Let’s talk about fat.
I’m sure most of you understand that there are healthy fats and not-so healthy fats…but I bet a lot of you don’t know which ones are the best choices and which are the worst…at least I didn’t!
Best
- The healthiest fats are called “monounsaturated” and those are your olive oils, canola oils and peanut oils. These oils lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol and are neutral on your HDL (good) cholesterol.
Good
- Then there are your “polyunsaturated” – these are your vegetable oils (corn, sunflower, safflower). These lower your good and your bad cholesterol. So while the monounsaturated are still your best bet given that they don’t lower your good cholesterol, these aren’t a terrible choice and they’re definitely better than your last choice which are the…
Worst
- “saturated fats” – which are your tropical oils like coconut oil and palm fruit oil.
- and “trans fat” – which are unsaturated liquid fats that have been hydrogenated and made solid.
I know Paleo diets are getting super popular and one of the major ingredients in all the recipes I’ve seen out there is coconut oil…so I figured it would be important to at least share with you the information I’ve learned about it.
Eating foods that contain saturated fats raises cholesterol levels in your blood and high levels of cholesterol in your blood increase your risk for heart disease and stroke. Not to mention that many foods high in saturated fat are also high in cholesterol…which only raises those levels further.
The American Heart Association “recommends limiting the amount of saturated fats you eat to less than 7 percent of total daily calories. That means, for example, if you need about 2,000 calories a day, no more than 140 of them should come from saturated fats. That’s about 16 grams of saturated fats a day.”
Trans fats are made when unsaturated oils are taken and solidified. That means taking a vegetable oil and making it into something solid like shortening. On food labels you’ll often see them listed in the ingredients as “partially hydrogenated oils.” It’s important to look not just at the Nutrition Facts Label but also the ingredients, because a food can be listed as “Zero Grams of Trans Fat” if it contains less than 0.5 grams per serving. Meaning if you’re eating a food with multiple servings listed, you’re getting 1-2 grams of trans fat in the whole thing!
As a general rule of thumb…whenever a fat is solid at room temperature (think butter, lard, fat back or shortening)…it’s generally less healthy than it’s liquid counterpart.
This list is by no means exhaustive…but just a couple important things I thought worth sharing!
Breakfast for me this morning was a delicious jar of OIAJ!
Into the nearly-empty peanut butter jar went 1/3 cup oats, a diced apple, 2/3 cup water and then I topped it with a spoonful of peanut butter from the bottom of the jar and some granola.
Paired, of course, with coffee + soymilk.
So good.
Today was my “easy” day in that I only had one class. We had a quiz and then finished up our discussion on Fruits and Vegetables (got lots to share from that!) and then I came home to squeeze in a 30-minute pilates session before lunch!
I’ve been integrating some sessions here and there to break up the routine…I’m slowly but surely coming back around to it (I did it religiously my senior year in college) but I still think I might prefer yoga. We’ll see! For now, it’s nice to mix things up a bit.
Then Chad came home and we headed to our favorite place for salads in Charlotte, Crisp!
I got mixed greens, spinach, egg, carrots, cucumbers, walnuts and cranberries + balsamic vinaigrette.
Such a good lunch.
After lunch and changed into my “Healthy Kids Club” shirt…a program I’m a part of through school where we help mentor kids and teach them about eating right and exercising.
AKA – my dream job.
Not to mention it comes with just about the best shirt in the world 😉
We had such a blast running around with the kids, getting active and listening to a Doctor speak about what exercise is and how much they should have.
FYI – if you’re heard about kids doing CrossFit…it’s NOT recommended by this doctor. Just an hour of what she called “playtime” every day is more than enough.
When I got home it was nearly dinner time!
Chad and I whipped up a quick dinner together that felt like it was a bringing summer back!
Delicious to the last bite.
Since we brought a bit of summer back with dinner, we decided to add to that with a relaxing after-dinner walk. Which of course came with a gorgeous sky…
This picture doesn’t do it a lick of justice.
A perfect end to the evening for sure.
Off to catch up on the shows!
0
Don’t forget about trans fat! That’s the worst of them all! 🙂
Yes! You’re right! I’ll add it in now 🙂
I love the idea of helping kids learn to eat better. And definitely seems right up your alley!
(Side note: It was the GRE that you took right? (bad memory…) what study materials did you use and would you recommend them? I’m debating getting my Masters….)
It definitely is! 🙂 (Yes it’s the GRE that I took and I actually just took a 4-week online course through The Princeton Review…I HIGHLY recommend it, it helped a lot!)
that t-shirt is too cute. i’m definitely a fan on yoga over crossfit too but always gotta switch it up. 😉
http://www.healthingyou.com
Totally 🙂
I LOVE that you are sharing what you are learning!! And that sounds like a very, very fun job!
Oh I’m so glad you like it!! And it definitely is so much fun!
Great post! It is always good to know more about bad vs good fat! :
Glad you liked it! 🙂
Great information! I’ve seen a lot of people dumping coconut oil/butter/whatever on a lot of what they eat lately!
Same here! It’s one of the main reasons I wanted to share that!
That shirt with the jump-roping apple is the best thing I’ve ever seen.
Also, such good info about fats. I had no idea coconut oil was in the “worst” category!
Haha I know right? I walked in the door with that shirt on and Chad just looks at me and goes “That shirt is AWESOME.” I was like “I know!!”
And I know! I was so shocked to learn that about coconut oil too! And I never thought peanut oil was one of the healthier choices!
Hi Cait, love your blog and all your delicious looking meals. I was wondering about coconut milk, the newer kinds in the cartons or in the coconut “yogurt” or “ice cream”.. do they also have saturated fats? There is conflicting info, I was just wondering if you knew or had any thoughts/info about that? Thanks 🙂
Hey Shira, from the brands I looked up, it does appear that there is saturated fat.
I’m not aware of any conflicting information…do you have a source? I’d be happy to read through it and give my opinion if you do! 🙂
Thanks for the info! I’ve found a few articles, they do mention it on the “So Delicious” website as well, saying that coconut milk contains MCFA’s instead of LFA’s, which are 2 “types” of saturated fat, and one is good for you and one is bad.. then various articles debating this back and forth. If you are interested in looking into it, I would love to hear your opinion! That’s super nice of you 🙂 I am allergic to dairy, have been for about 10 years, so have always been interested in dairy alternatives.. SO much has changed in the ‘non dairy’ market in last 10 years! I don’t love coconut, so have never been into using it, but now with all the products coming out, the yogurt, ice creams, etc, and of course all the hype around coconut products these days, I am interested, but it’s very confusing in terms of health! Thanks again! http://sodeliciousdairyfree.com/why-coconuts
Trans fat should be in the worst category – we are learning about it in metabolic and man that stuff aint good! Love the tid bits.
Not going to lie – I always get excited when I have an empty jar of nut butter so I have OIAJ
Yes it should! I didn’t include it because I was focusing on the coconut oils since I know a lot of people are going Paleo, but you’re absolutely right!
Thanks for sharing the info! I’ve seen *tons* about coconut oil lately, it seems to be the latest and greatest health product… But how can it be “so good” if it’s one of the worst?! I think I’ll just stick with my favorite healthy fats aka nut butters and avocados ;P
P.S. If only summer weather would come back for a few days! It feels like we had fall for a week and quickly slipping into winter, blah!
You’re welcome! And I know – I found it really interesting that it’s so unhealthy – I definitely would never have thought that.
And haha – I know, I agree! Though I’m kind of okay with the cooler weather…it beats the 80 degree stuff!
I studied biochemistry and am now a medical student. I thought I would let you know that we’ve learned lots about coconut oil and that there is a HUGE difference between ANIMAL saturated fats and VEGETABLE saturated fats. Coconut oil is a veggie sat fat and is actually good for you! I’m sad that your class lumped coconut oil with all of the other bad saturated fats… There is a difference between the length of the fatty acid chains. Coconut oil is a medium triglyceride which is beneficial to the body, as opposed to the long chained ones.
This article sums it up nicely and has lots of sources at the end if you want to read more: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/22/coconut-oil-and-saturated-fats-can-make-you-healthy.aspx
As with everything, just eat these oils in moderation! Too much of any food (even kale!) can be a bad thing 😛
Thanks for sharing!
I feel like I’m back at cardiab rehab after reading this post. Simplest way that I put fats: plant-based is heart healthy, animal base is saturated, processed is trans. Done and done.
Oh and crossfit for kids? Sounds like a future disorder in the works.
Hahaha I know right? I was kind of shocked when I learned that it existed and that there were seriously large participation numbers!
Hi Cait! Thank you so much for sharing that information on what you learned about good and bad fats. 🙂
Of course! So glad you liked it 🙂