Editor's Note: This is part of a series called, "One GREAT Answer." Each week we ask our readers what they want to know, and take their questions to the world’s smartest experts.
"Some people say fat is bad. Others say fat is good. What do I really need to know?" –Alan, Los Angeles
Dietary fat is about as easy to understand as an episode of Lost. But that doesn’t mean you can’t follow some simple guidelines to help you eat better and lose more weight. If there’s one thing you need to know it’s this: Processed foods that claim to be “low fat” or “no fat” are typically not good for you, says nutritionist Alan Aragon, M.S., who writes a highly renowned nutrition review. If you need any evidence, look back at the low fat craze of the 1980s. During that time “fat-free” became a marketing buzz word that turned every food imaginable into a healthy option by demonizing fat. The problem: The idea that fat-free products equated to fat-free bodies was very misleading, says Aragon. In fact, during the fat-free rage, fat consumption decreased by 33 percent and obesity increased by 11 percent. Clearly fat is not the issue.
In fact, eating fat can actually help you lose fat. (The bad kind on your body—not the food you eat). But deciphering the good from the bad can be hard. For years it was thought that saturated fats were evil and unsaturated fats were healthy. But a 50-year review in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology found that a diet low in saturated fat does NOT prolong life. (So much for that theory.) In fact, research shows that the fat in meat and milk (a saturated fat known as stearic acid) is actually good for you, says Aragon. And omega-3 fatty acids (which are commonly found in fish) can do everything from decrease blood pressure and inflammation, to improve bone healthy and help you lose weight. In contrast, trans fats, which are industrially produced and lurk under names like “partially hydrogentated vegetable oil,” will wreck havoc on your body.
Problems really arise when you start analyzing how much fat you consume from different sources, adds Aragon. Omega 6 fats are healthy (you can find them in foods like corn oil, sunflower and safflower oil, refined grains, and even pastries). But when Omega 6s are consumed in a high ratio compared to Omega 3s, it can cause health issues for your body.
The bottom line: With the exception of trans fats, most of the fat you eat is not bad. In fact, one of the biggest adjustments Aragon has made is adding more fat to his client’s diets. But everything has a limit. As a guideline, Aragon suggestions eating .4 to .6 grams of fat per pound of your GOAL body weight. So if you’re a 130 pound woman who’d like to weigh 110 pounds, Aragon would suggest anywhere between 44 and 66 grams of fat per day (110 x .4 and 110 .6 to create the range). Don’t worry about the ratio too much as long as you consume your fats from a variety of whole food sources, and make sure that you consume fish (or use fish oil supplements if you don’t eat fish) 2-4 times per week to provide your body with the Omega 3s you need.
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