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Balancing
Act III
By Daniel C. Luthi, Nutrition
Educator & Chinese Herbalist Translated by Eva Huang
Go on a low-fat diet to lose weight
and become healthier? Forget it! That myth has been
cleared up for a while now. Unfortunately, you haven't
been filled in, have you? Well, here is the short version.
As we learned in Part Two of this series,
fat needs to be part of your diet and it should be in
proportion to carbohydrates and protein. What I'd like
to stress today is the importance of the quality of
the consumed fats.
Let's start with the good fats, such
as olive oil, fish oil, sunflower oil, grape seed oil,
and most nut and seed oils. They are either mono- or
polyunsaturated and are good for us because they lower
LDL, the bad cholesterol, and increase HDL, the good
cholesterol. These oils should constitute the bulk of
our fat intake as they contain essential nutrients.
Of course, they should be of high quality (organic would
be nice), unprocessed, and stored cool in proper containers
without light and air.
Then there are the saturated fats which
include meat, seafood, eggs, whole milk, butter, cheese,
ice cream and other foods. These fats also have healthy
properties, especially if they come from clean sources
such as free-range chickens; grazing, hormone-free cows;
and pollution-inspected seafood, but they must be consumed
in moderation.
Lastly, and dangerously lurking everywhere, are the
trans fats. They are found in hydrogenated vegetable
oils and margarines, and they are nasty! These fats
are artificial--their chemical structure has been changed--and
they are toxic with no beneficial nutrients. Unfortunately,
they are found in lots of foods such as instant noodles,
cookies, cakes, potato chips, ice cream, milk powder,
french fries, onion rings, salad dressings and virtually
all fast foods. You can't avoid them, but you can and
must reduce your intake of them!
In summary, eat more of the good fats,
less of the saturated fats, and try to avoid the trans
fats! That's all, which really doesn't seem that hard,
does it? |
