My fat friend eats a low fat diet

Many people still believe that in order to get fit you have to eat a low fat diet.

This article is for them. While it is true that some types of fats are associated with health problems, removing fats completely from your diet is catastrophic both to your health and fat loss attempts.

This guy eats low fat. Can't you tell it's working?:P

It is time to clear up some myths about fats. Read this article and find out the truth about fats and how adding certain kinds of fats to your diet is not only beneficial but even critical to your well being.

Types of fats

Fats come in three basic forms: saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Plus, nowadays there is a new artificially manufactured fat present in food called trans fat.

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are considered to be the “good” fats. The reason they are considered good is because they are sources of essential fatty acids: omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

Essential fatty acids

All fats are composed of fatty acids. Some can be synthesized in the body while others cannot. The ones that cannot be synthesized in the body and therefore must come from the diet are known as essential fatty acids (EFA). There are two essential fatty acids:

• Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) – member of the omega-3 fatty acid family
• Linoleic acid (LA) – member of the omega-6 fatty acid family

EFA are required by every cell in the body on a daily basis for synthesis purposes (used to build cell membranes). The body’s need for EFA outweighs the need for protein and other nutrients considered to be essential.

Omega-3 fatty acids

The essential omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid:

• Promotes eye and brain development
• Improves immune function
• Helps prevent abnormal heart rhythms

The other two omega-3 acids are docosahexanoic (DHA) and eicosapentalnoic acid (EPA).

Some of the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are:

• They reduce blood cholesterol and triglycerides levels
  
• Lower the risk of stroke, heart attack and hardening of arteries
• Improve immune response, brain and glandular system functioning

The best source of omega-3 fatty acids are fish, especially cold water marine fish.

Also, dark-green leafy vegetables and some plant-derived oils (flaxseed oil, canola oil, soybean oil, walnut oil etc.) contain omega-3 EFA.

Omega-6 fatty acids

Linoleic acid (LA), the essential omega-6 fatty acid is responsible for lowering total blood cholesterol levels as well as low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol levels.

The main sources of omega-6 EFA are vegetables and oils.

Although omega-6 EFA consumption is important by itself, some scientists feel that the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 acids is important as well. While most tissues require a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 between 5 to 1 and 3 to 1, the average person consumes these fats in a ratio of 20 to 1 or more.

Increasing omega-3 consumption, while controlling omega-6 intake, is an important step towards improved health and body composition.

Saturated fats

The main sources of saturated fats are animal products, including milk and dairy products.

Saturated fats are considered the “bad” fats because:

• When there is a deficiency of EFA in the diet, this are replaced with saturated fats in the cell structure. Using saturated fats to create cell membranes disrupts proper cellular function.
• A large intake of saturated fats leads to increased cholesterol levels, contributing to heart disease.

Because of their implication in many health problems, you should lower saturated fat intake.

Besides lowering saturated fat intake it is also important to shift the ratio of polyunsaturated fats to saturated fats. A 1997 Van Marken, Lichteenbelt et al study shows that there is a direct correlation between the polyunsaturated to saturated fats ratio and the metabolic rate, a higher polyunsaturated to saturated fats ratio leadind to metabolic increase (22% increase in the TEF and 3% increase in the resting metabolism).

Trans-fats and hydrogenation

Trans fatty acids are chemically altered monounsaturated fats found in partial hydrogenated foods.

Hydrogenation is a process used to prolong the self life of products that has the downside effect of making healthy unsaturated fats act like saturated fats in the body. When fat is hydrogenated, the process destroys the EFA. Consuming food cooked in hydrogenated oils can lead to a deficiency of good fats while simultaneously increasing saturated fat (and fats that behave like saturated fats in the body) levels.

Most margarines and any vegetable based oil or fat that stays solid at room temperature contain trans fats as they have undergone hydrogenation. Also most supermarkets, fast food, bakery products and snacks contain hydrogenated oils.

Also, it is worth mentioning that a 1998 Harvard University report mentions that a 2% increase in calories coming from trans fats can increase the risk of coronary heart disease by as much as 97%.

For the reasons above, we should try to remove completely all trans fats from our diet.