Tag Archives: body composition

Low Fat, Reduced Fat, No Fat, 50% Less Fat and Society is Still Getting FATTER!!!

All macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates and proteins) are equally important for the body! Many modern diets advocate a significant reduction and in some cases completely obliterate one of the macronutrients.  How many times have we heard – low carb diet, low fat diet?  Instead of focusing on diets that rob us of essential nutrients we need to be concerned about getting high quality nutrients in our body in healthy moderation.

Today I’m going to be talking about good and bad fats, and the importance of good fats in helping us achieve a healthy body composition.

We need fat!

In fact, EVERY cell in the body (there are trillions of cells in the body) is made of a double layered fat membrane (see diagram below – fat membrane is labelled as Lipids(bilayer) the orange circles).  The quality of our cellular fat membrane greatly influences how well our body functions and is responsible for the following:

  1. Regulates what comes in and out of cells.
  2. Houses receptor (such as insulin receptors that manage our blood sugars) which allow for communication into the cell and between cells.
  3. Regulates movement of water in and out of the cell.

cell_membraneFats play other important roles in the body:

  1. 60% of our brain is fat contributing to our cognitive/mental & emotional function.
  2. Preferred energy source by heart cells responsible for cardiovascular health.
  3. Essential to the growth and development of children.
  4. Boosts immune system and fights viruses.

We need to focus on eating Good Fat in our diets!

Avoiding fat is not the solution; we have to Avoid Toxic/Bad Fat and Eat More Healthy/Good Fat! The ancient idea of reducing fat to lose weight has become obsolete.  In fact, research now shows that eating healthy fats actually help you burn stored fat on our body!

Manufactures of processed food will try to sell you their poisonous food by advertising the reduced or no fat products, but have you ever stopped and asked yourself what food manufactures do to foods were fat has been removed?  The fats have to be replaced with something and often that something is more processed, artificial fillers to enhance the taste of the product and make up for the tasty fats that have been removed.  In addition, processed food manufactures will modify healthy unsaturated vegetable oils into more solid, saturated substances to give packaged foods taste, texture and to maintain their shelf life.   These modified toxic fats are better known as Trans Fats.

Trans Fats health affect on the body:

  • increases LDL (bad cholesterol)
  • decreases HDL (good cholesterol)
  • interfere with fat metabolism
  • block metabolism, create weight gain
  • increase risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes

Trans Fats should be AVOIDED – Read your labels and avoid:

  • Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (It is commonly found in processed foods, fried foods, potato chips & margarine.)

Saturated Fats should be limited in the diet and come from:

  • animal products (meat, dairy, lard).
  • chocolate
  • cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil

Saturated Fats are solid at room temperature and higher doses contribute to:

  • heart disease
  • inflammation and diabetes
  • have been linked to breast and prostate cancers

Coconut Oil (mostly containing lauric acid) on the other hand is a healthy source of saturated fats.

Effect of BAD Fat on Weight

Dietary fat talks to our genes.  Molecules from fat cells bind to receptors on the nucleus of our cells which turn on or off genes.  Bad fats such as trans fats and saturated fats turn off fat burning genes which makes it harder to lose weight.  In addition bad fats desensitize our insulin receptors making it difficult to control our blood sugars, and as mentioned above have a profound impact on our cardiovascular health.

Give me the GOOD Fat!

Good fats communicate good signals to our body and promote good health!  Good fats especially omega 3 fatty acids turn on fat burning genes and improve insulin sensitivity which are important components of healthy weight loss.  Good fats also support a healthy cardiovascular system, reduce inflammation, support development in children and much more!  Eating good fats daily in moderation will help to reduce our risk of chronic disease and support the healthy function of all cells in the body!

Type of fat Source Health Benefits

Mono-unsaturated Fat

Olive oil

Nuts

Seeds

Avocado

Reduces inflammation

Reduces blood pressure

Boosts immunity

Omega 6

Required in small doses

Grapeseed oil

Sunflower oil

Safflower oil

Walnut oil

Borage & Sesame oil

Some Omega 6 tends to be modified & should be limited in the diet, such as:

Soybean oil

Vegetable oil

Corn oil

Anti-inflammatory

Hair & Skin health

Hormonal Health

Omega 3

99% of us are currently deficient

Wild Fish – salmon, herring, sardines, anchovies

Flaxseeds and Flaxseed oil

Nuts & Seeds – walnuts, pumpkin, hemp

Prevents cardiovascular disease

Controls blood sugar levels

Reduces cholesterol & increases HDL

Brain protection & increases function

Lubricates joints

Weight loss

Controls inflammation

Promotes skin health

foods-good-fats

EAT 4-6 servings of healthy fat a day!  Focus on eating more Omega 3 fatty acids because you’re likely deficient in it.  Supplementing a high concentrated Omega 3 fatty acid is beneficial especially with our limited sources of wild fish.  Consult you naturopath for the best supplements available!

Average serving size of fats:

  • 1 tsp of healthy oil (extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, grapeseed oil)
  • ¼ of an avocado
  • 10 olives
  • 1 tsp of mayonnaise (from canola oil or grapeseed oil)

What is Body Composition?

We have all heard the claims… “lose 10lbs in one week” or “I lost 60lbs in 2 months”.

While it is possible that this can happen, the reality is this is not healthy and it rarely leads to a loss in actual body fat. The bigger question is…what are these people losing?

In this society we seem to be only concerned about weight. One of our main recognized markers for health is the BMI or body mass index. This index measures a persons height against weight and while this is a great general marker, it doesn’t take into account a persons body composition.

We are facing an epidemic in our society called sarcopenic obesity, another name for skinny fat people. These are the people that look “thin” but when they are measured, they have a higher proportion of body fat compared to lean muscle tissue, or an altered body composition.

Body composition refers to the proportion of fat and fat-free mass in the body. Those with a higher proportion of fat-free mass to a lower proportion of body fat have a healthy body composition. This is a true measure of health, as excess body fat increases your risk factors for conditions such as high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

Since muscle is the main source of protein, during illness the body uses this lean tissue for the production of antibodies, wound healing and white blood cell production. Low amounts of lean muscle tissue has been associated with accelerated aging (J Nutr 127:990S-991S (1997)) and a higher incidence of illness in aging populations (J Amer Diet Assoc 2002;102(7):944-955). In addition, fat burns 70 times fewer calories than muscle tissue so in terms of keeping weight off it is important that the weight we do lose is body fat.

So, to answer the question…with most rapid weight loss programs the majority of the weight that people lose is lean muscle tissue and water and small amount of fat. We can see that while weight is important, it is even more important to make sure that your body composition is changing.

To assess this aspect of health, our clinic uses a combination of weight, BMI, waist and hip measurements and BioImpedence Analysis (BIA). BIA is a science that was originally developed for monitoring patients after surgery in a hospital setting. The Practitioner will connect leads to your hands and feet and pass a low voltage electrical current through your body. This may sound alarming, but it is safe and painless, and provides your Practitioner with insight into aspects of your health such as how much fat and muscle that you have in your body. This science has even been used in several missions to space, to monitor the changes to the astronaut’s body composition.

For our health, lets take our total focus off weight and place it on getting your body composition to a healthy ratio.