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Brilio.net/en - Fats are dreadful and if you hate them, youre not alone. Even though the fear of fat can be considered an outdated myth, its common sense to avoid them. After all, eating fat makes you fat, right?
From a caloric perspective, the fear seems to make sense. Dietary fat contains nine calories per gram, versus the four calories per gram for carbohydrates and proteins. So if you eat less fat, youll eat fewer calories and youll lose weight. Thats acceptable.
But surprisingly, that theory doesnt work. The idea that all calories have an equal impact on your weight and metabolism is one of the most persistent myths in nutrition. That way of thinking is the one that keeps us overweight and sick.
Of course, in a laboratory all calories are the same when you burn them in a vacuum. But your body isnt a laboratory. Its a more intricate, interconnected organism that at the same time juggles thousands of tasks.
For our bodies, food isnt just a heap of calories or a source of energy. It affects every biological processes and function. It can literally "turn on" health genes or disease genes. It influences our hormones, the chemistry inside our brains, our immune system, and even your gut flora.
When you got the idea, you can change your health simply starting with your next meal today!
So, this is the idea: instead of those militant calorie counting or low-fat diets, the healthy fats, as shown by several studies, can help you get lean. In experiments involving humans, those who ate high-fat diets had a much faster metabolism. On the contrary, Low-fat, high-carb eaters spiked insulin, subsequently experiencing a deceleration of metabolism and storing more belly fat.
The higher-fat diet group constantly had a faster metabolism, even while eating the same amount of calories.
Another research, conducted by Dr. David Ludwig and his colleagues at Harvard, compared high-fat, low-carb diets with high-carb, low-fat diets in a controlled feeding study (where researchers provide all the food). Again, the high-fat group did better with their metabolism process.
Those scientists finally did a test called a crossover trial, in which you assign the same study subjects to different diets. In the first half of the study, the subjects ate one way. For the other half, they had the opposite diet. So half the group ate high-fat, low-carb and half ate low-fat, high-carb. Then at the second part, they swapped diet with the other part of the group.
With this study, scientists learned about the effects on the metabolism of different diets on the same person. This way they are creating a more accurate, comprehensive picture of the most effective eating plan. While their ratios of carbs, proteins, and fats differ, both groups ate the exact same number of calories.
The result was rather shocking: the high-fat group ended up burning 300 more calories a day than the low-fat group. The high-fat group also had the biggest improvements in cholesterol, including lower triglycerides, lower LDL, and lower levels of PIA-1, which shows less likelihood of having blood clots or inflammation. They also showed bigger improvements with insulin resistance or pre-diabetes.
The message is, most of your fat-cell biology are controlled by the quality and type of food that you eat. It explains why we should have a whole-foods diet thats lower in refined carbohydrates, low-glycemic, and high in fiber and quality fat. Those qualities you will find in avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts, seeds, and eggs.
Source: Mind Body Green
(brl/tis)
