All About That Fat

In my last post I said I would talk about avocados. I am going to touch on my new favorite fruit, but what I really want to talk about is fats in our food. As some are aware, there are good fats and bad fats. Now even if we are aware of this fact, we are not always sure which ones we need to keep in our diets and which ones we need to get rid of or seriously cut down on. 

Now, if you walk down one of the middle aisles in the grocery store (which I avoid like the plague), you'll see hundreds of products that boast that their product is "low-fat" or "fat free". Wow! As it would appear, we have a lot of healthy food options! Look at all of these processed foods that somehow magically were able to make the fat disappear! Impressive! Guess what consumer? They're duping you! Now, these products may seem to have "less fat" but look at the sugar content....it's through the roof isn't it? Check out the carbohydrate column on the nutrition facts....it's pretty high too isn't it? These companies take out the "fat" but add in refined sugar and lots of carbs. Since this boom of "less fat" products has saturated the market, has our nation thinned out? Have we become more healthy? Has heart disease gone down on the list of highest cause of death in the USA? The answer to all three of those questions is NO! "Low fat" and "no fat" foods are just as unhealthy for you as they were before they "took out the fat"! We are not benefiting from these labels, or these foods. Take a good look at what you're putting in your body! 

Now, to be fair, not all fats are bad. We have been told time and time again to keep fat out of our diets. This is only partially true. There are good fats and bad fats. There are four main groups of fat. Two are yucky and should be limited in your diet, and two are heart healthy and should continue to be in your daily regimen. There are many places to find the good stuff, and unfortunately more places to find the not so good stuff. 

The two good ones are:

Monounsaturated fats and Polyunsaturated fats- These fats are good for your heart, cholesterol and overall health

The ones to limit are:

Saturated fats and Trans fats- these are not good for your heart, cholesterol or your overall health!

Here are some tables that I found helpful!

I got a large amount of this information, and these tables from a great article CLICK HERE to read the article in it's entirety! It is worth the read!

This article also helps break down the two bad guys. Read below!

The one thing in this table that is up for debate is the eggs. They have more recently been proven to not have a negative affect on your heart or cholesterol so keep eating those delicious cage free, organic eggs!...but avoid these....

Now that you have had knowledge dropped on you, hopefully you can shop with your eyes a little more open to the trickery going on around you in those dreaded middle aisles!

I found an article that outlines 10 wonderful foods that have great fats in them that you should also CHECK OUT! Avocados (my obsession) are right at the top of the eat me list. Though they may be a tricky fruit.....

They are super good for you for many reasons! One trick I've found is that when checking to see if they are ripe or not in the store, avoid squeezing them. I know this is the natural avocado check, but a better way is to pull on the little "stem" piece that is there and see how easily you can pull it out. If it comes out more easily, it's ripe! Buy that bad boy and eat it up! Avocados are good on everything! For more reasons avocados are awesome, check out this article by CLICKING HERE!

I hope this information on fats will help you with you and your family's health! The more knowledge you hold, the better choices you can make!

Next week we'll delve into the topic of women and strength training.... strong is the new sexy!