Fats are often viewed as the devil for anyone trying to lose weight, but a healthy diet actually must include some level of fat to process the fat-soluble vitamins and maintain your cellular health. However, it is essential to know the right kind of fats to help you with weight loss. In fact, research shows that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can even help you with weight loss!
What are Mono and Polyunsaturated Fats?
Monounsaturated fats contain only one double bond in their chemical structure, whereas polyunsaturated fats contain two or more double bonds. These double bonds change the structure of these fats and make them have a more liquid appearance at room temperature in comparison to saturated fats, such as butter.
Research has shown a multitude of benefits of the consumption of mono and polyunsaturated fats, including:
- Reduces the risk of heart disease
- Reduces the risk of cancer
- Improves insulin sensitivity
- Reduces inflammation
How Mono and Polyunsaturated Fats Help You Lose Weight
In any weight loss diet, consuming large amounts of fat will hinder your goals, but it is still necessary to consume a bit of fat to maintain your health rather than doing an entirely fat-free diet. Regardless, it is still essential to keep track of your calorie consumption and balance this with exercise to make sure you are burning off more than you are taking in.
However, studies show that even when the number of calories between two people trying to lose weight is kept the same, the person who eats a higher amount of monounsaturated fats will have similar weight loss to someone on a low-fat diet. This shows that these fats can actually help you with weight loss!
Consuming mono and polyunsaturated fats can reduce harmful LDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower blood cholesterol, and more. To begin incorporating these fats into your diet, see below for the top sources of mono and polyunsaturated fats.
Key Sources of Mono & Polyunsaturated Fats:
- Olive oil
- Avocado oil
- Peanut oil
- Flaxseed oil
- Walnut oil
Plus, many others! The vital thing to keep in mind for weight loss is that these fats are meant to replace processed carbohydrates and saturated fats. It will only benefit you in your weight loss if you do other weight-loss actions and beneficial nutritional guidelines combined with the above tips.
The dietary guidelines set out by the USDA also advise the following health recommendations to assist you in weight loss:
- Reduce saturated fat consumption to lower than 10% of calorie consumption
- Replace saturated fats with mono and polyunsaturated fats
- Avoid harmful trans fats
Summary
Although replacing your saturated fat intake with mono and polyunsaturated fats is undoubtedly beneficial, it is crucial to keep in mind that a completely fat-free diet can also be harmful to your health. So, make sure to get at least some fats in your diet every day from some of the many healthy sources mentioned above!