Selection of Healthy Fats

The good, evil, and power of omega-3

For years we have said that fat intake will add inches to your waistline, raise cholesterol, and cause countless health problems. But now we know that not all fats are the same. Bad fats can destroy your diet and increase your risk of certain diseases, but good fats can protect your brain and heart. In fact, healthy fats like omega 3 are very important for your physical and mental health. By understanding the difference between good and bad fats and including more fat in your diet, you can improve your mood, improve energy and well-being, and lose weight.

What is Dietary Fat?

Fat is a type of nutrient, and like proteins and carbohydrates, your body needs fat to absorb energy, absorb vitamins, and protect your heart and brain health. And, as you have heard, fat is not always a bad person in the war of health and back. "Bad" fats, such as artificial trans fats and saturated fats, are guilty of unhealthy things where all fats have been blamed for weight gain, clogged arteries, etc. However, "good" fats like unsaturated fats and omega-3s have the opposite effect. In fact, healthy fats play a huge role in managing mood, continuing mental games, relaxing fatigue, and controlling weight.

Dietary fat and cholesterol

Dietary fat also plays an important role in cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is a waxy fatty substance that the body needs to function properly. Cholesterol in itself is not bad. However, eating too much can negatively affect your health. Like dietary fat, there are good and bad types of cholesterol.

HDL cholesterol is a "good" kind of cholesterol found in your blood.

LDL cholesterol is a "bad" kind.

The key is that you can keep your LDL levels low and increase your HDL levels to prevent heart disease and stroke.

Conversely, high levels of LDL cholesterol can clog arteries and low HDL can be an indicator of increased cardiovascular risk.

It is the type of fat you consume that has the greatest effect on your cholesterol level, rather than the amount of cholesterol you eat. So instead of counting cholesterol, you should focus on replacing bad fats with good fats.

Good fat vs bad fat

Fat isn't a low-fat diet, it's an important part of a healthy diet, so it's more important to focus on eating more beneficial "good" fats and limiting harmful "bad" fats.

Healthy or "good" fat

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are known as "good fats" because they are good for your heart, cholesterol and overall health. This fat can help:

Lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Lowers bad HDL cholesterol levels and increases HDL levels.

Prevent abnormal heart rhythm.

Triglycerides are associated with heart disease, fighting inflammation.

Low blood pressure.

Prevention of atherosclerosis (sclerosis and arterial stenosis).

Adding more of these healthy fats to your diet will help reduce hunger and promote weight loss after eating.

Monounsaturated fat-a good source:

Olive, canola, peanut, sesame oil

avocado

olive

Nuts (almond, peanut, macadamia, hazelnut, pecan, cashew)

Peanut butter

Polyunsaturated fats-a good source:

Sunflower, sesame, pumpkin seeds

flaxseed

Walnut

Fatty acids (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines) and fish oil

Soybean and safflower oil

soy milk

tofu

Unhealthy or "bad" fat

trans fat. A small amount of naturally occurring trans fats can be found in meat and dairy products, but artificial trans fats are considered dangerous. This is the worst fat type because it not only raises bad LDL cholesterol levels but also lowers good HDL levels. Artificial trans fats also cause inflammation that contributes to insulin resistance, which is associated with heart disease, stroke and other chronic diseases, increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

In the United States, the FDA prohibits the use of artificial trans fats in commercially prepared foods, but it is important to read the food labels carefully. Artificial trans fats are not safe, so remove them from your diet.

Trans fat-main source:

Commercially baked pastries, cookies, donuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough

Packaged snack foods (crackers, microwave popcorn, chips)

Stick margarine, vegetable shortening

Tempura (French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, breaded fish)

Even if anything that contains hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is claimed to be "no trans fat"

Saturated fat. While not as harmful as trans fats, saturated fats are best taken in moderation as they can raise bad LDL cholesterol levels and too much can negatively affect heart health. You don't have to cut everything while there. Most nutrition experts recommend limiting to 10% of your daily calories.

Saturated fat-main sources:

Red meat (beef, lamb, pork)

Chicken skin

Whole milk fat products (milk, cream, cheese)

butter

Ice cream

lard

Tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil

However, I thought saturated fat was no longer unhealthy.

For decades, doctors, dietitians, and health authorities have known that eating saturated-fat foods increases blood cholesterol and increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. However, recent studies have concluded that people who eat a lot of saturated fat have less cardiovascular disease than those who eat less.

So, is it okay to consume as much saturated fat as I want?

The emphasis in this study is that reducing saturated fat in the diet is important to replace it with the right food. Exchanging animal oil for vegetable oils, for example, replacing butter with olive oil, can help lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of disease. However, exchanging animal fat for refined carbohydrates, such as replacing breakfast bacon with bagels or pastries, does not have the same benefits. This is because eating refined carbohydrates or sweet foods can have similar negative effects on cholesterol levels, heart disease risk, and weight.

Limiting your saturated fat intake will help you stay healthy when replacing it with good fats instead of refined carbohydrates. In other words, don't be fat, go with good fat.

The power of omega-3

Omega 3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat and are especially beneficial for health. There are several types of omega 3. EPA and DHA are found in fish and algae and are most beneficial to health, while ALA comes from plants and is not a potent form even if the body converts ALA to EPA. DHA.+ at a low rate

Studies have shown that a diet rich in omega-3s may help.

Prevention and relief of symptoms of depression, ADHD and bipolar disorder

Prevention of memory loss and dementia

Reduced risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer

Easy to relieve arthritis, joint pain and inflammatory skin diseases

Support a healthy pregnancy.

Combat fatigue, strengthen memory, and balance your mood.

How much omega-3 do you need?

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that people with heart disease take about 1 gram of EPA and DHA per day. The rest of us recommend that AHAs consume at least 3.5 ounces. (100g) Weekly fish intake.

Fatty acids such as salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines and tuna are the highest omega-3 fatty acids.

If you don't care for fish or want to take omega-3s daily, you may want to take a wide range of omega-3 supplements available through the counter.

Include a variety of ALA-rich oils, nuts, seeds, and vegetables in your diet.

What to do about mercury in fish

Despite the health benefits, almost all seafood has traces, including toxic metal mercury. Do not eat sharks, swordfish, pears and mackerel, as large fish have a higher concentration of pollutants.

Most adults can safely eat 12 ounces. (6 oz or 170 g servings) cooked a week. For pregnant women, lactating women and children under 12, choose low-mercury fish such as shrimp, canned tuna, salmon, pollock or catfish. You can also protect yourself by changing the type of fish you include in your diet.

Omega-3 supplements

Omega 3 is best consumed through food, but many omega 3 and fish oil supplements are available. Fish oil does not contain mercury (mercury binds to proteins rather than fat) and contains very small amounts of other contaminants.

One capsule per day usually supplies about 200-400 mg of EPA and DHA, which should be enough for most people.

To significantly lower triglycerides, doctors can recommend prescription fish oil that is concentrated to contain approximately 900mg of EPA and DHA per capsule.

For strict vegetarians or vegetarians, and also getting ALA from food sources, find the original source of omega-3s for fish, capsules containing DHA and EPA extracted from algae.

Tips for taking supplements

In some cases, fish oil capsules can be difficult to swallow and can leave a fishy aftertaste. Storing the capsules in the freezer before taking them can help or help you find odorless or deodorized capsules.

Choosing healthy oil

Vegetable oil lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and increases HDL or good cholesterol. Oils like corn, sunflower, safflower, and soybeans contain omega-6, a type of polyunsaturated fat that helps reduce insulin resistance and inflammation.

Whenever possible, use naturally occurring, non-hydrogenated vegetable oils such as olive oil, canola oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil.

Processed oils, such as cold compressed extra virgin olive oil, contain potentially beneficial vegetable chemicals.

If you are using olive oil, select "extra virgin", which may have an extra heart effect than regular olive oil.

How about tropical oils like coconut and palm oil?

The food industry emphasizes the benefits of tropical oils and dietary guidelines avoid these oils. Who is right?

These oils can have a complex effect on blood cholesterol levels. For example, raising "bad" LDL cholesterol levels or raising "good" HDL cholesterol levels has no clear effect on other heart markers.

It is safer now to insist on vegetable oil. Because there is strong evidence that this oil is good for heart health.

If you want to eat foods that contain coconut or palm oil, it is better to enjoy it than to eat with trans fat.

Tips for adding more healthy fats to your diet

Instead of stubbornly counting fat grams, aim for a diet rich in various vegetables, fruits, nuts, and beans with fatty fish, moderate amounts of dairy products, a small amount of red meat, and occasionally fried foods more than twice a week.

This could mean replacing fried chicken with grilled chicken, eating red meat with other protein sources such as fish, chicken and soybeans, or using olive oil rather than butter. By following the Mediterranean diet, you can get enough fat in your diet and limit your bad diet.

Remove trans fats from your diet. Check the trans fat food label. Limiting commercially baked and fast food can go a long way.

Limit saturated fat intake. You replace the red lean meat eaten with beans, nuts, poultry, and fish, and switch from whole milk to a low-fat version. But don't make the mistake of replacing saturated fats with refined carbohydrates and sweet foods.

Take omega-3 fats daily. Include a variety of fish resources as well as plant resources such as walnuts, peanut linseed, linseed oil, canola oil, and soybean oil.

Cook with olive oil. Use olive oil for stove top cooking rather than butter, stick margarine, or lard. For baking, use canola oil.

Eat more avocados. Eat a sandwich or salad or make an avocado. Along with being filled with heart and brain healthy fats, they make a fill meal.

Hands on the nut. You can add nuts to your vegetable dish, use crumbs for chicken or fish, or create your own trail mix from nuts, seeds and dried fruits.

Snack on olive. Olives are rich in healthy monounsaturated fats and make low-calorie snacks. Let them plain and make a tapenade for dipping.

Eat your own salad. Commercial salad dressings often contain a lot of unhealthy fat or sugar. Make your own healthy dressing with olive, flaxseed, or sesame oil