Wednesday, August 7, 2013

How to Lose Weight Eating American Fatty Foods

American Fatty Foods that Help You Lose Weight


The low fat diet has been recommended by doctors and dietitians as keys to losing weight,managing cholesterol and guarding against other health conditions.American have this obsession for low carb and low fat diets.Many people who follow the latest fad about weight loss diets do so ignorant of the fact that not all fat are bad for their body.

Fats are healthy only if you know the good ones to make part of your daily diet.Bad fats are what you need to know about and avoid them like plague.Bad fat raises the cholesterol level and your risk of certain diseases.Good fats should be your target for daily dietary meal because they help to protect your heart and support your overall health.

Types of Dietary Fats


There are 4 types of dietary fats that you need to know.Here they are;

Monounsaturated fats
polyunsaturated fats
saturated fats
Trans fats

Let get to know each of them in turns.

Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are twin fats that are known as good fats.This is because they help your heart work well, balance your cholesterol level and overall health.

Examples of monounsaturated fats are


  • olive oil
  • canola oil
  • sunflower oil
  • peanut oil
  • sesame oil
  • Avocados
  • Olives
  • Nuts such as almonds,peanuts,macadamia nuts, hazelnuts,pecans and cashews.
  • Peanut butter

Examples of Polyunsaturated Fats


  • Soybean oil
  • corn oil
  • Safflower oil
  • Walnuts
  • Sunflower,sesame,pumpkins seeds and flax seed
  • Fatty fish like salmon,tuna, mackerel,herring,trout and sardines
  • soy milk
  • Tofu

Saturated fats and Trans fats goes together as bad fats.They are so called because they increase your risk of disease and raise your cholesterol level.

Examples of saturated fats are
  • High fats cut of meat like beef,lamb and pork
  • Chicken with the skin
  • Whole fat diary products like milk and cream
  • Butter
  • Cheese
  • Ice cream
  • Palm and coconut oil
  • Lard

Examples of Trans Fats


  • Commercially baked pastries,cookies,doughnuts,muffins,cakes,pizza dough
  • Packaged snack foods like crackers,microwaves popcorns and chips
    Stick margarine
  • Vegetable shortening
  • Fried foods like French fries,fried chicken,chicken nuggets and breaded fish.
  • Candy bars.

Saturated fats and Trans fats can be identified has been solid at room temperature while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats tends to be liquid.

How to Choose Healthy Fats

Even though there are many different sources of dietary fats.Their are some good and some bad, it might be confusing to choose the healthy ones.

If your concern is about your weight or heart health, do not avoid fat in your diet,what you need do is to replace saturated fats and trans fats with goods fats.That is, if you eat meat, you can replace with beans and legumes.Use olive oil instead of butter.

Here are ways to choose healthy fats
  • Try to remove trans fats from your diet.You can do this by checking on food labels for trans fats.You should avoid commercially-baked foods and fast foods.
  • Limit your consumption of saturated fats
  • You should cut back on meat and full fat dairy food,replace red meat with beans,nuts, poultry and fish as possibly as you can.Then replace whole milk and other full fat dairy foods with lower milk.
  • Eat omega-3 fats every day.Good sources of omega-3 fats are fish,walnuts,ground flax seeds,flax seeds oil,canola oil and soy bean oil.

How much Fat?
  • The amount of fat you take depends on your lifestyle,weight,age and state of health.The USDA recommends that the average person should:
  • Keep total fats intake to 20-35% of calories.
  • Limit saturated fats to less than 10% of your calories.(That is 180 calories for a 1800 calorie diet)
  • Limit your trans fats to 1% of calories (2 grams per day for a 2000 calorie diet)

Saturated Fats-Cut Back bad Fat

To lose weight, you should reduce your intake of saturated fats.Saturated fats can be mainly found in foods such as red meat and whole milk diary products.Poultry and fish contains saturated fat but less than red meat.Other sources of saturated fats are tropical vegetables oils such as coconut oils and palm oil.

Ways to reduce saturated fats

  • Eat less red meat and more fish and chicken
  • Eat lean cuts of mean and stick to white meant, this has less saturated fat.
  • Instead of frying, bake,broil and grill.
  • Remove skin from chicken and trim as much fat off meat as possible before cooking.
  • Avoid breaded meats,vegetables and deep-fried foods.
  • Choose low fat milk and lower fat cheeses like mozarella whenever possible.
  • Use liquid vegetables oils such as olive oil or canola oil instead of lard,shortening or butter.
  • Avoid cream and cheese sauces,or have them as side dishes.

Sources of Saturated Fats


  • butter
  • cheese
  • red meat
  • cream
  • eggs
  • ice cream
  • whole meat
  • Sour milk

Healthier Options


  • Olive oil
  • low fat or reduced-fat cheese
  • white meat chicken or turkey
  • low fat milk or fat-free creamer
  • Egg whites, an egge susbstitute(e.g eggbeaters) or tofu
  • Frtozen yogurts or reduced fat ice cream
  • Skim or 1% milk
  • Plain,non-fat yogurt

Eliminate trans fats from your diet


Trans fat s a normal fat molecule that has been twisted and deformed during a process called hydrogenation.During this process, liquid vegetables oil is heated and combined with hydrogen gas.This partially hydrogenating vegetable oils makes them more stable and less likely to spoil,this is good for food manufacturers and this is bad for you.

No amount of trans fat is healthy for weight loss.

Sources of trans fats

Trans fats comes from commercially prepared baked foods and snack foods.

They are:

Baked goods-cookies crackers,muffins,piec crusts,pizza dough, and some bread like hamburger buns.
Fried Foods-doughnuts, French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, and hard tacos shells.
Snack foods-potato,corn,tortilla chips;candy;packaged or microwave popcorn
Pre-mixed products-cake mix,pancake mix and chocolate drink mix.

Now you know what fats are good for losing weight.your best bet are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats

 Cook with olive oil. Use olive oil for stovetop cooking, rather than butter, stick margarine, or lard. For baking, try canola or vegetable oil.

Eat more avocados. Try them in sandwiches or salads or make guacamole. Along with being loaded with heart and brain-healthy fats, they make for a filling and satisfying meal.

Reach for the nuts. You can also add nuts to vegetable dishes or use them instead of breadcrumbs on chicken or fish.

Snack on olives. Olives are high in healthy monounsaturated fats. But unlike most other high-fat foods, they make for a low-calorie snack when eaten on their own. Try them plain or make a tapenade for dipping.

Dress your own salad. Commercial salad dressings are often high in saturated fat or made with damaged trans fat oils. Create your own healthy dressings with high-quality, cold-pressed olive oil, flaxseed oil, or sesame oil.

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