Dieting For Weight Loss Trans Fats Explained

It’s everywhere now, isn’t it? Trans fats that is.

“Zero Trans fat!”

“Now with 50% less Trans fat!”

A good way to lose weight is to reward yourself now and then when you’re dieting. One of the biggest mistakes people make when they diet is denying themselves foods that they love. If you reward yourself every now and then, you’ll keep your spirits high, and it won’t sabotage your diet.

You see these statements on all kinds of food products on the grocery shelves. They’re literally everywhere, but I don’t see any explanations telling me what trans fat is, do you?

To be honest, the awareness of the trans fat phenomenon almost came out of nowhere. All of a sudden we were getting slapped over the head with the importance of trans fats being removed from the majority of our favorite foods, but why? 

Carbohydrates are often seen as the bad guy of dieting. While too many carbs can pack on the pounds, they are essential in providing energy and stamina for long distance workouts. Try a bowl of your favorite pasta the day before a big run to give you the extra energy you need.

Well, to end the insanity that is the whole “avoid trans fats like the plague” hysteria that’s out there, I’m going to explain what trans fats are and why you should avoid them.

Trans fats are one of the four main types of fats that the body absorbs through foods, mainly foods cooked with hydrogenated oils.

A good way to lose weight is to focus on losing weight through exercise. Though diet and exercise are both key to losing weight, dieting alone can be unhealthy and may not produce desired results. Losing weight through diet alone can dramatically slow down your metabolism. Instead, you should try to lose more weight through exercise.

Trans fats are great for the manufacturer because they help to preserve the shelf life of some products, but they can wreck havoc on the body. Whenever you eat foods that are high in trans fats, they damage the body at the cell level and that makes it very hard for the cells to process things like sodium, potassium, calcium, and even magnesium. It also weakens the body and leaves a very vulnerable to free radicals and it can even make some health conditions worse, like cancer, arthritis, and primarily, heart disease.

As a matter of fact, trans fats do the most damage to the body by raising the level of bad cholesterol that your body keeps in its system. By raising the levels of bad cholesterol in your body, you and I are increasing our chances of getting heart disease in the future, or, if you already have a heart disease of some kind, then trans fats will make it worse.

Eat smaller portions of food you love. You don’t have to sacrifice all the foods your love while you are dieting. Cut high calorie foods into smaller pieces before you eat them. Your body will feel like it is getting more than it actually is. Some brands already sell healthy-sized portions of their snack foods prepackaged. 

Now is the time to shift away from frying so many foods that you eat to trying other forms of cooking your foods that don’t require as much cooking oil as other foods do. You’ll start to see a lot of people that will grill, steam, poach, or even braise their food to cut back on cooking with oil so much.

That’s the main reason why you and I have seen so many labels on food products stating how much trans fat food products contain in them. To be more health conscience, we all need to shift away from so much fried food that puts trans fats into our body and move to healthier ways of cooking our favorite foods so that we can avoid the problems that come along with trans fat.

A good tip that may help you lose weight is to add spices to your meals. When dieting, a lot of people make the mistake of eating their meals totally bland, without any flavor at all. You should try adding spices to your meals to keep yourself motivated and interested.

This article entitled “Dieting For Weight Loss Trans Fats Explained” is not medical advice. It should not be used as or substituted as medical advice; from a medical professional. This article is for informational purposes only.

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