So, thank you for reading my newsletter now for simple and sensible weight loss tip number 6: Eat essential fats – whilst many people believe that fat makes you fat, the real culprits are sugar and refined carbohydrates. They are essential because they slow down the release of carbohydrates, boost your metabolism, make you less insulin resistant and reduce inflammation.
There is no point in taking GLA supplements (evening primrose or star flower oil) if your insulin levels are high as the GLA is converted into bad prostaglandin’s which cause inflammation. Year ago we use to get a good balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils in our food, but the Western diet contains nearly ten times more Omega 6 (from the increased use of vegetable oils and seeds) than Omega 3 (oily fish, soy, flaxseeds), resulting in a much higher levels of bad prostaglandin’s in our blood.
I would recommend a 3-month push of boosting Omega 3 in supplement form, to kick start fat-burning mechanism. Only if you are not taking blood thinners or suffer with a blood clotting disorder.
Vegetarians will find this a little harder as stress hormones will block the conversion of Omega 3 in flax oils, soy and walnuts to EPA. So, it is more important to follow recommendations I have listed in my last 5 Simple and Sensible Weight Loss Tips to support the stress response.
Research has shown that if you reduce the amount of Omega 6 vegetable oils in your diet the conversion rate of Omega 3 to EPA will be higher.
Use olive oil or coconut oil when cooking, take care not to heat it to too high temperatures. If you overheat oil, leave it in direct sunlight or reuse it can quickly oxidise leaving it open to attack from free radicals rendering them inflammatory and can have an impact on taste.
Try to buy cold-pressed, unrefined (unfiltered) olive oils. Most supermarket oils are manufactured using chemicals, ruining their nutritional content. Be vigilant and read the labels. Try and not buy olive oil that lists olive oil via mechanical means.
So How Much Fat should we be eating?
The official UK recommendation for overall consumption of all fats is no more than 35% of your daily calorie intake. Within this, saturated fats should form no more than 11% and trans-fat no more than 2% of your daily calories. Remember the traffic light system I discussed a in Sensible and Simple Weight Loss tip Number 4 will list fats and Saturates as a percentage of daily recommended intake. Unsaturated fats should replace some of the saturated fats in our diets to reduce the risk of heart disease.
As a nation we are meeting the overall fat and trans-fat advice but exceeding the saturated fat recommendation which ultimately has a negative impact on our health.
Increasing your omega levels via supplementation must be cleared with a health professional especially if taking prescribed blood thinners.
Thank you for reading
Fiona Waring
Dip Nut, BSc.(Hons), MSc PHN, ANutr
Nutritional Therapist
M: +44 07957 267 964
eatyourgreens@fionawaring.com
‘Registered with the Association for Nutrition – www.associationfornutrition.org
