Know The Difference (Healthy Fats VS Unhealthy Fats)

Those who say all fats are bad for you are, of course, dangerously incorrect. As it turns out, plant-based fats are powerful cancer fighters, and even saturated fats from plant sources are now being shown to offer extraordinary health benefits.

If you want to prevent cancer, or you're currently battling colon cancer, prostate cancer or breast cancer, it is essential to get plant-based fats into your diet on a daily basis. What kind of plant-based fats are we talking about? What are the healthy fats?

Canola oil is what I consider a neutral fat, meaning it's not necessarily a bad fat, but neither is it considered one of the healthier fats. The healthy fats include extra-virgin olive oil, flax seed oil, and fats from plant sources such as nuts, seeds, avocados, and coconuts.

These healthy fats should be consumed with every meal. Failure to include these fats in a meal will result in many of the nutrients consumed during the meal not being absorbed by the body. That's because many nutrients are fat-soluble nutrients. Beta carotene, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E are three such nutrients that require fat in order to be absorbed and used by the human body, but there are many other nutrients that also need fats for human metabolism.

Incidentally, these oils do much more than just fight cancer, they also improve your cardiovascular health and fight weight gain and obesity. The benefits list is a long one.

A fascinating new study published, shows that dietary fat is necessary for the absorption of nutrients from fruits and vegetables. In the study, people who consumed salads with fat-free salad dressing absorbed far less of the helpful phytonutrients and vitamins from spinach, lettuce, tomatoes and carrots than those who consumed their salads with a salad dressing containing fat.

This is interesting research, but not necessarily all that surprising. We've known for a long time that healthy fats are a critical part of a healthy diet, and that avoiding fats actually causes chronic disease. The key is in choosing the right kind of fats for your diet and making sure you don't overdo the fats, because fats have a very high caloric density and can add far more calories to your meal than you might expect.

The fact is we all need fats. Fats helps nutrient absorption, nerve transmission, maintaining cell membrane integrity etc. However, when consumed in excess amount, fats contribute to weight gain, heart disease and certain types of cancer. Fats are not created equal. Some fats promote our health positively while other increases our risks of heart disease. The key is to replace bad fats with good fats in our diet.

In other words, if you take super food supplements without fat, you're not getting the same benefit as taking the same supplements with a little bit of fat

The total amount of fat you eat, whether high or low isn't really linked with disease. What really matters is the type of fat you eat. 

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10 Reasons Why You Should Stop Eating Fast Food

Eight in 10 Americans eat fast food at least once a month and half eat it every week according, to a Gallup Poll. Yet most people who eat fast food know it’s bad for them. So why do they keep eating it?

The answer is simple: the benefits of eating fast food outweigh the long-term implications for most people. However, once you read these reasons why all those trips to the drive through may be slowly killing you, you may just want to stop eating fast food after all.

1. Fast food makes you fat.

A 15-year study of over 3,000 people found that eating fast food is linked to weight gain and insulin resistance. In others words, fast food makes you fat and increases your risk of type 2 diabetes. You probably know this already. But here’s something you may not know—

2. Fast food is addictive.

The more you eat fast food, the more you crave it. One study found that fast food is “a potentially addictive substance that is most likely to create dependence in vulnerable populations.” If you eat fast food once a week or more, you may be addicted to it.

3. Fast food eggs are definitely not the breakfast of champions.

Breakfast sandwiches at fast food restaurants are a true modern marvel of chemistry. The “egg” sandwich at Subway, for example, has ingredients like glycerin, which is found in soap, and dimethylpolysiloxane, a type of silicone found in Silly Putty and many lubricants.

4. Fast food is affecting your kids.

According to the CDC, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Kids have an amazing ability to recall ads they’ve seen. Fast food marketers know this, and design ads accordingly. Research shows strong associations between increases in advertising for non-nutritious foods and rates of childhood obesity.

5. Fast food “burgers” don’t have much burger in them.

One study found that most fast food burgers are composed of about 50 percent water and the actual meat content is only 2.1 to 14.8 percent. So what makes up the rest of it, you ask? Chemical fillers and preservatives, mostly. That’s why we see read horror stories about burgers that don’t go bad.

6. Fast food “chicken nuggets” are even nastier than “burgers.”

Many chicken nuggets at fast food restaurants contain a chemical preservative called TBHQ, which can cause nausea, vomiting and even death. Some also contain dimethylpolysiloxane (the stuff in Silly Putty). If Silly Putty nuggets don’t deter you from eating them, maybe this will: many fast food chicken nuggets and patties are still made from mechanically-separated chicken, which is a slimy mixture that’s created from the processed bones and carcass of leftover chickens.

7. Even “healthy” fast food isn’t that healthy.

Fast food restaurants are catering to consumer demands to produce healthier options. The problem is, their definition of “healthy” is quite lax. One of the healthiest dishes at Burger King, the Garden Fresh Salad Chicken Caesar with TENDERGRILL Chicken and dressing, still has almost 500 calories and 28 grams of fat, and nearly a day’s worth of sodium.

8. Fast food is inhumane to animals.

Okay, this one may not be a reason why fast is killing you, but it’s still a compelling reason to stop eating fast food. 9 billion animals were slaughtered in the U.S. alone in 2012 and much of that meat is for your fast food burgers and chicken sandwiches. Large factory farms resemble more of a “business” than a “farm.” Animals suffer in crowded spaces where they rarely have access to the outdoors or sunlight. They are pumped full of antibiotics to combat disease, which runs rampant in these conditions. Livestock is one of the biggest sources of pollution and environmental negligence, according to the UN.

9. Fast food sodas are loaded with sugar.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is the cheap sweetener most fast food restaurants use in their sodas, desserts, and many other products. Princeton University researchers linked HFCS consumption to obesity in an animal study. Rats given HFCS gained more weight and body fat than those given table sugar.

10. Fast food doesn’t really taste that good.

What’s better: a fast food burger or one you cook that’s straight off the grill? For my money, I’d rather eat a delicious grass fed beef burger that I cooked than a crappy fast food pseudo-burger.

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5 Tips To Burn Fats

I'm going to share with you 5 practical tips on how to turn your body into a fat-burning machine – information that you can implement on your daily basis, both in and out of the gym or any workout environment. A lot of times they say that 'you are what you eat' so it's actually very important that you know how to work on what you eat first rather than just jumping into the workout schedule and hope everything goes as planned. Instead of quantity specific amounts, I'm going to give you simple ideas that you can almost immediately put it to plan in your everyday life. So let's get started.

Eat Fiber

A high-fiber diet decreases fat and cholesterol absorption in your intestine (preventing fat storage), slows glucose absorption in the bloodstream (meaning more sugar gets burnt as energy, less gets stored as fat), stabilizes insulin levels and delays stomach emptying (both of which decrease your appetite), and makes you full faster (so you eat less). Research has shown that a low-fat, high-fiber diet results in nearly three times more weight loss than a low-fat, low-fiber diet. 

So how do you get your fiber? Here’s how I get mine: 

• 1 fully loaded salad
• 1 bowl of oatmeal
• 2-3 raw fruits every day (fruit bonus: vitamin C in citrus fruit can also help burn fat)

Eat Calcium

Research shows that three or four daily servings of low-fat dairy products can help reduce body fat. Higher levels of calcium stored in the fat cells may help enhance fat breakdown, as well as induce an increase in thermogenesis (the body’s core temperature). The best calcium should come from dairy products like low-fat milk, yogurt and cottage cheese (and not from a calcium supplement). Other good sources, especially for those who are lactose intolerant, include dark leafy vegetables, salmon, almonds, and oats (notice the extra fiber bonus).

Eat Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Studies have shown that people who include a large and healthy breakfast in their diet lose significantly greater amounts of fat than those who avoid breakfast. Skipping breakfast will not help you shed extra pounds, but may instead result in muscle loss and metabolism decreases, both of which hinder your fat-burning ability. A great breakfast example is a large glass of water with a bowl of oatmeal, fresh fruit and nuts. Just remember: breakfast can also work against you if it’s not healthy: fried meats, sweet muffins and croissants, sugar loaded cereals, or processed packages do not count as a healthy breakfast!

Eat Frequently

You’ve heard it a million times before: 5-6 small meals a day is better than 3 large meals. I'd like to step that up a bit: as high as 10 times a day or more may be necessary, depending on your energy consumption and needs. Here's an example (from my personal nutrition log): 

1. Banana 7AM
2. Oatmeal w/ raisins 9AM
3. Handful almonds 10:30AM
4. Three turkey slices 12PM
5. One yogurt 1PM
6. Apple 2PM
7. Large salad 4:30PM
8. One protein bar 7:00PM
9. Handful raisins 8:15PM
10. 1 scramble egg with spinach 9PM (bed at 11PM)

The philosophy behind eating frequently is that the physical act of digestion has a metabolic cost, and by continually feeding, you are maintaining a higher metabolic rate. As long as your grazing is healthy, this results in more calories burnt throughout the day. On the flip side, eating too infrequently causes your body go into starvation mode and conserve energy, which results in increased fat storage and lower digestive and overall metabolism.

Eat Water

Your body constantly uses water to create energy, build muscle, and burn fat, and without adequate water, studies have shown that the muscles are less active, the metabolism drops, and your body burns fat less efficiently. This slight decrease in metabolism can add up to over 10 pounds of fat a year! Water also assists in suppressing the appetite and giving you a “full feeling”. So drink several glasses of water each day, drink a glass of water at least 30 minutes before your workout, sip water regularly at the gym, and drink a glass of water after your workout (speeds up recovery too!). Many naturally occurring foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are also high in water content (as well as fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, etc.), so this is another great way to get your H2O.

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