Have you ever tried losing weight? Or heard of someone following a weight loss program? Well, the first thing we all do is cut down on all possible sources of fat intake. However, it turns out that fat is not necessarily the worst threat! Not only can fats help your body function properly, but the intake of unsaturated fats can also help you lose weight. Surprised, aren’t you? This article will tell you how!
The Healthy Unsaturated Fat
Monounsaturated Fats
This fat increases the level of good cholesterol, lowers bad cholesterol level and prevents the building up of plaque in your arteries. It also helps prevent a protruding belly. These monounsaturated fats can be found in olives, olive oil, canola oil, avocados, peanuts, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, peanut butter and almonds.
Polyunsaturated Fats
Polyunsaturated fats help lower the bad cholesterol levels in our body. It also consists of omega-3 fatty acids which increase brain function, enhance the immune system and lift your mood as well. The omega-6 fatty acids found in polyunsaturated fats ensure a healthy skin and eyes. These fats can be found in fish (herring, mackerel and salmon), flaxseed, tofu, walnuts, canola oil, farmed fish, beef, safflower oil and corn.
The Unhealthy Unsaturated Fats
Poultry, Meats, and Dairy Products
These fats harm your body by increasing the cholesterol levels and also the risk of heart diseases. They are found in poultry and meat, dairy products such as butter, cream, and whole milk, and some plant foods like palm oil and coconut.
The Worst of All: Trans Fats
Your body doesn’t need these at all. These Trans fats are made from unsaturated fats which are modified to increase the shelf life of foods. They increase the bad cholesterol level while lowering the good cholesterol level. It also increases inflammation all over the body. One can find them in doughnuts, margarine, french-fries and other junk foods such as cookies, crackers, cakes and chips.
The Role of Fat in Losing Weight
When it comes to losing weight, the concept of fat is the first thing that clicks your mind. In the past years super low-fat diets were considered as one of the most effective ways to lose weight. However, certain types of fats are important for our health in a variety of ways, so if you are thinking about losing weight, then eating the right type of fats in the right amount is all that you need.
Distinction between The “Good” and “The Bad”
The segregation between “Good” and “Bad” fats is a major distinction that needs to be made. Good fats are the ones beneficial for your health like those present in seeds, olive oil and nuts. Bad fats include the saturated fats found in animal products and the type of fat that can be harmful to you if taken in excess. Trans fats as discussed above offer zero benefit and must be avoided as much as possible.
A diet containing monounsaturated fats results in reducing abdominal obesity with time as compared to one containing saturated fat or even carbohydrates. But the intake of saturated fats is essential for absorbing certain types of vitamins, proper functioning of immune system and calcium uptake. Coconut, meats, butter and avocado are the main sources of this kind of fat.
Talking about monounsaturated fats, these are required in a moderate quantity. This kind of fat is found in oils like sesame, peanut, sunflower and olive oil. But all these oils are not wholly composed of monounsaturated fats as these also contain some amount of polyunsaturated and saturated fats.
Keeping in view the above mentioned distinction between different kinds of fats, it is a general belief that fats do add to your weight, however adding low grain to your diet will help lose weight.
Study of high-fat diet from weight loss perspective:
A high-fat diet is known to set your metabolism right and hamper obesity issues. A study was conducted to compare scheduled high-fat diet with low-fat diet and on the other hand unscheduled high-fat with a low-fat diet.
Eating scheduled high-fat diet helped losing some good amount of weight and change in the metabolic rate was observed where body was utilizing the fat for energy purpose instead of accumulating it for future use.
Unlikely, the other group having an unscheduled high-fat diet resulted in gaining weight, not to forget the fact that fat contains double calories as compared to carbohydrates and proteins. So, the results proved that it is not the quantity of fat that makes one gain weight but it’s the timing at which food is taken that actually matters.