Healthy Habit #11-Know your fats!

This week I challenge you to really focus on replacing the "bad" fats in your diet with good fats.

Diets come and go-first there is the no-fat diet, than the atkins diets where basically all you eat is fat...you never know what to-do when it comes to losing weight or just being healthy.  That's why I hate the idea of diets!  Truth is you really just need to get the right fats into your diet and limit the hydrogenated and trans-fats from the menu!

Step one-add more good fats!
-good fats are natural fats they keep our cholesterol low and help raise our HDL, or good cholesterol.
-monounsaturated fats like olive, peanut, sesame, canola and avocado oils are great for your HDL!  Just be careful when heating these oils, you should only use oils meant for med-high heat when cooking.  If you use an olive oil to cook with it will lose most of it nutrients in the hot pan.
-polyunsaturated fats like corn, soybean, safflower and cold-water fish oils help raise your HDL.
-Essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and 6 increase our energy level and help transport bad cholesterol out of our systems.

Ideas on how to include more "good" fats:
Eat cold-water fish 1-2 times a week. Mackerel, salmon, trout, sardines, herring, anchoivies and tuna are great options.
Substitute EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) for butter on breads and pastas.
Try new poly or monounsaturated oils like chili oil, peanut oil. etc.  I like to use safflower or coconut oils when cooking.  Corn, soybean and safflower oils should not be cooked on high heat and should be refrigerated between uses.
Add flaxseed to cereals smoothies, baked goods, etc.
Read labels, read labels, read labels!! Don't worry about the nutrition info where it tells you how many grams of fat per serving-read the ingredients where it tells you what type of fat they used!!
If you have a smart phone this will help when grocery shopping!
http://www.fooducate.com/


Step two-limit the bad fats!
-Solid fats like shortenings, butter and fat from meats and poultry raise your cholesterol (the bad kind).  Keep these saturated fats to a minimum.
Partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated fats that are found in processed junk foods and many margarines are harmful to our bodies and are linked to breast cancer.
-Be sure to check labels and don't buy items with trans-fatty acids and hydrogenation. Again, here is a great app that will help you decypher the type of fat in a particular pre-packaged food:
http://www.fooducate.com/