Posted on October 29, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

A common misunderstanding is that all fat should be avoided if you want to stay healthy and lose weight but this is far from the truth! Eliminating fat intake to get rid of fat from the body may seem like a logical idea but when you understand the role of ‘good’ fats in the body, you realise getting too little of it is a bad idea. However, removing ‘bad’ fats from the diet is essential because they will make you fat and if abused could lead to life threatening illnesses long term. We will also look at how eating healthy fats helps weight loss.

Before we begin, let’s clear up which fats are good and which fats are bad.

“Good” fats are unrefined animal fats, fat from fish, and select fats from plants, such as avocado, olive, nuts, and tropical oils. They tend to include a higher proportion of saturated or monounsaturated fats or be higher in omega-3s.

The “bad” fats are vegetable fats, such as soy, peanut, corn, safflower, sunflower, and canola oil that have been refined. They tend to be high in omega-6 fats and are highly susceptible to oxidation during processing, which makes them reactive and damaging to the body.

So know you know the difference between good and bad fats, what is the benefit of good fats and how will eating healthy fats help you to lose weight?

You need to ensure you have a decent amount of good fat in your diet because all the cells in the body are made up of two layers of lipids or fats, which are composed of good fats or bad fats depending on the type you eat. If the cell lipid layers are made up of healthy fats, it will make them more sensitive to insulin and allow the receptors to bind more easily, which is necessary for energy production and a good metabolism.

Increasing the sensitivity of your cells to insulin is important because it will allow the glucose to enter the cell and get burned as fuel. However, if you eat large amounts of bad fats or have a severe imbalance between the omega-6 and -3 fats in your diet, your cell lipid layers will be made up of those fats. Lipid layers made of unhealthy fats lead to unhealthy cells and greater insulin resistance, which results in fat gain and dramatically increase the chances of developing diabetes.

What can be done to ensure you get enough good fat in your diet?

It is important to get a healthy balance of fats. To get a balanced fat intake you want to get a large quantity of omega-3 fats that are balanced with omega-6 fats. In an ideal world you want to get as close to equal ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats as possible. However most people get way to many omega-6 fats because they are abundantly found in our diets in the form of the most commonly used vegetable oils (corn, sesame, safflower, peanut, etc.). Omega-3 fatty acids are those that commonly come from fish oil but they also can be taken in from grass-fed beef and wild meats. This is why eating good quality meat and fish and taking high levels of omega-3s will ensure you have better insulin health and body composition.

Which Fats Should You Eat?

1) Eat good fats & avoid all processed foods

Eat whole foods instead of processed or refined foods. Eat whole avocado rather than avocado oil and nuts rather than nut oils, for instance.

When choosing animal fats get them from animals that are pasture-raised and eat a natural diet appropriate for them.

2) Eat A Lot of Omega-3 Fats

Fat derived from fatty fish is extremely important for a healthy body. The omega-3 fats, EPA and DHA, support body composition because they are incorporated into the outside lipid layer of cells. This improves insulin signaling to the cells, which allows for a better metabolism.

In contrast, a diet high in carbohydrates and low in omega-3s and other fats is very sluggish, leading to fat gain. Other benefits of omega-3 fats are brain protection and lower inflammation, allowing for decreased cancer and heart disease risk.

Don’t cook with omega-3 fats because the polyunsaturated fats they contain are easily oxidized.

4) Use Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is full of medium chain fatty acids which have been shown to promote health, aid brain function, and improve body composition. The don’t enter the cholesterol cycle in the body. Even though coconut oil is 92 percent saturated fat, it won’t elevate cholesterol levels.

A recent study found that coconut oil aids in optimal body composition: When Malayans ate 30 ml of coconut oil with each meal for a month, they lost a small amount of body fat (about 1 pound) and significantly decreased waist circumference.

It is very important to ensure that the coconut oil you buy is “virgin” and not partially hydrogenate. You can use it to flavour coffee, or try cooking with coconut oil in place of vegetable oils. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature and can be treated like butter in recipes, however it has a high smoke point (around 350 degrees), making it ideal for stir-frying.

5) Eat Avocado, Good Quality Olive Oil & Nuts

Avocado, olive oil, and nuts provide omega-6 fats, which when eaten in balance with omega-3s, are very good for you.

There’s much confusion about omega-6 fats because the typical Western diet is dangerously high in them from vegetable oil. Processed vegetable oils are fats you want to avoid, but avocado, unrefined, virgin olive oil (or olives), and tree nuts are not processed and can improve body composition, while countering inflammation. Plus, if you eat any of these fats with vegetables, the fat bolsters absorption of vitamins and nutrients in veggies.

Add these to salads or cooked vegetable dishes. Try meat and nuts for breakfast, rotating your nut of choice every morning with a different meat.

Hopefully this has explained how including the right amount of good fats in your diet can help with weight loss and overall increase your quality of health, equally how reducing bad fats can help improve your health and reduce the risk of illness.

Here are some recipes that are high in healthy fat to get you well on your way to consuming the right types of fat! Enjoy!

LH