Eating nuts HELPS fat loss….

Today's Post: Monday, 7-20-2009

People trying to lose fat and fat weight have often focused on eating less fat and foods high in it.

Since fat has a lot of calories, more than twice as much as carbohydrates or proteins, that seems to make sense.

So, since nuts are a high fat food, it also would seem to make sense to NOT eat them when you are trying to lose pounds and pounds of excess fat.

Interestingly, we now know that is far from true!

Avoiding ALL kinds of fats and the fat in nuts ignores a few things.:

1. Fast acting or high glycemic carbohydrates create rebound hunger, so they often cause you to take in MORE calories than if you had eaten fats instead. Even worse, they often cause excess triglyceride, blood sugar and insulin levels. When that happens, your body ADDS to your fat stores & you gain fat weight.

If you had eaten fat in the first place instead, this would not have happened or happened nearly as much.

2. Some kinds of fat and oils are as bad or worse for you than fast carbs.

Excess amounts of saturated fat from high consumption of fatty meat from grain fed animals and from high consumption of dairy fat tend to increase your LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. That tends to cause heart disease AND it also tends to cause your body to add to your fat stores & you gain fat weight.

Meat from grain fed animals and oils such as corn oil are high in omega 6 oils that tend to trigger inflammation and lower HDL cholesterol. So, eating a lot less of those protects your health even if it doesn’t help you lose fat from taking in less calories, though it may do that too.

Even worse, it’s still true that a huge percentage of packaged foods at grocery stores still contain hydrogenated vegetable oils that contain trans fats. These oils are like heart attack starters on steroids. They increase the most dangerous kind of LDL and lower HDL and raise triglycerides. So they directly cause heart disease AND also tend to cause your body to add to your fat stores & you gain fat weight.

So, there ARE some kinds of fat that if you avoid them or eat a LOT less, you’ll both be healthier and be less fat.

3. There are some kinds of fats that actually are good for your health. And research has found that people who keep including them in moderate amounts as they lose fat lose a bit more fat than people who exclude all fat; they keep off the fat they lose MUCH better; and they are also much healthier than people who stop eating all fats.

These are the omega 3 oils from fish and from meat from animals fed only grass -- & the monosaturated oils found in extra virgin olive oil, avocados -- & NUTS.

EXCEPT for the people who are allergic to nuts, nuts can be a help for fat loss; and they ARE good for you to eat

Omega 3 oils, DHA in particular, are good for your brain and nerves. And omega 3 oils prevent excess inflammation and lower triglycerides. So they protect your heart and tend to prevent your body from adding to its fat stores.

Monosaturated oils lower LDL cholesterol and either leave HDL cholesterol high or increase it. So they are quite heart protective. Prevention Magazine even quotes studies showing people who lose fat who eat mostly monosaturated oils tend to lose more belly fat than people who don’t.

Nuts have mostly or almost only monosaturated oils and are high in magnesium and many other important nutrients. Plus because they contain protein and fiber as well and taste good, they are unusually good at turning off hunger.

Eating nuts also increases your HDL levels; and because nuts have sterols, they are quite good at lowering LDL levels.

Nuts are so heart protective and good for your health, people who eat them regularly live for up to 6 years longer than similar people who don’t.

In fact, one study found that volunteers who ate 500 calories a day of nuts every day gained ZERO weight. It seems that the nuts turned off their hunger so well they ate 500 calories a day LESS of other foods.

So, if you like nuts and aren’t allergic to them, eating nuts will actually help you lose fat and do even better at helping you lose belly fat. And, your health will improve.

However, nuts that have been coated with omega 6 oils or hydrogenated vegetable fats &/or are salted not only aren’t at all good for you because those additives may cause you to gain fat and weight & WILL harm your health.

So, it’s ONLY dry roasted or raw nuts that are good for you and work well.

I eat raw pecans, raw walnuts, and occasionally eat dry roasted almonds.

I was reminded of this and decided to post on it today by today’s Early to Rise health article on just this subject.

Here’s that article.:

"This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com ."

"Yes, You Can Eat This Much-Loved Snack and Keep the Weight Off

By Craig Ballantyne

My clients often question me when I tell them they can eat more almonds and cashews. "Don't you know that nuts are full of fat?" they ask.

Well, I tell them, you can have your nuts and eat them too... even if you are trying to lose weight. In fact, nuts could be an important part of your fat-fighting strategy.

Researchers from Harvard completed an eight-year study on 51,188 women aged 20-45. After adjusting for lifestyle and dietary factors, they found that the women who rarely ate nuts were heavier than those who ate nuts twice per week. Their conclusion: Though it may be counterintuitive, incorporating nuts into a diet may help with weight control.

[Ed. Note: Eating the right foods is just one aspect of slimming down and firming up. To burn fat and build muscle, check out fitness expert Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training program....]"

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My last comment.:

If in eating nuts, you use them to substitute for bad carbs or fats, you get the most help to protect your health and lose fat.

For example,

If you already eat wild caught fish high in omega 3 oils and eat avocados and guacamole and add extra virgin olive oil too, it might be overkill to eat nuts too -- or even slow your fat loss.

But if you eat microwave popcorn covered with hydrogenated oils and salt, or you eat hamburgers from grain fed animals with hamburger buns made of refined grains, or you eat pastries made with sugar, refined grains and hydrogenated oils; and for THOSE foods you eat nuts instead, you’ll add massively to your fat loss and health protection.