Don't skip the healthy fats!

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In general, I suggest to my clients to focus on mixed meals whenever they eat. A mixed meal contains lean proteins, colourful vegetables, smart carbohydrates and healthy fats. This mix will provide a good range of nutrients for all your physical needs and also taste satisfaction for your mind. So how do we define a healthy fat?

Healthy fats:

  • naturally occurring (such as the fat in olives, egg yolks, nuts and seeds)

  • relatively minimally processed (either they're whole foods, or they've been simply pressed or churned such as butter)

What they do:

  • help you recover faster

  • nourish fatty tissues like your brain, eyes, and cell membranes

  • help you absorb fat-soluble vitamins, like Vitamin A, D, and K

  • keep your muscle-building and reproductive hormones functioning optimally

On the flip side, unhealthy fats:

  • don't naturally occur in the foods they're found in

  • have to be created through an industrial process

Trans fats are the ones to avoid as much as possible. Consuming a lot of trans fats over the long term can lead to heart disease, chronic inflammation, cancer and other serious diseases. It’s not that someone would never eat the foods below, but they eat them less; for example once a week.

A few examples of common foods which may contain trans fats (check the food label):

  • regular peanut butter

  • fried or battered foods

  • pie crust and other baked goods

  • frozen dinners and other processed foods

  • margarine or processed oils, such as cooking spray

  • corn oil

  • cottonseed oil

  • safflower oil

  • soybean oil

  • sunflower oil

A helpful way to measure added fat to a meal is by using your own thumb size; your thumb is roughly equivalent to a tablespoon so it’s very convenient! If there is fat in your meat please check the food label before adding more to the cooking process.

Taking things to the next level would be aiming for a 30% equal ratio of saturated, mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats daily. Start with reasonable improvements from where you are now and by being 1% better each day you will see consistent results. In terms of body composition, a general guide is to aim for 1gm of fat to every kilogram of bodyweight. For example, if you weigh 80kg, then eat 80gm of fat in a 24 hour period from all sources. Carbohydrates and fats are the macronutrients to manipulate when losing or gaining weight because protein needs to stay relatively constant.