Good Fats are Essential for Health and Fat Loss

For decades, fat has been given a bad name. We were told that eating fat is unhealthy and contributes to disease and obesity.

While there may be some truth to the statement in very limited context, it is basically a lie designed to make money.

Good fats are essential for optimal health and fat loss!

There is a definite grouping of "good fats" and "bad fats" that you need to be aware of.

As a result of the industry marketing scheme, we were let to believe that trans fat and saturated fat are the enemies of health and weight loss.

Good fats such as monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) are said to be the good guys. While this is true, the result of this misleading marketing trend by the industries, society and the government has led to a specific condition in the standard American diet.

This condition is caused by an unbalanced amount of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. In the western diets, omega 6 fatty acids have become prevalent in the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acid intake. This leads to inflammation and other conditions which actually put you at more risk than saturated and trans fat intake.

The bottom line is that most people eat too much Omega 6/PUFA and not enough Omega 3/MUFA.

This can be fixed by simply adjusting your fat intake to maximize omega 3 / MUFA intake and by limiting your omega 6 / PUFA intake. You want to have a Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio of approximately 3 to 1 depending on who you talk to. The western or American diet can be so out of alignment as to have up to 16 to 1 Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio.

Also the long told myth about saturated fat intake is unfounded. Especially in the form of medium chain triglycerides (MCT) found in such foods as coconuts.

Most fat sources have all three forms of fat (saturated, MUFA and PUFA) but each source usually has a predominant amount of one form over the other two.

Some common sources of Omega 3 fatty acids / MUFA are:

Krill oil
Flaxseed oil
Flaxseed
Salmon
Chia seeds
Sardines
Cod liver oil
Mackerel

Anchovies

Tuna

Some common sources of Omega 6 fatty acids/PUFA are:

Walnuts

Sunflower seeds

Pine nuts

Pecans

Brazil nuts
Almonds
Avocado
Pistachios
Olive oil

The bottom line is that your fat intake is essential for health and body composition change. You should eat a variety of good fats from saturated, MUFA and PUFA sources. Try to eat more MUFA than PUFA. Avoid transfat and hydrogenated oils. Avoid vegetable oils and canola oil.And remember we are not talking about just cooking with oils but actually eating these foods.

A great page that breaks down the data is here:
http://paleozonenutrition.com/2011/05/10/omega-6-and-3-in-nuts-oils-meat-and-fish-tools-to-get-it-right/

If you are looking for high quality omega 3 supplements to help ensure that you can get the right ratio check these two out:

BioTrust Krill and Anchovy Oil

Prograde Krill Oil

These two are the ones that I recommend, use and sell.

Train Hard and Eat Right!

Eric Dempsey
Master Sergeant, U.S. Army Retired
Ranger qualified, Infantry
Afghanistan & Iraq veteran with the 101st Airborne Division
NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Weight Loss Specialist
Masters Degree in Exercise Science
Dempseys Resolution Fitness