Healthy Fats and Proteins

When people want to lose weight they typically start asking about what foods they need to give up. Maybe the best question is what they should be eating instead.

Over the years we have had the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Atkins Diet, The Low Fat Diet, and now the Paleo Diet. If your goal is only to lose weight anything that gets you away from your high sugar, high fat processed foods will be a good thing. But, what if you want to go further than that and even improve the way you look and feel while dropping the extra pounds?

Many people think the key is lean proteins or vegetable proteins. Don’t get me wrong, studies are showing both are good, depending on the sources. Factory farmed meats and dairy are never going to be good for you whether lean or fatty, but fatty is considerably worse. Studies are showing that this is because factory farmed meats and dairy contain a lot of the Omega 6 fatty acids, and very little of the Omega 3’s. Omega 6 fatty acids increase inflammation in the body, Omega 3’s reduces it.

Organically grown meat and dairy contain much more of the Omega 3’s. The more fat the meat or dairy contains the more Omega 3’s it contains.

You are probably screaming that fat causes heart disease. It isn’t true. Omega 6 fatty acids do contribute to heart disease, because it contributes to inflammation and inflammation contributes to heart disease. Omega 3 fatty acids do not contribute to heart disease; in fact they have been shown to help the body recover.

So, that brings us back to the question of how much protein and how much fat do we need. It is in the opposite ratio than what you would think. New studies are pointing to the conclusion that the average person needs no more than half a gram of protein per pound of body weight. This seems to go up if you are extremely active, injured, ill or frail. All these conditions seem to require more protein.

Well then, how much fat? There is evidence that by limiting your intake to only good fats that up to 80% of your calories can be derived from fats. The good fats are the organically grown saturated fats, as well as a few (very few) vegetable fats and nuts. The vegetable fats include things like olives and avocados. The best olive oil is extra virgin from organically grown olives, but only if it has been treated properly. It must have been protected from light and from all heat above 200 degrees F. This effectively eliminates cooking with olive oil. For cooking the best seems to be Coconut Oil or pure organic butter. If someone cannot consume this much fat coconut oil and olive oil is great as a topical skin conditioner.

Maybe the best question a dieter needs to be asking is not how much protein they need, but how much fat they need to stay healthy.