into something potentially dangerous for your body. Raw milk is hard to find so I would stick with skim milk and cultured organic butter.

Now you know enough to be dangerous... so go now and eat some healthy saturated fat...

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