Eat Healthy Fats to Lose Weight

As people try to lose weight, many people tend to try to eliminate ALL fats from their diets, which is actually an unhealthy move. I’ve been reading Dr. Walter C. Willett’s book, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy, which provides extensive information about food and nutrition. He discusses the importance of weight control, as well as in-depth information on fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. The fourth chapter (“Surprising News About Fat”) provides information on the four fat types (saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and trans). He provides scientific explanations, but I’m going to very briefly summarize the main points of this chapter because this information is critical for permanent weight loss:

Two types of fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (found in vegetable and fish oils), are good for you and should be included in your diet. While heart disease and high cholesterol is blamed on the consumption of fat, it important to note that it is really SATURATED fat that is to blame. If you can keep your daily calories the same, but reduce saturated and increase monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, then you will not gain weight and you will be much healthier. Willet reports from his research that “people on low-fat diets generally lose about two to four pounds after several weeks, but then gain that weight back even while continuing with the diet.”

To keep your caloric intake the same while increasing healthy fats, you will need to decrease your consumption of saturated fats and also decrease consumption of some carbohydrates. Keep in mind that it is fine to consume some saturated fat, but it should be kept in moderation. Willett says, “The more saturated fat, the more heart disease. The more good fats, the less heart disease.” Consuming healthy fats can also lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Willett agrees with the most recent reports / suggestions regarding trans fats – eliminate them entirely. Trans fats have shown to cause even higher rates of heart disease and raise cholesterol.