Fat. Can It Actually Be Good For You?

Eunji and I are always trying to be healthy, watch what we eat and yes like everyone else we read the chart on all the food we buy. Doing all that is something’s a bit hard and can be tiresome, so we wanted to get more information about what we should eat and what we shouldn’t. What makes us fat and what doesn’t. So we went to our friend Dr. Michailidis to find out more about the dreaded F word, and he was nice enough to let us share this information with you guys.

We are bombarded with media information, advertising, and grocery products trying to sell and tell us that low-fat is where it’s at if you want to keep a thin waistline. But how much of this information is scientific or non-scientific to be exact. The truth is certain fats are a necessity for our bodies and some fats have shown that they can actually help in weight management. If your interested in what fat can do for you then read on.

There are a few types of fat and not all of them are healthy. When talking about healthy fat we are talking about unsaturated fats, which contain essential fatty acids or omega-3,6, and 9’s. These essential fatty acids are essential because the body can not make these fats on it’s own and therefore we need to get these from the foods we eat. Essential fatty acids have been shown to be able to help with cardiovascular function by lowering cholesterol and hypertriglyceridemia. As well, it can help with type II diabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity, and it’s an important building block for brain development in children and can help them with memory, focus, and concentration. Best of all, essential fatty acids are considered a thermogenic (heat producer in the body), which helps boost metabolism and is why they can help with weight management.

As we can see, essential fatty acids definitely should have a place in our diets, but I’m sure you’re wondering to what extent. First, you need to know that there are 3 types, Omega-3’s, Omega-6’s and Omega-9’s. The average north American diet contains sufficient Omega 6 and 9’s, so much so that the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 is 20:1!!! This is out of balance and may put our bodies in an inflammatory state that makes us susceptible to many diseases and problems associated to joints and muscles. A healthy ratio should be 4:1, which means we should really be looking for more omega-3’s in our diet through food or supplementation. Now that you have the skinny on fat, you can make educated and healthy choices.