Avocados: Healthy Fats

Fats have such a bad reputation, the amount of times I get “ohh I cant eat avocados I am trying to lose weight” or “Why are you eating nuts they have so much fat in!”. I think the problem is the lack of understanding of fats and the different types of fat there are and what one are good for you and which ones to avoid. Because not all fats are bad, in fact some fats are great for you these are healthy fats and should be consumed regularly as part of a balanced diet!

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Fats to be avoided are saturated fats you find in deep fried food, chips, crisps etc also avaoid trans fats in margarine for examplebut that is fairly well known right? What about fat free or ‘low fat’ foods? These foods which claim they are low fat aren’t necessarily any better for you as they tend to have aspartame (sugar replacements) added in to make them taste nice. So to be avoided at all costs really, it is much better to have food in their whole state than a altered version of that food which has had all sorts added in to make it taste good. For example I would always go for a full fat natural or pro-biotic yoghurt over a low fat version.

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Also a little known fact about cooking oils for you now, many people cook in olive oil and believe that this is the healthy alternative however olive oil changes its structure at high temperatures and the cells become free radicals. Therefore stripping it of all of its nutritional value. It is much better to drizzle cold olive oil over your food to get the full benefits rather than cooking with it.

Almonds and mixed seeds: healthy fats

Now for the good fats, nuts, seeds, oily fish, olives but firstly lets focus on Coconut oil the unsung hero of the fat world, I use coconut oil continuously in my cooking, I also use it on my skin and hair as it makes your skin glow and feel amazing and works as a overnight conditioner. Try it and see if you see the difference!

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Coconut oil is directly processed by your liver therefore your body uses it directly as fuel- it is good for encouraging weightloss and is also known to help with thyroid problems. So the lesson here is go out and purchase some coconut oil as it will honestly change your life.

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Omega 3 fatty acid is an EFA (essential fatty acid) which our body needs as part of a healthy balanced diet, it is also essential for a working metabolism. Great providers of Omega 3 are listed below. Try and incorporate some of these foods into your diet to help get your essential fatty acids into your diet.

• Chia seeds (see chia seeds pudding recipe)
• Walnuts
• Oily Fish (salmon, mackerel)
• Flaxseed
• Pumpkin seeds