Fat No Villain
‘The belly rules the mind’ – so goes a Spanish proverb. However, our minds today are hammered by the ‘fat-free’ maxim for everything related to food, so much, so that a person who stops after eating one peanut is considered the bravest of all.
Somehow, ‘beauty’ with its congregation of pilgrims has made direct links with the food category which is the most tasteless, bland and leanest. The followers of this sect comprising of virtually the entire world seek to eat only to satisfy their pre-occupied minds and believe that delectable, sizzling, scrumptious pleasures of life have a sole purpose of fattening.
Most of the people acknowledge ‘fats’ to be the evil entity in our diet and responsible for obesity. Even the poets have remained silent on this subject, had they been a bit expressive, the lovers in particular and the humanity in general would have been less inclined towards self-imposed starvation.
Thanks to the horror marketing of medical community, fast food industry and the media, oil and fats have been considered as the cuisine villains. They are considered a significant factor for serious diseases. However, they are not absolutely harmful. On the other hand they constitute of the basics in human food supply.
Fats can be distinguished as ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’.
The Good Fats – include Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fats. Consider them your friends as they help minimizing the overall cholesterol produced by the body and at the same time control bad cholesterol (LDL-Low Density Lipoprotein) and increase the good cholesterol (HDL-High Density Lipoprotein). Good fats support weight loss.
Monounsaturated fats can be obtained from various kinds of nuts; canola and olive oil and Polyunsaturated fats can be found in seafood, corn, soy and sunflower oils.
The Bad and the Ugly Fats – include Saturated and Trans fats. Not only do they increase overall cholesterol in the body but also augment the bad cholesterol (LDL-Low Density Lipoprotein).
It is mainly found in meats, dairy products and certain plant foods as coconut oil and palm oil etc. Trans fats are found in commercially packaged foods.
Giving in to the building pressures of weight loss, most of us are making futile attempts towards defeating obesity. As a result most people end up zero-ing their fat intake or adhering to low-fat diet plans. This approach on the contrast usually has an adverse effect. The main reason being that the ‘fats’ we consume notify our brain to stop eating once enough fats are taken in a meal. For a diet that is low- fat or fat-free this signal is never produced or transmitted hence results in over-eating and weight gain.
Excess of anything that tempers with nature produces adverse effects and same is in the case of fat intake. Overindulgence of fats can result in weight gain, heart disease and certain types of cancer.
The reality check is that we all require fats as an essential component of our diet as they assist in nutrient absorption, nerve transmission, cell membrane integrity maintenance etc. Fats are the primary energy donors in our diet. A single gram of fat provides approximately double the amount of metabolic energy, as compared to that provided by proteins and carbohydrates.
An alternative and more prospective approach towards weight loss while enjoying a healthy life that includes fats as an essential diet component would be to replace ‘bad fats’ with good fats.
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