Weight Loss Tip: Know The Truth About Fat

This article is from  greenmedinfo.com

What If The Low-Fat Craze Was Based On Flawed Thinking?

Several decades ago the modern world went crazy with its dietary habits. People were told to stop eating fats because they led to weight gain and heart disease. The government was behind this advice as well as the American Heart Association, hospitals, manufacturers of cholesterol-lowering drugs, food manufacturers, dairies and doctors.

Here we are thirty years later and obesity and heart disease rates have gone up instead of down. Now some (not enough) researchers are saying the low-fat idea was a big mistake.

In typical fashion, the Mayo Clinic makes this statement on its website: "[T]here is a dark side to fat. The concern with some types of dietary fat (and their cousin cholesterol) is that they are thought to play a role in cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Dietary fat also may have a role in other diseases, including obesity and cancer." 

Is this true, or is it simply an assumption that has been proven wrong? Or is it the kind of misinformation you'd expect from drug companies that manufacture cholesterol-lowering drugs and food giants who make billions selling low-fat, non-fat processed cereal, yogurt, drinks, pizzas, cookies and ice cream?

We need fats in our diets. It's a matter of biology

Fats are essential to human health. The Weston A Price Foundation tells us, "Fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a concentrated source of energy in the diet; they also provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances. Fats as part of a meal slow down absorption so that we can go longer without feeling hungry. In addition, they act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats are needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption and for a host of other processes." (westonaprice.org)

So how can we eat fat and avoid fat at the same time? Food manufacturers came up with the idea of altering fats. And this has led to all sorts of health problems, an outcome not altogether unexpected when scientists try to improve on nature. The worst of the creations was trans fats, which are now even recognized by the mainstream medical profession as unhealthful.

Our diets are not natural

Most diets today are not natural. They contain mostly cooked, processed, artificial and altered substances. And far too many refined sugars. Can anything but sickness be expected when ideal diets contain anything but whole, unaltered, unsprayed vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and meats? Of course not. If you believe the cereal ads you'll think the stuff in the box with the cute cartoon character is real food. It's not. It's dead and bad even if the American Heart Association endorses it, and even though it contains zero fat and a plethora of isolated laboratory-made vitamins.

Low-fat, fake-fat is good for food manufacturers only

Public relations has much to do with every movement — whether buying more economical cars, recycling or switching over to a low-fat diet. When it comes to the topic of health, a steady stream of information (even if not particularly accurate) makes for big profits. A population that's scared out of its wits over eating fat will fill their shopping carts with low-fat yogurt, skim milk and tubs of margarine. But statistics show that this has had no role in lowering heart disease, preventing diabetes or reducing weight.

What's good for business can be bad for health.

Gary Taubes stirs the fat

If you haven't read Gary Taubes' books, now is the time. His thorough research and logical thinking defies the idea that fats are bad for your health or that they are as evil as they've been made out to be. His book Good Calories, Bad Calories is a lesson on how carbohydrates are behind many of our modern diseases. And his book Why We Get Fat and What to do About It takes the issue a step further, positing the idea that good science has been ignored and we've been heading down the wrong road by vilifying dietary fats and claiming they are behind obesity. 

I asked Gary for his opinion on a few key points in this discussion. Here's our exchange:

Vic: Even doctors with a more moderate view of fats still tell people to avoid saturated fats. Is this advice founded in science?

Gary: Well, it's founded in bad science, as I've described in my books and articles on this. The most compelling research arguing against it are the randomized controlled trials that compare Atkins-like, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets to effectively any other diet -- whether the AHA [American Heart Association] step-one, low-fat, calorie-restricted diet or a very low fat Ornish diet or a Mediterranean diet. In these experiments, the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet invariably leads to at least as much weight loss -- despite the fact that the subjects on these diets can consume as many calories as they want -- and an overall improvement in heart disease risk factors. 

Vic: Why do you think fat takes the blame for obesity?

Gary: [Sugars] influence how much fat is oxidized and how much is stored. So the more carbohydrates we eat, the more fat we end up storing -- particularly refined grains and sugars, which seem to have the greatest influence on the hormone insulin that regulates fat storage. As to why fat takes the blame, I'd say there are two reasons: one is this remarkably naive idea that we are what we eat, so if we are fat this must be due to the fat we eat, and 2). as I describe in my books, once we decided dietary fat caused heart disease, that meant the way to avoid heart disease was eat low-fat, carbohydrate-rich diets. But now we had to deal with the observation that the obese are at higher risk of heart disease than lean people. So carbohydrates couldn't be fattening, right, because then the same diet that prevented heart disease would be a diet that made us fat? So to reconcile this problem, our nutritional authorities decided that it must be fat that makes us fat and now they could recommend low-fat high carbohydrate diets as weight loss diets, too. Their intentions were pure, but the results have been a disaster. 

Vic: Do you think the denial of carbohydrate's role in obesity, diabetes and other diseases is based on food politics, lack of education or blind faith that keeps researchers from revisiting the real cause of these diseases?

Gary: A little of all three. They also tend to fall back on simplistic ways of thinking: Southeast Asians, for instance, have low rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity and they ate carb-rich diets, therefore all carb-rich diets must be healthful. The idea that the nature of the carbohydrates can make a difference -- refined instead of unrefined, sugar(s) vs. grains and starches  -- can make a huge difference seems to be a level of complication that these people find too much to handle. 

Vic: Dean Ornish, MD, claims great success reversing heart disease while using a low fat diet. How has he managed to do this by restricting fats?

Gary: Dr. Ornish's diet restricts refined grains and sugars for the same reason I suggest they're bad -- because they raise blood sugar and ultimately raise insulin levels. So it's quite possible that any benefit Dr. Ornish sees in his studies can be explained by that alone and that his subjects and patients would do even better if they were eating a high fat diet. We don't know if that's true, and Dr. Ornish can't prove it's fat because his studies change so many variables that virtually anything is possible. Again, it's one of the reasons I've been arguing for better science to be done in this field, so that questions like that can be answered unequivocally.

This isn't to say that a high fat diet is the answer either

As of late many people are giving high fat dieting a try. Is this a good idea? Instead of answering this directly, it's better to compare apples to apples, or in this case, fats to other fats. If you are modeling your high fat diet on an African tribe or indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, or even early humans, you have to look at more than just the fat they ate, but also the type of fat, it's source and the other nutrients that came along with the high fat diet. 

While a few doctors are saying that you can replicate the healthfulness of the indigenous high-fat diet by eating more coconut butter, butter, cream, cheese, avocados and bacon, think again. These may all be good fats but they do not contain the same nutrient profile of organ meats, cow's blood or whale fat. This leads to a whole new discussion, perhaps fodder for a subsequent article, but suffice it to say that even progressive thinking natural health advocates frequently suffer from the same fault as modern medical practitioners and researchers: It's not helpful to focus so closely on one aspect of the diet without considering it in context. All fat foods are not the same.

The best place to begin

In any event, however, the best place to start to improve your diet is to get rid of all processed foods, refined sugar and refined flour products.

Weight Loss Tip: How To Stop Food Cravings

This article is from  ratherbehealthy.com

4 Key Strategies for Killing Food Cravings..

If you often give in to cravings for junk food, you’re not alone. We all do it sometimes, but those that manage it better will get and stay lean easier. My friend Chad has a great article below with some really powerful tips you can use to kill cravings. And I love the 6 foods he lists in #1…

4 Key Strategies for Killing Food Cravings
By Chad Tackett, CPT

When you’re constantly hungry, it makes choosing the right foods
at the right times really challenging.

Staying full and energized while eating fewer calories—that’s the
secret to long-term fat loss success.

Here are 4 key strategies for feeling satisfied after a healthy meal
and staying full longer. You’ll not only have a lot more energy, you’ll
crave (and eat) less later. . .

1. Eat your water. Yes, eat. Drinking water is great, and you should
throughout the day, but it doesn’t provide the same level of feeling
satisfied as when you eat foods high in water.

There is a separate mechanism in the brain that controls hunger and
thirst. If the food you eat contains water, it will stay in the stomach
longer while it’s being digested.

PLUS, foods high in water are naturally very low in calories – making
them ideal for fat loss.

Many fruits and vegetables contain 90 – 98 percent water! The
following are some of the most hydrating foods. . .

- Watermelon contains 92% water and electrolytes, such as
calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium – all of which
(positively) influence your metabolism!

- Grapefruit contains only 30 calories and is comprised of 90%
water!

- Cucumbers are 96% water and contain just 14 calories in an
entire cup!

- Cantaloupe is 89% water and contains only 27 calories per
1/2 cup!

- Strawberries contain just 23 calories per 1/2 cup and are made
up of approximately 92% water. Plus, strawberries rank as the
4th strongest antioxidant-rich fruit!

- Broccoli contains 90% water and anti-cancer nutrients that
help to detoxify the vast number of potential toxins that we
encounter each day. Plus, it’s a great source of fiber!

You may have noticed that these water-dense foods are all carbs.
Because they’re natural (and not processed), I’d suggest the portion
being about the size of your fist. So, a small grapefruit or a cup of
sliced strawberries, for example, would work well.

2. Fill up on fiber. Fiber is critical to fat loss in several ways: first,
fiber contains only 1.5 to 2.5 calories per gram, while other carbs
contain 4 calories per gram (fat contains 9 calories per gram).
Essentially, you can pile your plate with plenty of high-fiber foods
without worrying about caloric-overload.

In addition to being low-calorie, high-fiber foods are more filling.
Fiber is absorbed by our bodies more slowly than other foods,
which means we feel full longer.

Foods high in fiber are fruits and vegetables, beans, lentils, legumes,
and natural whole grains. Aim for at least 25-35 grams each day to
help reduce your caloric intake and keep you feeling full and
energized longer.

3. Include protein at every meal. A meal with carbs alone causes
blood sugar spikes and crashes, which leave you feeling tired, hungry,
and weak. Protein helps slow this from happening, so that the carbs
you eat aren’t converted to body fat, and allows for energy to be
released slowly.

Great protein sources are lean meats, fish, lowfat dairy, legumes,
and unprocessed soy products.

Your choice of protein should be approximately the size of your
palm. For example, a medium-sized chicken breast.

4. Don’t leave out healthy fat. Since fat is so calorie-dense, it’s
important that you eat it in moderation . . . BUT in small amounts,
it provides flavor and has a positive impact on slowing insulin
response, like protein.

My favorite healthy fat source are nuts and seeds because they
are also a great source of protein and fiber. Other excellent fat
sources are avocados, olives, and fatty fish (e.g., salmon).

The fat source you choose should be about the size of your
thumb. This is about 5 almonds for the average-sized woman
or 7 almonds for the average man.

*Putting this into Action*

Now that you know which foods keep you feeling full and
satisfied throughout the day, here are some great ideas that
combine them all together for one super fat-burning snack or
meal:

1. Stir in a little peanut butter (healthy fat) and protein powder
(protein) into oatmeal (fiber), topped with strawberries (water).

2. Dip cucumbers (water) in hummus (fiber and healthy fat) and
cottage cheese (protein).

3. Marinate broccoli (water and fiber) and boneless, skinless
chicken breast (protein) in a little olive oil (healthy fat) and
balsamic vinegar and wrap it in aluminum foil on the BBQ.

4. A bowl of Greek yogurt (protein) with pieces of watermelon
(water), topped with flaxseeds (fiber and healthy fat).

These meals will make you FEEL completely different.

Your mood and energy will stabilize. You won’t have that gnawing,
dissatisfied feeling anymore.

You’ll feel a lot more self-control when it comes to what you eat
and when you eat it.

Weight Loss Tip: Give The Food Pyramid A Flip

This article is from  mercola.com

How Turning the Food Pyramid on Its Head Can Help You “Slim Down Without Trying”

By Dr. Mercola

In the video above, the late Peter Jennings reports on “how to get fat without really trying.” Indeed, if you eat a standard American diet (SAD), you’re virtually guaranteed to inadvertently pack on extra pounds, even if you think you’re eating healthy.

Presently, a full two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and childhood obesity has tripled over the past 30 years.

While the American agricultural system may be the envy of many less affluent nations, it also has many unintended consequences, as Jennings points out. One of them is a food system that promotes cheap food largely devoid of nutrients and chockfull of unhealthy ingredients that has caused obesity rates to skyrocket.

If you’re like most people, you probably do not know that there is NO link between agricultural subsidies and nutrition. This important fact is revealed in Jennings' report, and this is a major part of the problem.

Directly related to this issue is the fact that the government’s nutritional guidelines are in large part mirrored by these same agricultural subsidies, rather than being built upon sound nutritional science.

The original food pyramid created and promoted by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), told you that the “base” of your diet should consist of grains, pasta and breads, despite the evidence showing that grains, which break down into sugar in your body, promotes fat accumulation and drives insulin resistance and related diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

In short, the reason you’re told to make grains the cornerstone of your diet is because that’s what farmers are paid to grow in the US. There’s a lot of it, and it’s inexpensive compared to healthier foods like vegetables, for which few subsidies are offered.

Conventional Farming Promotes Consumption of Unhealthy Foods

There’s no denying the fact that modern agricultural practices promote the consumption of an unhealthy diet. Today’s sky-high rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease can be tied directly to changes in how our food has been grown and produced over the past 40 years.

According to the Environmental Working Group1 (EWG), between 1995 and 2010, a mere 10 percent of American farmers collected 74 percent of all subsidies, amounting to nearly $166 billion over 16 years.

These farm subsidies bring you high-fructose corn syrup, fast food, animal factories, monoculture, and a host of other contributors to our unhealthful contemporary diet.

A report comparing federal subsidies of fresh produce and junk food, prepared by US PIRG, a non-profit organization that takes on special interests on behalf of the public, revealed where your tax dollars are really going and it's quite shocking: If you were to receive an annual federal subsidy directly, you would receive $7.36 to spend on junk food and just 11 cents to buy apples.

Equally astounding is the following statistic gleaned from a recent interview with Michael Pollan,2 in which he points out that according to USDA data, 92 cents of each food dollar now goes to someone other than the farmer—it’s actually spent on the various manufacturing and packaging processes associated with processed foods.

“We’re not going to undo that unless we buy more directly from farmers and buy unprocessed food,” he says.

And I think that’s a crucial point, really. Imagine if food growers could get most or all of each food dollar instead of it being spent on plastic wrappers and food processing! Then they might actually be able to afford growing something other than corn, soy and wheat, which are three of the unhealthiest staples of the processed food industry...

Following USDA Diet Recommendations Is a Recipe for Obesity

Some of you may be old enough to recall the 1992 Food Pyramid, which had grains as the largest bottom block of the pyramid, encouraging you to eat 6-11 servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta each day. This excess of carbohydrates, most of them refined, is precisely the opposite of what most people need to stay healthy. At the very top of the pyramid was fats and sugar, and while sugar clearly belongs there, healthy fats do not. In fact, most people would benefit from getting anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of their total calories from healthy fats!

The food pyramid was replaced with “MyPlate”3 in 2011, which slightly downplayed grains as the most important dietary ingredient, making vegetables the largest “slice,” but it still has a long way to go before it will offer a meal plan that will truly support your optimal health.

One of its most glaring faults is that MyPlate virtually removed all fats from the equation! In fact, except for a small portion of dairy, which is advised to be fat-free or low-fat, fats are missing entirely... There is no mention of the importance of dietary fats, even the "politically correct" ones like the monounsaturated fats in olive oil and nuts, such as pecans (canola oil is also in this category, but I advise avoiding it and using coconut oil instead).

Of course, one of the most important of the healthy fats is animal-based omega-3, which is also absent from the plate. Deficiency in this essential fat can cause or contribute to very serious health problems, both mental and physical, and may be a significant underlying factor of up to 96,000 premature deaths each year. For more information about omega-3s and the best sources of this fat, please review this previous article.

Not surprisingly, the US government still has not acknowledged the ever mounting data showing that saturated fat is actually an incredibly healthy, nourishing, and all-natural fat that humans have been thriving on for generations. It provides the necessary building blocks for your cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances that are critical to your health. Saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources, such as coconut oil, avocado, non-CAFO meat and dairy, also provide a concentrated source of energy in your diet.

When you eat fats as part of your meal, they also slow down absorption so that you can feel satiated longer, which helps curb overeating. In addition, they act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and are needed for mineral absorption and a host of other biological processes. To get these healthy saturated fats in your diet, you need to eat animal foods like butter and other full-fat raw dairy products and eggs, yet these foods are still demonized by the establishment.

What a Food Pyramid Based on Nutritional Science Really Looks Like

In an effort to remedy the situation, I’ve created my own food pyramid for optimal health (below), which you can print out and share with your friends and family. My pyramid, which is based on nutritional science opposed to agricultural subsidies and industry lobbying efforts, is almost the inverse of the original USDA food pyramid, featuring healthful fats and vegetables on the bottom. Again, most people would benefit from getting at least 50 percent of your daily calories from healthful fats, such as avocados, coconut oil, nuts, and raw butter. In terms of bulk or quantity, vegetables should be the most prominent feature on your plate. Veggies provide countless critical nutrients, while being sparse on calories.

Next comes high quality proteins, followed by a moderate amount of fruits, and lastly, at the very top, you’ll find grains and sugars. This last top tier of sugars and grains can be eliminated entirely, and your health just might become the envy of everyone around you... While this may sound impossible to some, I can attest to the fact that quitting carbs is doable. In fact, once you’ve successfully switched over from burning carbs to burning fat as your body’s primary fuel, carb cravings actually disappear, as if by magic. There are two primary ways to achieve this metabolic switch, and these strategies support each other when combined:

• Intermittent fasting: I prefer daily intermittent fasting, but you could also fast a couple of days a week if you prefer, or every other day. There are many different variations. To be effective, in the case of daily intermittent fasting, the length of your fast must be at least eight hours long. This means eating only between the hours of 11am until 7pm, as an example. Essentially, this equates to simply skipping breakfast, and making lunch your first meal of the day instead
• A ketogenic diet: This type of diet, in which you replace carbs with low to moderate amounts of high quality protein and high amounts of beneficial fat, is what I recommend for everyone, and is exactly what you get if you focus on the bottom three tiers of my food pyramid

Other Atrocious Health Recommendations That Drive Obesity and Disease Rates

Make no mistake about it, obesity is the result of inappropriate lifestyle choices, and unfortunately, our government has spent decades disseminating astoundingly inaccurate information about diet and health. In many ways, the US government has become little more than a propagator of corporate-sponsored propaganda. The following is just a tiny sampling of the pervasive misleading information on weight and obesity disseminated by our government agencies:

• “All sugars are equal, and are okay in moderation:” The science is overwhelmingly clear on this point: fructose and glucose are NOT metabolized by your body in the same way. For example, while every cell in your body utilizes glucose, thereby burning up much of it, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat. Furthermore, the entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver, which creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout. It also promotes visceral fat4
When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. As a standard recommendation, I advise keeping your total fructose consumption below 25 grams per day, or as little as 15 grams a day if you have insulin resistance, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease or are overweight
• “To lose weight, just expend more calories than you eat:” This outdated advice has been shown to be patently false, as not all calories are created equal. In a nutshell, counting calories will not help you lose weight if you're consuming thewrong kind of calories
• “Choosing diet foods will help you lose weight:” Substances like Splenda (sucralose) and Equal or Nutrasweet (aspartame) may have zero calories, but your body isn't fooled. When it gets a "sweet" taste, it expects calories to follow, and when this doesn't occur it leads to distortions in your biochemistry that actually lead to weight gain
• “Avoid saturated fat to protect your heart:” The myth that saturated fat causes heart disease began as little more than a scientifically unsupported marketing strategy for Crisco cooking oil. Most people actually need about 50 to 70 percent of their diet as healthful fats from organic, pastured eggs, avocados, coconut oil, real butter and grass-fed beef in order to optimize their health
• “When it comes to cholesterol levels, the lower the better, to avoid heart disease:” Cholesterol is actually NOT the major culprit in heart disease or any disease, and the guidelines that dictate what number your cholesterol levels should be to keep you "healthy" are fraught with conflict of interest -- and have never been proven to be good for your health. Meanwhile, bringing your cholesterol levels down too low can have significant health ramifications, from mood disorders and violence to, ironically, heart disease

Yes, You Can 'Slim Down Without Even Trying...'

Once you realize the root of the problem, which begins with agricultural subsidies that are based on economics and have nothing to do with growing nutrient dense foods for the masses; which in turn has spawned dietary recommendations that are also based on industry profitability opposed to nutritional science, then it becomes easier to understand why a full two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Even the education of registered dietitians is sponsored and taught by the junk food industry!

Sadly, these deeply flawed dietary recommendations fuel the nation’s poor health scores, and drive the now colossal health industry, which in turn is run by the pharmaceutical industry... It’s really one big vicious circle.

You CAN break free, however.

Perhaps one of the most powerful scientific discoveries to emerge in the past several years is that the old adage “a calorie is a calorie” is patently false. The research clearly demonstrates that even if you control the number of calories you eat, if those calories come primarily from fructose and grains, you are at increased risk of obesity and pre-diabetes, which includes both insulin and leptin resistance, fatty liver, high blood pressure and high triglycerides. Insulin and leptin resistance in turn form the foundation for virtually every chronic disease you can think of, including heart disease and cancer.

The answer, therefore, is to turn the conventional food pyramid on its proverbial head, and dramatically reduce or eliminate virtually all grains and sugars, especially fructose. This in and of itself will go a long way toward preventing accumulation of excess fat. However, to be truly effective, you want to make sure you’re replacing those refined carbs with vegetables and healthful fats.

Now you’re entering into a diet that will allow your body to shift from burning carbs to burning fat (or ketones) as its primary fuel. At this point, weight loss is not the only benefit you’ll reap. Compelling research shows that this type of diet, also referred to as aketogenic diet, is an effective prevention and even treatment strategy for cancer.

Intermittent fasting is another powerful key that will help you transition your body from obtaining the majority of its fuel from glucose stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver, to the fat stored in your tissues. This is one of the most effective ways I know of to burn off excess body fat and eliminate sugar cravings. These are all things that are well within your power to do. Next, I urge you to become involved with changing the system that has brought us to this unfortunate point in our evolution. Growing sprouts in your home is a powerful way to eat very healthy and inexpensively.

Changing your shopping patterns by supporting local agriculture will not only help improve your health, it will also help improve the environment and bring back our rural communities. One way to get involved is to simply buy more food from your local farmers. It is important to understand the impact you have when you spend your money on processed factory food. For more information on how to find locally-grown foods and farmer’s markets, please see my Sustainable Agriculture page. I would also encourage you to support the Environmental Working Group in its current efforts to renew America’s food and farm policies through the farm bill.5