Know your Fats and Carbs Facts - PDF Download.
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Fats and carbohydrates - Know your Fats and Carbs Facts
Fats and carbohydrates are two building blocks of a healthy diet, but many people do not understand their role in proper nutrition. That’s why I decided on the “Know your Fats and Carbs facts” post.
While the daily intake of fats and oils should be limited, these elements are still a vital part of any diet. The key is to know your facts and make smart choices when it comes to fats and oils. That means substituting saturated fats with unsaturated fats, and using healthier, lighter oils in cooking. To steam, your food is even better.
The role of fats and oils play in the diet. Fats are necessary for supplying energy to the body. They also supply essential fatty acids and act as carriers for fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Fats have an important role to play as building blocks for various tissues and membranes, and they also play a key role in regulating numerous bodily functions.
Dietary fat is available from a variety of plant and animal sources, and most diets do contain adequate amounts of fat. Most nutrition experts recommend keeping the intake of fat to less than 20% of calories, but studies have shown that severely limiting fat intake can be dangerous. Extreme low-fat diets should only be undertaking with a doctor’s approval and oversight.
The type and amount of fat in the diet makes all the difference. A diet high in saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol has been associated with a variety of ills, including heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers. Many long term chronic problems, such as obesity, are related to high levels of dietary fats.
About Fats & Carbs - Continue
The greatest risk of complications from too much fat intake appears to lie with saturated fats and trans fats (fats that are solid at room temperature).
One of the best ways to keep levels of the saturated fat low is to limit the number of animal fats that are consumed. These animal-based fats include meats like bacon and sausage, as well as butter and ice cream. Dietary cholesterol can be limited by watching the consumption of eggs, organ meats, and other foods high in cholesterol.
Food labels do make the complicated process of choosing the right fats somewhat easier. For instance, trans fats will be listed on the ingredient list of foods that contain them. In general, trans fats are found mainly in processed foods.
Some fats, such as polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats, are better choices for healthy eating. Examples of these fats include canola oil and olive oil. Cooking with these lighter oils can be a big step toward a healthier diet. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, and they have been found to have heart-protecting qualities.
A lot of types of fish have also been found to be sources of good fat. Fish are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
These omega-3’s have been found to promote good health, and they may even lower cholesterol levels.
Carbohydrates - Know your Fats and Carbs Facts
Carbohydrates are an important part of a healthy diet as well, and carbs are necessary for providing energy and many necessary nutrients. Carbs are found in fruits and vegetables, grains, and milk and dairy products. It is important to choose carbohydrates carefully, however, since not all are equally healthy.
When choosing bread and cereal, for instance, try to select those made with whole grains, while avoiding the more highly refined varieties. It is also important to limit the intake of sugars, such as soda, candy, and highly processed baked goods. Consuming large amounts of such high calorie, low nutrient foods, can make it very difficult to stay on a healthy diet without gaining weight.
Most Americans tend to have too much of certain elements in their diet. Sugar is one such element and salt is the other. While a basic level of sodium in the form of salt is important to proper nutrition, most people consume too much salt in their daily diet. Excess salt consumption can lead to water retention, high blood pressure, and other complications. Choosing low sodium foods, and limiting the use of the salt shaker, can go a long way toward cutting levels of excess salt in the diet. other complications. Choosing low sodium foods, and limiting the use of the salt shaker, can go a long way toward cutting levels of excess salt in the diet.
Clean Eating - Know your Fats and Carbs Facts
Again, the answer to weight problems is not short-term dietary programs that give out fast results, instead, the key is feeding our body with the right food, having healthy lifestyles, and engaging ourselves in regular physical exercise. In short, we don’t need to get quick results, we need to get lasting results in a natural way.
The good thing about losing weight the right way is that it does not only give us long-lasting effects, it will also help us to stay healthy and look younger as we age. Here’s how to get started with eating right to look and feel right.
Choose a healthy lifestyle over a short-term diet. Apparently, when it comes to staying fit and healthy there is no such thing as a quick fix. It should be done gradually and properly to get permanent results. Although prevalent diets can help you get a good start in your weight loss objective, it’s definitely not the package that will give you enduring benefits.
Clean Eating - Continue
Join a support group that will help inspire, remind, and support you with your plans. You can combine people and tools in taking each step and keeping up a healthy weight. Ask any of your friends or family members to be your support group and let your plan be known to them so that they can guide you all throughout.
Also, to complete your support system you may want to add a weight-loss tool that can help you trace your calorie intake and more.
Make a good change slowly but constantly. Remember, it is not about the thing that you do that will make you successful in maintaining your health but it is how persistent you are in doing it. Therefore, it is also important that you make achievable and effective goals in order for you to stay motivated. When temptation attacks, focus more on the long term benefits that you will receive rather than the temporary ones.
Consider experimenting in order for you to discover the right diet that can supply your needs aside from keeping you in great shape. This is because whatever you do, finding happiness and satisfaction in it will make it worth the effort.
Choosing The Right Fats - Know your Fats and Carbs Facts
Fats have an important role to play. Having said this, let me describe fat first. Fat stores energy while it shields our vital organs. It is also known as the passage system of fat-soluble vitamins. Basically, we need it in our bodies but only in moderation. Eating fat in large amounts will make us grow heavier and will increase the chance of reaching the level of obesity.
Get the right fats
To stay in the health scope, we must only consume at most 55 to 60 grams of fats per day. There are several types of fat and they are categorized into two broad categories which are, “The bad fats” and “The good fats”. Each type has different effects on your health.
Bad Fats
The bad fats are identified as Trans-fat and Saturated fat. When vegetable oil undergoes a certain process called hydrogenation, trans fat is formed. This process causes the oil to harden; as a result, hard fat is produced. Trans fat increases bad cholesterol and decreases good cholesterol levels, this condition increases the risk of having heart disease. The most common sources of bad fats in our daily diet are fried food, cakes, pastries, cookies, and the like.
Saturated fat works in the same way as trans-fat. It increases bad cholesterol levels that cause heart diseases. Some of the identified sources of saturated fat are fatty meat, margarine, dairy products that contain high fat, and other food prepared with coconut milk and palm-based vegetable oil.
Good Fats - Know your Fats and Carbs Facts
On the other hand, the two good fats are polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. These two reduce the bad cholesterol in the body which in effect will keep the body healthy and away from chronic diseases.
Polyunsaturated fat reduces the dangers of blood clotting and decreases the risk of heart problems. Its major sources are food rich in omega-3 like sardines, mackerel, salmon, and longtail shad. Other sources are canola oil, walnuts, sunflower oil, soybean oil, and the like. Monounsaturated fat also reduces bad cholesterol in the body. The foods that are rich in monounsaturated fat are peanut oils, nuts, canola oil, and olive oil.
Apparently, it is easier to exceed fat consumption than to stay on average. But now that you already know the types of fats and their benefits, always choose the good over the bad. Also, strive to consume fats in moderation as even good fats when taken excessively can be harmful to your health.
Ways to eat less bad fats
- Try eating fewer fried foods. Instead of eating fried foods, opt for grilled, boiled, baked, poached, steamed, or dry roasted foods.
- Stop adding butter, lard, and margarine to food while preparing and cooking. Also, spare yourself from spreads.
- Cut down on visible fat from meat.
- Eat less fatty meat products like sausages, burgers, meat pies, and pasties.
- Consume semi-skimmed or skimmed milk instead of drinking whole milk.
- Try eating low-fat or reduced-fat varieties of cheeses.
- Eat lesser high-fat foods like crisps, chocolates, cakes, pastry products, biscuits, and pizzas.
- Drink low-fat or natural yogurts or creams.
Choosing Carbs
Dietary carbohydrates, also known as saccharine have actual sugars and starches that are responsible for providing energy to humans, animals, and even plants. Carbs in a real sense have advantages and disadvantages, especially since food production has dramatically changed as well as how food is consumed.
Proper selection
Carbs have two types, monosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides can be easily digested and absorbed by the body. It is normally obtained in fruits and dairy products. Other sources of simple carbohydrates are pasta, white bread, and white sugar.
Polysaccharides on the other hand take a longer period of time to be digested and absorbed by the body. It is normally found in vegetables, legumes, whole grain bread, brown rice, and the like. Basically, unrefined grains are good sources of complex carbs compared to refined grains, this is because the filtering process generally removes the fiber and nutrients present in grains. Therefore, eating unrefined grain products will give you lasting energy.
While carbs are essential in the body, we must make sure that we are picking the right carbs to consume. To do that, we need to understand carbs even better and know how to use them to our advantage. The catch is, we need to eat the right carbs that our body needs in order for us to sustain the right energy.
It is recommended by the experts that for an adult’s dietary energy, 40 to 65% percent of it must come from carbs and around 10% of it should be simple carbs. Too many cravings for high-glycemic foods will not only make us fat but also increases the risk of acquiring diabetes.
If you look at diabetes and weight problems, cutting all carbs in your diet is definitely not the solution. Carbohydrates are very important in providing our body with enough nutrients, vitamins, and soluble fiber that is good in maintaining healthy sugar and cholesterol levels.
So how do we choose the right carbs?
Here’s how. Switch from low-glycemic foods and reduce calorie intake to at most 250-500 calories per day. Moreover, allow yourself to consume 20 g to 35 g of fiber in a day. One of the best sources of fiber is whole grain foods.
Protein is known as very low in carbs. Consume foods that are lean in protein such as no-fat dairy products, skinless poultry, tofu, legumes, and fish. On the other hand, you must avoid foods that are high in saturated fats like pork, high-fat dairy products, and beef.
The Benefits Of Eating Right For A Healthy Body
As we all know, eating the right foods in the right amounts will give us the maximum benefits. However, most of us are not well educated on the right types of food that are needed by our body to function properly. Some of us don’t even know when to just stop eating. When we eat the right kind of food we are allowing the body to be properly nourished. Hence, as a result, we will be able to gain health benefits from our healthful efforts.
There are several benefits to eating the right food. Below is the list.
- Maintains a normal blood sugar level
- Reduces the risk of heart attacks
- Maintains a healthy body weight
- Reduces the risk of cancer
- Improves good blood circulation and maintains stable energy levels
The Flexitarian Diet offers you all this – Click here
You can read the post to see what the “Flexitarian Diet” is all about.
Wrapping Up - Know your Fats and Carbs Facts
Correctly maintaining your body is key to handling the stresses of everyday life. It is also vital in maintaining the energy levels we need to accomplish our daily tasks. Take the first step in changing your health by utilizing the steps and tips from the above book. All it takes is practice and effort, good luck in this sometimes difficult journey.
Download - Healthy Eating Report
Healthy Eating Report Download your FREE PDF file – Click here. Hope you enjoy the book.