Let’s talk about dietary fats! Fats are one of the highest calorie dense foods compared to carbs and protein. For each gram of fat you’re looking at 9 calories. In other words if you have 1 serving of oatmeal, it usually has 2.5 grams of fat // 25 grams of carbs // 5 grams protein. The 2.5 grams of fat in the oatmeal you multiply it by 9 calories to see how many calories in that serving of oatmeal comes from fat. 2.5 x 9 = 22.5 calories.
Now one of the issues I see people make is over consuming fats and/or carbs together. If you are looking to lose weight you want to choose to track your carb/fat/protein macros to ensure you are staying on track with how much you eat/daily. If you are not already I encourage you to begin to at least keep track of how much protein you are eating as this will ensure you are keeping your body in protein synthesis to maintain and/or grow muscle tissue.'
We are made up of trillions of cells, and our cells are surronded by a fatty acid membrane which plays a role in intracellular signaling. The signaling may be compromised by the types of fats you’re eating (hence you are what you eat!). The diet of your source of protein is relative ot the type of food they eat. In other words the food a cow, pig, chicken eats will affect you, too. This is why there is a option of grass fed beef, and typically is ‘better’ for you than non grass fed. In the video I mention that your food choices can affect your offspring genetic make up, too! Fascinating stuff!
This is why it is important to consume fats that are beneficial not only for our physical appearance, and hormones but also for our cells to function properly.
You have:
saturated fats (meat, diary, topical oils)
medium chain triglycerides
short chain fattty acids (Butyrate)
SCFA affects your gut bacteria in a good way, and alters lipid level profile in a good way
monounsaturated (olive oil, macadamian nut oil aka OMEGA 9)
polyunsaturated (fish avocado, nuts)
omega 3: alpha linolenic acid, EPA/DHA** - Essential for health
omega 6: alphalinoleic acid ** - Essential for health
So you may be wondering….Okay so what should I eat?
Good question. Here’s a list:
flaxseeds or flax oil
fish oil - I prefer the tincture or actual oil, and you typically want to get your fish oil from sardines, anchovies, or mackerel. Salmon is a big fish and may take on ‘yucky’ stuff that you end up consuming too where as the smaller fish have a shorter lifespan. The fish oil I linked has enough EPA/DHA too
olive oil
walnuts
avocados
grapeseed oil
How much should I eat?
According to the American Heart Association you’ll want to consume 15-30% of total energy needs come from fats in total. Omega 3 you’ll want to consume at least 1 gram/day so that’s about 1 serving of a fish oil supplement in pill or oil form. Omega 6 you’ll want about 5-10% of your calories to come from this source. Try to consume no more than 10% of your calories from saturated fat.
Well that’s all I got for now………I hope that helped you. Better yet I know that helped you ;)
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Dietary Fats