Eat “Good” Fats to Burn “Bad” Fat

Fat got a bad reputation in the 80’s and 90’s for accelerating weight gain. Therefore, when people want to lose weight, they often cut fat from their diet. However, in order to eliminate excess body fat, you need to make sure you're eating enough of the “good” fats. While it's true that some fats are “bad” for you, others are absolutely essential for losing weight and maintaining a healthy diet.

Types of Fat
There are two types of fat “good fat” and “bad fat”

Actually there are 4 types of fat: Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated, Saturated, and Tran’s fat, but they can still be categorized as good and bad.

Monounsaturated (Good Fats)
Monounsaturated fats are considered good fats and are said to help reduce cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure and to help control diabetes.

These good fats are found in food like; olive oil, peanut oil, cashews, canola oil, hazelnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, pine nuts, and chicken fat.

Polyunsaturated (Good Fats) Omega 3 and Omega 6
Polyunsaturated fats are also considered good fats and are said to reduce triglycerides, inflammation and tumor growth. They also help to improve immune function and to help protect against sudden death from heart disease.

Polyunsaturated fats can be broken down into two categories: Omega 3 and Omega 6

Omega 3 is found in foods like canola oil, walnuts, flaxseeds, hempseeds, salmon, mackerel, trout, tuna, sardines, and herring.

Omega 6 is found in food like safflower oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, nuts, and beans.

Saturated (Bad Fats)
Saturated fats are bad fats; they raise cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. In fact they are twice as potent as raising your bad cholesterol levels as polyunsaturated fats are at lowering them. It is difficult to eliminate these fats from your diet but one way to reduce them is to choose fat free dairy products and eat lean red meat.

Saturated fats can be found in foods such as meats, whole milk, cheese, palm and coconut oil.

Tran’s (Bad Fats)
Tran’s fats are the ugly fats; they raise bad cholesterol (LDL) and lower good cholesterol (HDL). They increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Tran’s fats can be found in foods like crackers, cookies, cakes, shortening, margarine, hydrogenated oils, and vegetable oils that have been subjected to heat-damage during cooking.

Now that you are aware of the differences between “good” fats and “bad” fats, let’s take a look at how the “good” fats can actually help burn “bad” fats.

Omega 3 Fish Oils and Weight Loss
In a recent study that was published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers wanted to find out if supplementing the diet with Omega 3 fish oil (good fat) would increase the number of fat calories burned in a single day.

The two groups were fed exactly the same diet apart from one group was fed 6 grams of fat in the form of butter, olive oil, sunflower oil, and peanut oil, the other group were given 6 grams of Omega 3 fish oil.
The fish oil group was given 8 capsules per day, 2 in the morning, 3 at lunch, and 3 in the evening.

The total intake of omega 3 long chain fatty acids was 1.8 grams. The outcome of the test results was fairly conclusive.

After three weeks, the group without fish oil lost .7 pounds of body fat and burned an average of 1710 calories per day. The group with fish oil lost 2 pounds of body fat and burned an average of 1775 calories per day.

These results show that the group who were supplementing with fish oil burned about 1.1mg of fat per kilo per minute. This is roughly 26% higher than the other group who weren’t supplementing with the fish oil.

One of the key reasons as to why Omega 3 fish oil has such a powerful effect on fat metabolism is that insulin levels were 50% lower when subjects used the fish oil. Insulin is a hormone that reduces the use of fat for fuel, while also promoting fat storage in the presence of excess calories.

Insulin increases the activity of an enzyme known to promote the storage of fat.

Insulin inhibits the action of hormones sensitive lipase, which is responsible for breaking down stored fat and preparing it for use as energy.

Insulin also activates an enzyme, which, along with fatty acid synthesis, is responsible for converting carbohydrate into fat.

Simply put, high levels of insulin make it less likely that your body will use stored fat as a fuel source. The drop in insulin levels when subjects used the fish oil would have allowed more fat to be used for energy (burned).

Combine the fat loss benefits with the other benefits of Omega 3’s such as it lowers cholesterol, lowers high blood pressure, reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, macular degeneration, reduced anxiety and depression, mood elevation, increased mental ability, improved sexual health, natural hormone optimization, reduced inflammation, improved lung function, improved joint health, healthy skin, hair, and nails, and you can see why healthy fats should be staples of everyone's diet.

Any good doctor or nutritionist will tell you the best way to get any nutrient is to eat a balanced diet. In the case of Omega 3 fatty acids this would be in the form of fish, sadly due to the pollution levels found in our oceans today eating large portions of fish everyday is not advisable. Taking a fish oil supplement that is mercury free is a good idea for anyone wanting to increase intake of Omega 3.
The frustrating truth is that there will never be an easy quick fix method of losing weight that is safe and simple. However, with a little research into the workings of the body, it becomes clear that there are many small things you can do which add up over time to aid weight loss and make you feel better about yourself.

Omega 3 with Fish Oils

Life Time Omega 3 with Fish Oil contains 1,250mg of fish oil per softgel.
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