A big fat lie – Why fats aren’t all bad.

Fat has had some bad press in the last couple of decades since the Jayne Fonda’s Lycra clad fitness days where fat free and low fat was the new rage. The initial understanding was that fat causes fat and that to become streamlined and ‘fat free’ you had to eat this way too. However, no one at this point addressed the fact that low fat and fat free products were being pumped full of artificial sweeteners and sugars that have a far more devastating effect on the body.

However, I’ll address that shortly. Let’s deal with the biggest lie ever told to a health conscious population where women strived to be ‘skinny’ and men strived to gain muscle. Fat free is not the way to do it. There are several categories of fat to start with. Saturated fat is the obvious one. The one that is solid at room temperature and the one that comes attached as a white streak to meat that you buy (e.g bacon or steak). This is the visceral fat of animals and is of no nutritional benefit at all. In fact the human body doesn’t digest this fat easily at all and it is usually stored until the liver can deal with it through the increase of LDL Cholesterol (the bad one).

Unsaturated fats are the ones found in oils like olive oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and so forth. These are liquid at room temperature. These fats are split into polyunsaturated varieties and monounsaturated varieties but it is acknowledged that all unsaturated fats can help cut the bad cholesterol in the body and in fact cut the risk of heart disease significantly. Omega 3 oils and Omega 6 oils found in fish, eggs, seeds, avocados are essential for healthy neurological functioning (aka brain foods) and cell repair as well as maintaining healthy joints, bones, skin and hair and metabolism. So needless to say it’s not rocket science. These fats help you use fats.

Trans fats are the new concern. These are the fats those that are heated above a specific temperature making them ‘hydrogenated’ in nature. These fats are often found in processed and fast foods but in the UK supermarkets have to state clearly whether a food contains hydrogenated vegetable oils as these fats have been linked to certain diseases and conditions. These fats help prolong the shelf life of food but when consumed they solidify within arteries and veins, obstructing blood flow and literally clogging us up from the inside.

So now we are left with a couple of generations that are afraid of full fat varieties of food. With the Body Coach, Clean Eating Alice, Fearne Cotton and so many more big names trying to encourage people to eat clean and opt for full fat it’s a few decades of scaremongering that they have to overcome. There is still a big demand for low fat and fat free alternatives perpetuated by the likes of Slimming World and Weight Watchers. What they fail to tell their ‘customers’ (not clients as they fail on so many fronts when it comes to health and fitness knowledge – losing weight doesn’t qualify anyone to label themselves a ‘Health and Nutrition EXPERT’! Yet it appears that these chocolate certificates or identities are being handed out like party bags at these so called ‘fat camp’ establishments). Now back to Full fat/low fat and fat free. There’s a range of fat free yogurts out there with a huge name, endorsed on every meal plan by slimming world. It’s ingredients contain sugar, artificial sweeteners, colourings, additives to prolong it’s best by date and guess what they taste watery and sweet but that doesn’t matter when you can consume these in ‘unlimited’ quantities right? In actual fact the sugars and sweeteners just result in your body releasing insulin and thus in effect storing the sugars as fat especially when not used as energy and then you experience that feeling of a sugar crash later reaching for yet another low fat, or fat free manufactured product that will monopolise on this cycle of a dependency on these highly processed, manufactured, nutritionally inept goods. On the other hand if a portion of full fat Greek yogurt was consumed with a few berries, a drizzle of honey, a sprinkle of nuts the nutritional benefits are amazing! Calcium, protein and probiotics in the yogurt as well as fats that can be digested and utilised by the body. Vitamins and minerals in the berries and honey, the honey especially protecting against allergens and inflammations. Nuts prove a source of Omega 3 and protein and all of them combined will keep you much fuller for longer regulating insulin production and metabolism so that you are less likely to feel a sugar dip or reach for the biscuit tin.

Changing the way you eat is never easy, we have developed as a species to have an emotional attachment to our food. It is the way we socialise, it is what we view as part of our home,, our family, our relationships. It’s hard when for years you have been brain washed into believing certain scare stories such as heart disease and cancer as being linked to consuming fat. It is hard to accept that fat actually beats fat and that it can in fact help you lose fat. But after years of fat free and low fat unsuccessfully treating a western world where illnesses such a diabetes and weight related diseases are still on the increase year on year but is time to stop feeling frightened of full fat and start nourishing our bodies the way we were always intended to.

Getting down with the kids – my introductory blog.

Today someone recommended I start  this here thing called ‘blogging’. Working full time in a secondary school I know this is all the rage with the teens of today, if not ‘blogging’ then definitely ‘vlogging’! Whilst I thought my Instagram and Facebook updates about all things health and fitness (my other job of almost 16 years!) was ‘trendy’ and the latest thing to do I was wrong. So wrong. It appears that social media has it specific outlets for these things and so blogging it is. What did I post recently? I have recently had a bit of a rant at multi million pound ‘dieting’ companies. All which thrive on selling a specific promise and image to vulnerable and easily manipulated women. I say women as it is largely those that they market at. But it also impacts on men. Anyone looking to address their weight, self esteem, confidence, health and wellbeing. They promise that if you buy this and that (endorsed products often filled with artificial ingredients made of nothing more than a chemical cocktail) that you will eventually end up looking like the glamourous goddess on the advert and have a flock of hot young men dancing at your feet. In reality the company gets richer, the person makes ‘friends’ from ‘fat club’ weigh in days who  have found this miracle to rescue them from what was making them unhappy through this unbreakable net of new found support and yet they still end up bigger or still battling the same weight issue three times over since when they started. Why? because the diet that offers ‘unlimited pasta’ hasn’t quite worked in the long term.

So here’s what I said: ‘It’s not rocket science’. It’s not going to cost a subscription and the answer isn’t in a magical shake, microwavable meal plan, cereal for breakfast and dinner and snacks or some innovative ingredients in a new range of tea that blasts fat in your sleep! The solution to all of this is simple. Eat natural, wholesome foods. Foods that come from the ground, from trees, from animals from land and sea. Once you eliminate the artificial and chemically enhanced ingredients the body will start to work as it was originally intended. This means the metabolism will begin to work at full throttle using energy as it should.

When we in the western world consume on a daily basis food that comes prepared, pre packaged, manufactured, with added vitamins, added protein, processed whole grains, sweeteners (that have been known to rot the brains of tested lab rats!) and so forth it is no wonder that the body doesn’t know what the hell to do with itself! It stalls in trying to process and digest the chemical shit storm that it has been subjected to. It can’t separate the nutrients from the colourings and the digestive tract stresses itself out resulting in many intestinal issues including IBS and Coeliac disease to name but a few.

Then there’s the problem of sugar. Sugar is added to everything ‘low fat’. Because for years now we have been fed the myth that we should all opt for low fat or fat free to become a lean, mean fatless machine. Absolute tosh! Fats are essential. Fat on and in the body IS essential. Without certain fats the brain begins to shut down and stop operating as essential vitamins and minerals that aid in neurological functioning aren’t there in the quantities needed and without adequate sources of fresh, organic ingredients from other sources that supply the nutrients needed to metabolise and absorb these essential elements optimal metabolic and cell functioning is impaired. Fat is good, fat from nuts, seeds, avocados, yogurt, eggs and fish (especially the oily variety). But these natural fats come unbranded, they come without packaging and plastic wrappers. They don’t earn the multi billion pound slimming companies of today the millions that they aim to retrieve from the public unaware of the hidden myths about health and nutrition.

The equation is simple. To lose weight you need to have a lower energy intake than you had previously and expend more energy through movement. To gain weight you need to increase your energy intake in the form of calories. But the form in which these calories comes really does matter. That is why a 9st woman eating clean, exercising 3-4 times a week for 30-45 minutes a time looks vastly different from a woman of the same weight surviving on a diet of prosecco, frozen pizza, sugary cereal and ‘unlimited’ fruit and fat free yogurts.

So now I am almost at the end of my introductory rant. Ready to explore and share my journey and expertise in the world of health, wellbeing and fitness. As each should really come hand in hand. I hope from this blogging business I can help someone somewhere whether it be overcome a weakness, try a new recipe, have the confidence to join an exercise class, feel like they’re not alone in their battle with their body and food then it will be worth it. For now eat clean; food from the ground, the trees, animals of land and sea. Drink water instead of coke, green tea instead of coffee and make sure you get some sleep. Peace out.

7