Diet Jargon exposed

Stating the obvious, in order to lose weight, we must eat less calories that we put out. This isn't really that hard and once you start eating lower calorie foods, you'll be surprised by the bulk of the food you can actually eat in one day without going over your calorie limit. Basically, our body runs on three different types of fuel. Fat, protein and carbohydrate, all of which are essential to our wellbeing, indeed, our survival. Years ago, fat had a bad reputation and every dieter was determined to avoid this evil substance at all costs. Then as our knowledge developed, we learned about the benefits of good fats. Omega-3, omega-6, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, all became household terms. Avocados were no longer shunned by their fruity friends and were welcomed back on the menu. We stopped cooking with lard (thank Christ).


Then along came the new diet nemesis: Carbohydrates. These were the vile sugars that were making all of us fat. They were everywhere; they were hidden in your coffee, in your lunchtime sandwich, in your rice salad and they were even hiding in your vegies. We started living off meat and cheese. This sounded great to begin with: Bacon and eggs for breakfast, chicken cordon bleu for lunch and a big juicy steak for dinner. But after a few weeks we were hungry, depressed and exhausted. Our arteries weren't much better.

I wonder when they're going to come up with a No Protein diet.

The moral of the story, is that in order to live, we need all three fuels. Each one has specific functions in the body. But thanks to these horrid diets over the years, we have learned a few practical things and dispelled a few myths about diet.

Lets start with fat.

Basically, there are three different types of fat. Saturated, mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated. Saturated fat is fat from animals as well as coconut oil and palm oil. It becomes solid at room temperature. At a molecular level, for each carbon atom, there are two hydrogen atoms attached. This is the maximum amount of hydrogen a fat molecule can have, so the molecule is said to be saturated with hydrogen. Small amount of saturated fats (such as in lean meat and low fat dairy) are harmless but when we start eating large quantities, as most of us do, we start to have adverse effects. Saturated fat contributes to high LDL cholesterol (that’s the bad one!) and blocks the effects of HDL cholesterol (the good one). In turn that contributes to blocked arteries and heart disease.

Monounsaturated fat contains one less hydrogen atom per fatty acid than saturated fat, while polyunsaturated fats contain two or more fewer hydrogen atoms than saturated fats. Most of our vegetable oils contain both of these fats. Olive oil is considered to be monounsaturated, because it contains more monounsaturated fat than polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated fat can start to solidify in cold temperatures, so if your oil goes milky looking in winter, don't throw it out, it's still good - it's just cold. Both of these fats, particularly polyunsaturated, increase the levels of HDL cholesterol in the body. This helps to carry the bad cholesterol from the arteries and prevent heart disease. This doesn't mean that you can gorge yourself on avocados and olive oil guilt free. Fat in all of its forms contains 9 calories per gram, while protein and carbohydrate contain only 4 calories per gram. Small amount of good oil is all you need, just enough to cook with in small amounts or in a vinaigrette over your salad is plenty.

Okay, so what about 'transfats'? This new word seems to be everywhere lately and no one seems to interested in explaining to the public what it actually is. Transfats are unsaturated fats that have been artificially saturated with hydrogen so that they are molecularly the same as saturated fats. They also act the same way in the body as saturated fats so are, therefore, bad for you. Transfats are found in many processed foods, particularly margarines, because they make the product firmer. You may have noticed that commercial catering spread is a lot firmer than the more expensive "healthy" margarines. This is because of the higher level of transfats in the cheaper product. Many companies, particularly in New Zealand and Australia are starting to phase out the use of transfats in their products and already these two countries have the lowest use of transfats in their table spreads in the world.

Well, I hope I've helped you understand a bit more about the conundrum that is fat. Remember to check your food labels, especially on processed foods. You may be surprised.

xxPandy

"It's never too late to be what you might have been" -- George Elliot