Fats and Obesity
Proper dieting has always been instrumental in helping people to get rid of obesity with physicians around the world recommending food choices as an essential part of a weight loss schedule. You have to make your food selection properly because a diet high in calories and fats can wreak havoc in your life.
The Concept of Fats:
Whenever a talk or a discussion centers around the causes of obesity a larger share of blame goes to a substance called "fats" and the excessive accumulation of this material in our body is cited as the primary cause of obesity. In spite of fats being so harmful the interesting fact is that they are also extremely essential for our body as along with carbohydrate and protein they provide energy to our body. So if you are eager to metamorphose your weight loss dreams into reality what you need is a clear-cut idea on different types of fats which in turn will help you to pick the healthy fats (to meet your energy needs) and avoid the unhealthy fat types. A comprehensive account of different fat types is given below along with some of their best known sources:
Classification of Fats:
Fats found in our food are mainly saturated fats, trans fatty acids, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids. Monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids are extremely essential to the body whereas saturated fats and trans fatty acids put your body at the risk of obesity by increasing LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) level.
Healthy Fats:
Monounsaturated fats:
This fat type lowers cholesterol levels in the body significantly and also cures a wealth of ailments like breast cancer, colon cancer and heart diseases. Monounsaturated fats contain high level of vitamin E and are usually found in avocado, sesame, pumpkin seeds, cashews, Brazil nuts, almonds, peanut and hazel nuts. Certain types of oil like olive oil and peanut oil also contain monounsaturated fats in plenty.
Polyunsaturated fats:
Similarly to monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats are comparatively safer for obesity and are found in vegetable oils like sunflower oil, corn oil, soybean oil and safflower oil. Polyunsaturated fats are considerably better than other types of fats for weight loss and so should be preferred.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids:
This type of fatty acids has found a prominent place among the healthy fats. The consumption of omega-3 fatty acids is healthy to keep diseases at bay including obesity. Food sources are Soybean oil, Walnut oil, Flax oil, Hemp oil, and Pumpkin seeds.
Unhealthy Fats
The type of fat which one should be beware of are saturated fats and trans fats. These two fat types increase the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level in the blood which further leads to weight gain as well as heart attacks. For weight loss you have to decrese the intake of food items rich in these fats.
Saturated Fats: Saturated fats are detrimental to obesity. To keep yourself at a safe distance from obesity and the diseases like high blood pressure, hypertension and type 2 diabetes which generally cripple the life of an obese individual, try to avoid food containing saturated fatty acids like fast foods and biscuits and maintain a lower consumption of items like coconut, palm oil, red milk, whole milk, poultry and butter wherein saturated fatty acid is found in moderate as well as abundant quantity.
Trans Fatty Acids: By consuming food containing trans fat we are increasingly at the risk of falling prey to obesity. This is obvious because trans fats lower the level of good cholesterol or high density lipoproteins (HDL) in the body and lead to an increase in bad cholesterol or LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein). Cakes, cookies and fried foods like French fries, doughnuts contain trans fatty acids in plenty and therefore their consumption should be minimized. Furthermore, all the artificially available baked and fried goods are full of trans fatty acids and therefore you should lower the intake of these food items.
Tips On Fat Selection
Though excess accumulation of fatty and sugary food would in no way accelerate your weight loss success, you can't simply do without fats as they are one of the principal energy providers to your body. So it is better to maximize the intake of healthy food (food containing the healthy fats) and minimize the intake of the unhealthy ones. A few tips on selecting food containing the healthy fats are provided herewith so that you can successfully achieve your weight loss goals:
- Snacking on potato chips or any other processed item will definitely make you obese. So nuts would be a better option.
- Gorging on meat can raise cholesterol level in your body drastically and so it should be minimally consumed. You can remove the fatty portion from the meat and cook it in pure vegetable oil. But it would be considerably better if instead of meat you opt for fish like salmon and mackerel which are high in healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats.
- The salad that accompanies your meal can be made healthier by using pure vegetable oil like olive oil. Healthy marinades can also be prepared by using olive oil and conola oil can be used in baking.
- If you have a habit of adding butter to your food frequently then try to get rid of it. Olive oil will be a better substitute for butter.
- You are not required to abstain from your favorite sandwich even if you are obese. But the amount of cheese present in your sandwich may be harmful; so use avocado slices instead of cheese while preparing sandwiches.
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