3 Types of Fats in Food: Good Fats, Bad Fats & the Miracle Fat, which Makes You Burn More Body Fat

No matter what you’ve heard before, certain types of fats in food help you lose weight and stay healthy, while others are extremely dangerous for your health – hence you should avoid. Yes, for decades we’ve all have been programmed to believe that “all fat is a fat and, as a result, it makes us fat”…

But in reality, nothing’s furthest from the truth!

The topic of dietary fats is quite complicated, that’s why you’ll find here all you need to know about the different types of healthy and weight loss-promoting fats and oils…

…without all the scientific jargon and unnecessary details about the molecular structure of saturated, unsaturated, mono- and polyunsaturated fats.

Because you shouldn’t need a chemistry degree to get the scoop on the different types of fats in food! Read on to find out how to make wise decisions and educated purchases when it comes to the good fats (a.k.a healthy fats) vs. bad fats.

Over the last two decades there was a LOT of talk about healthy cooking oils and fats.

Cutting-edge nutritional research…

…countless clinical studies…

…a huge amount of real-life tests…

…all exposing the real health facts about fats and oils – facts that you need to know today to stay healthy and – yes – lose weight easier!

So, what have all these studies on various saturated and unsaturated fats proved when talking about losing weight?

They all proved without a doubt that a diet low in certain good fats causes us to store fat rather than burn it. Also, that missing on specific healthy fats causes us to struggle with hunger pangs and food cravings – especially fatty foods.

Let’s take a moment to dig a bit deeper into the topic of dietary fats and start with the…

…Healthy Types of Fats: Good Fats and Oils

Do you know that certain types of fats are burnt for energy instead of being stored as body fat?

It’s true.

Healthy fats are rich in essential fatty acids – especially omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega 3 fats activate your metabolism and help you burn more of your body fat.

The most popular of these good, healthy fats are flaxseed oil, walnut oil, fish oil, cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are the fats required for your body’s optimal functioning, but that are only available from specific foods, like fatty fish (salmon, halibut, scallops), nuts and seeds (walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds).

These types of healthy fats are easy to digest, do not put any strain on your pancreas, liver or digestive system and are not deposited within your arteries as cholesterol, like other types of fats.

The best thing about these fats is that they stabilize blood sugar levels and decrease the rate at which carbohydrates are released into your system.

What does this mean to YOU?

Well, it means that you will feel full and satisfied sooner and for a longer period of time after a meal containing these good fats and oils with essential fatty acids.

In contrast, when you miss these good, healthy fats in your diet you start to experience many and serious health issues, due to an essential fatty acid deficiency.

Let’s now take a look at the other…

…Types of Fats: The Bad Fats

Shockingly, the bad fats for your health are among the common supermarket cooking oils like:

• canola oil
• corn oil
• soybean oil
• safflower oil
• sunflower oil

If you care about your health, you must remember this: they are harmful cooking fats – here’s why.

Very simplified, this is what you should know.

The molecular structure of these unsaturated oils is easily altered at higher temperatures, making them toxic for your body. Besides, they are too high in omega-6 and further aggravate an already out-of-balance essential fatty acids ratio in your body.

And there’s another scary breed of bad fats – the so-called hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils or vegetable shortenings – more commonly known as trans fats.

Are you wondering “why are trans fats bad?” Read this.

So, which Types of Fats Should You Use?

It’s simple, really. Use only these three types of good fats – nothing else:

• for salad dressings: flaxseed oil and cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil – you can even mix these two, but remember to NEVER heat these oils to avoid their oxidation
  
• for cooking: coconut oil, ghee, which is nothing else than clarified butter, or even plain butter (yes, Julia Child knew something about this saying,“with enough butter, anything is good”).

Finally…

Limit the Dangerous Types of Fats – a.k.a. Animal Saturated Fats

If you’re like most people, you probably love cheese and a nice, juicy steak now and then, right?

But as you probably know, if you want to lose weight, lower your cholesterol and your risk of heart disease, you’d better limit the animal fat you eat – too much of it it’s not so good for your health.

So when trying to lose weight you may want to limit the foods containing the highest amount of animal fat: dairy and fatty meats.

With this in mind, you should know that dairy and meat products coming from grass-fed animals are much healthier than the ones coming from animals conventionally-fed in a feedlot with grains (to which they add growth hormones, antibiotics and other things you don’t even want to know about).

Products made from grazing animals are healthier because they are considerably higher in essential fatty acids like omega-3s and CLA (conjugated linolenic acid). Your body does not deposit them as body fat – in fact, they are reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease and many other serious health conditions.

Yes, it’s true, products coming from grass-fed animals are a bit more expensive than the conventional ones… But what do you prefer to spend your money on: clean, healthy food… or doctors and medicines later on? You decide.

So, to summarize:

Certain Types of Fats are Vital…

…for your optimum health and indispensable in losing weight and keeping it off. Just remember these simple tips:

• Use good fats like flaxseed oil, coconut oil and cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil; these should be the only three oils in your kitchen: flaxseed and olive oils for non-heat dishes like salad dressings, home-made hummus & mayonnaise, and coconut oil as the healthiest cooking oil.
  
• Stop using the bad fats: vegetable oils like canola, corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, peanut oils – to avoid a myriad of health issues.
  
• Avoid at all costs the trans fats, as they pose a serious threat to your health: these are all margarines, shortenings and butter substitutes and are found in all products that list partially hydrogenated oil or vegetable shortening on the label.
  
• To enhance your health and boost your weight loss consider taking a high quality omega-3 fish oil supplement (or better yet, pure grade krill oil, as krill oil is less contaminated than fish oil).  Using these omega-3 healthy types of fats allows you to lose weight MUCH easier without fretting all the time about dieting – don’t ignore the omega 3s and the weight loss connection.

Want to find out more about the less-known coconut oil and its immense help in losing weight? Take a look at the Coconut Oil for Weight Loss here >>