Mediterranean Diet

Eating too much of certain fats is definitely harmful to both your waistline and your health, so here are some handy hints on how to perform a bit of liposuction to your diet.

You need to know about fat in food because it's a rich source of calories. In fact, it contains more than twice as many calories, weight for weight, as carbohydrates and proteins.

As well as being a major cause of weight gain, a high-fat diet, particularly one that is high in saturated fats, can also increase your risk of heart disease and breast and bowel cancers.

Fat isn't all bad; our bodies need it. It delivers vitamins A, D, E and K and aids their absorption. It helps to regulate a variety of bodily functions. It makes food taste delicious and gives it a creamy, more-ish texture. The thing is not all fats are created equal and we typically consume too much of the wrong kind of fat and not enough of the good stuff. We should all know our rights from our wrongs for the sake of our health, but there's even more reason to get clued up when there's weight to be lost. So here are the big fat facts to chew on:

SATURATED FATS
Foods with high levels of saturated fatty acids include butter, lard, whole milk, hard cheeses, cream, meat and meat products, palm oil and coconut oil. These are the diet wreckers and you should aim to have only a very small amount of them in your daily diet. You can reduce your intake of these kinds of fats by buying leaner cuts of meat and chopping off visible fat. Grilling, baking or steaming foods is a more slimming way to cook than smothering everything in butter and cream.
TRANS FATS
These are found in processed foods such as crisps, cakes, biscuits and pies and also in many brands of margarine. Cross the street to avoid them. Check food labels for these fats - they'll be listed as 'hydrogenated'.
UNSATURATED FATS
These break down into monounsaturates and polyunsaturates. Monounsaturates are found in olive oil, nut oils, avocados and seeds, which have health benefits for your heart and so are a better choice than saturated fats. But they're still fattening, so use them sparingly. Polyunsaturates pop up in most vegetable oils (corn, sunflower, safflower), fish oils and oily fish. They are generally a good thing, particularly if you consume them in place of saturated fats, although they are still calorific.

Overall, fats should make up about a third of your total daily calorie intake, with saturated fats making up less than 10% of all the calories you consume. This rule is just for general health, but as most of us consume too much fat, it should help you lose a couple of kilos. It is quite safe to cut your total intake of all types of fat to about 20% of your daily calories. To reduce the fat you eat, you will probably need to play with the balance of fats in your diet. In the western world, especially in the UK and US, we generally consume a lot of saturated fat. People who live in southern Europe tend to have a better fat balance as they generally eat less dairy, more fish, more plant oils and much more fruit. Think of your favourite region of the Mediterranean and imagine being a local there. How do they eat? French, Italian and Spanish people who live in the countryside tend to eat well-balanced meals prepared from fresh ingredients, avoiding processed foods. If you must drink a lot of milk, try choosing skimmed or half-fat instead of whole milk.


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