Get The Facts On Fats and Carbs – They're Not All Bad

Newsflash: All fats and carbs aren't making you gain weight. Blame the different kinds you're consuming — and their calorie counts — for that muffin top. Jillian Michaels breaks down foods that will keep you full and healthy.

What do you think makes you fat? If your answer is fat, you’re wrong.

But you’re not alone!

Many people believe that fats, and even carbs,

are the evildoers that ultimately pack on all the pounds.

But the devil is in the details: You want to know what makes you fat?

CALORIES! Consuming too many calories and eating POOR

QUALITY

fats and carbs will do you in.

Here’s the lowdown on the different types of fats, how they affect

your

body,

and more about why fats and carbs aren’t the enemy:

1. Trans Fat
Let’s start with the absolute disaster: Trans fat is man-made

through a process

called hydrogenation, which basically

involves heating up vegetable oil in the presence of hydrogen

gas and changing the structure so that the fat stays

solid at room temperature but melts when heated.

Trans fats raise LDL (“bad”)

cholesterol, lower HDL

(“good”) cholesterol, and increase inflammation, among

many other negative effects. And get this: Recent

studies suggest that even if

only 3 percent of

your daily calories come from trans fats, you can end up

raising your risk of heart disease by a whopping 23

percent.

Trans fats are DEADLY. You should

never EVER consume them!

2. Saturated Fat
This type of fat is derived from animal sources. You generally

find it in meat,

butter, and dairy products. Saturated fat has

gotten a really bad reputation over the years because it raises

LDL cholesterol, but it turns out that saturated

fats also do good by elevating your HDL cholesterol.

Since the effects of saturated fats on LDL and HDL appear

to cancel

each other out, researchers are starting to change

their tune. Now, saturated fats are considered good in

moderation. And animal proteins are no longer under

suspicion for being the main culprits in raising

cholesterol and increasing your risk of diabetes:

Instead, it turns out that processed

carbs (like Twinkies!) are to blame.

3. Monounsaturated Fat
This is pretty much hands-down a beneficial fat.

Monounsaturated

fat raises

your HDL cholesterol and lowers your LDL, helping to

reduce your risk of heart disease and other health conditions.

Monounsaturated fats are also easier to burn, so they’re

less likely to be stored as fat. Get your monounsaturated

fats guilt-free but still in MODERATION, from healthy sources

like extra-virgin olive oil, almonds, avocados, canola oil,

cashews, macadamia

nuts, peanuts and peanut oil,

pecans,

pistachios, and sesame oil.

4. Polyunsaturated Fat
Some of the polyunsaturated fats that are high in

omega-6

fatty acids, like walnuts,

flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, and

sunflower seeds are really good for you. Though others,

like corn, can create hormone-disrupting chemicals, or

eicosanoids, that cause inflammation and damage your

blood vessels.

Polyunsaturated

fats

that are high in

omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, like fish, cabbage,

cauliflower, broccoli, and tofu, are the best

kind of fats you

can possibly eat. Both omega-6s and omega-3s lower your “bad”

LDL cholesterol, but they also

lower your “good” HDL. What

makes omega-3s extremely beneficial is that they also reduce

inflammation, lower your risk of heart disease and heart attacks,

and they’re believed to help combat many other conditions

from diabetes to bipolar disorder.

And like monounsaturated

fats, they’re easy to burn, which makes them unlikely to stick

around as stored fat.

We now know that fat is an important element of

nutrition. It is crucial

for brain function.

Consuming fat is

also essential for pregnant women because it is integral to

fetal brain development. Fat helps fortify cell membranes,

and it insulates and helps protect your nerves. Fat

contributes to heart health, digestion, lung function,

and even your eye

health. It provides a constant level of

energy and enables your body to absorb more

nutrients, including essential vitamins and antioxidants.

And finally,

fat makes food taste GOOD and helps us

feel satiated.

If you’re still confused about why you should be blaming

calories

and not a whole

food group as your enemy in the

battle of the bulge, think of it this way: Calories are a unit of

energy and fat is astored energy. If you eat too many calories

of anything — whether it’s a good fat or a bad trans fat, a good

carb or a refined carb — you’ll have a surplus of energy, so

you’ll store it as fat and

gain

weight.