So often as a personal trainer I am told 'I want to lose weight /tone up so i've cut fat out of my diet completely' or 'I was told avocados are bad'.
Whether you're joining our Borehamwood pole or bootcamp classes, looking at personal training or simply after some fitness knowledge to help you on your way to a happier healthier lifestyle, take a quick read of our 'quick guide to knowing your fats'.
I think the message is finally starting to land, not all fats are bad. Like everything it's about balance, lack of fat in a diet can lead to health deficiencies whilst too much can lead to obesity and heart disease.
What fat does:
insulates the nerve cells (myelin sheath) which enables your nerves to send the electrical messages around your body.
It's responsible for bone growth/ strengthening (osteoblast) which contributes to that glossy hair and radiant complexion.
For women it aids reproduction (as hormone storage and modification takes place in the adipose tissue).
Plus it adds flavour to our food and tastes good!
Did you know even with 15-25kg of your body being made up of fat you could still be slim and healthy.
Types of fats:
Essential fats (EFA)
Certain types of polyunsaturated fats are essential to the body (EFAs) - most commonly omega 3 and omega 6, which can be found in salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines etc.
These can help with:
arthritis
asthma
good for the blood
better immune response
and best of all can help against ageing!!
Not a fan of fish?
Try dark green vegetables, soy beans, flax oil, rapeseed oil , or canola oil.
Trans Fats
Trans fats also known as hydrogenated fats - the devil of all fats!! These are super super bad for you and clog up our arteries! They're basically unsaturated fats which would usually be in a liquid form and then with some human tampering, chemical reactions have taken place to make them a more solid form. Why would we do this to ourselves? Why for the bottom line of course. Companies do this as it's a much cheaper way to produce their products rather than using naturally solid fats.
Look out for hydrogenated fats on your food labels, especially on cheap brand margarines, cakes and biscuits. As well as highly processed foods and microwave meals/ ready meals.
Overall
Obviously it's unrealistic to say 'I'm never going to eat biscuits ever again' but hopefully you'll have a better understanding of the types of fats you are having and why fat in your diet is not necessarily a bad thing.
Have a question?
Something you'd like to understand more?
Let us know info@ajfitness.co.uk