Avoid These Unhealthy Sources Of Fat

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Trans fats vs Saturated fats

On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m sharing my favorite healthy sources of fat and why you need to avoid these unhealthy sources of fat.

But first.

In my last video post, I talked about my favorite healthy sources of protein and why protein is important for losing weight and building muscle.

So today is all about dietary fat.

Let’s start with a question

Do you avoid or limit dietary fat because you don’t want to gain more weight or increase your risk of heart disease?

If you said yes.

Are you still living in 1984?

One of the biggest misconceptions in the health and fitness industry is that you should follow a low fat diet to lose fat and reduce your risk of disease.

What do I say about that?

When it comes to dietary fat, the most important thing is deciphering between healthy sources vs unhealthy sources of fat.

So lets first talk about the most demonized type of dietary fat, saturated fat.

Saturated fat is evil right?

Wrong.

Is saturated fat bad for you?

There has never been any credible, direct correlation that natural forms of saturated fat from animals causes heart disease.

The highly flawed study, led by Ancel Keys, that created all the negativity around saturated fat, was called the Seven Countries Study.

Here’s more detail on how the Seven Countries Study influenced the demonization of saturated fat.

The health benefits of saturated fat

Saturated fat:

• is an excellent source of energy
• provides the body with nutrients that are critical to your health
• helps prevent oxidative damage to your cells
• is an integral part of your cells membrane
• helps increase natural testosterone production

Stop hating on saturated fat!

The toxic and evil types of dietary fat that we should be demonizing are the chemically altered, man made fats called trans fat.

Avoid evil toxic trans fats like the plague

Trans fats are often listed in the ingredients label as:

• Partially hydrogenated fats
• Hydrogenated fats

These are the most dangerous ingredients in today’s diet.

Here’s something even more scary.

These types of unhealthy trans fats are found in a lot of processed foods at the supermarket.

Up to 40% of all food in the supermarket may contain these evil and toxic unhealthy trans fats.

Avoid foods containing trans fats

If you see partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated fats listed in the ingredients label, put it back.

The most common processed foods containing trans fat include:

• Frozen dinners
• Cookies
• Chips
• Baked goods
• Cereals
• Breads
• Margarine
• Vegetable shortening
• …and the list goes on

These man made trans fats are foreign to the body, wreak havoc on your cells, increase inflammation in the body, and causes aging and cancer.

But when it comes to unhealthy fat, trans fats aren’t the only bad guys.

Limit foods containing unstable polyunsaturated fats

A high intake of unstable polyunsaturated fats can also wreck havoc on your body.

Reduce consumption of foods containing vegetable oils such as:

• Canola oil
• Corn oil
• Safflower oil
• Sunflower oil
• Cottonseed oil
• Soybean oil

Heavy consumption of these unstable, polyunsaturated fats can also contribute to:

• Increased oxidation in the body, especially when heated
• Cause hormonal issues with your thyroid, thus slowing your metabolism
• Lower energy levels
• Lower HDL, the healthy cholesterol, and increase LDL, the bad cholesterol
• Rise in insulin resistance
• Cause obesity
• Increase risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer
• Cause immune problems
• Increase inflammation problems including arthritis

Based on all of this, it’s best to reduce your consumption of these unstable, polyunsaturated fats.

So now lets talk about healthy sources of fat.

Eat these healthy sources of fat

In addition to saturated fats, other healthy forms of fat include:

• omega 3 fatty acids
• monounsaturated fats

These healthy sources of fat have little to no negative impact on your blood sugar and insulin levels, and actually encourage your body to use stored fat as fuel for energy.

Plus consuming healthy fats can reduce your hunger and keep you satiated longer.

Omega 3 fatty acids are beneficial for supporting:

• heart health
• brain health
• skin health
• a healthy immune system
• improved blood circulation
• reduced inflammation
• reduced blood pressure
• healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Today’s omega 3 to omega 6 ratios are way out of whack

Unfortunately the western diet is very low in the consumption of omega 3s and monounsaturated fas, and very high in the consumption of unstable polyunsaturated fats.

These polyunsaturated fats are high in omega 6 fats which causes a huge imbalance in our bodies omega 6 to omega 3 ratio.

Ideally you want a 2:1 ratio of omega 6s to 3s. The modern diet is now closer to 20:1.

This higher ratio hormonally promotes more fat storage and an increase in inflammation throughout the body.

Here’s how to get your omega 6 to omega 3 ratio back inline.

Consume more healthy sources of omega 3 fats:

Focus on consuming healthy sources of fats high in omega 3s such as:

• oily cold water fish:
  • wild salmon
  • mackerel
  • sardines
  • anchovies
  • herring
• grass fed beef
• free range whole eggs
• omega 3 supplements:
  • krill oil
  • fish oil

Other healthy sources of fats include:

• Nuts:
  • macadamia (optimal due to their omega 3 to omega 6 ratio)
  • almonds
  • hazelnuts
  • pecans
  • pine nuts
  • pistachios
  • walnuts
• Raw nut butters (containing only nuts and possibly salt)
• Seeds:
  • pumpkin seeds (optimal due to their omega 3 to omega 6 ratio)
  • flax seeds
  • chia seeds
  • sunflower seeds
• Raw seed butter (containing only seeds and possibly salt)
• Avocado
• Avocado oil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Olives
• Coconut oil, butter, milk, and meat

Bottom line: avoid these unhealthy sources of fat

I know this is a controversial topic, and some of you may disagree with me.

Please do the research for yourself, and learn which fats are in fact healthy and which fats you should avoid.

Do this rather than just following the conventional hype that scares you from consuming the staples that has been in the human diet for centuries.

I’ll leave you with this.

By avoiding healthy sources of fat, you’ll be increasing your risk of cancer, heart disease, and obesity. 

By eating healthy sources of fat, you’ll be helping prevent heart disease and cancer.

That’s it.

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Now it’s time to go check out this video post on the best sources of carbohydrates.

I’ll talk to you soon.

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Question For You:

• What are your favorite fat sources?
• Does saturated fat scare you?

Be sure to share your answers in the comment section below.

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