"Fat Makes You Fat," Right?
Not Always
Some fats will increase your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease and cause you to gain weight. But healthy fats can not only improve your cardiovascular health and reduce your risk of cancer, but can even help you lose weight.
Many processed foods and conventionally raised meats contain high levels of omega-6 fatty acids. While essential in small amounts, too much of these fats can raise your risk of disease and increase the accumulation of fat in your body. Omega-3 fatty acids –found in fatty fish, fish oil, walnuts, hemp seed, and flax seed oil–have the opposite effect.
The Journal of Nutrition published one study where rats that ate diets supplemented with DHA, one of the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, had a decrease in body fat mass. Other laboratory studies indicate the reasons for this result. For one thing, DHA prevents undifferentiated cells from becoming preadipocytes (precursors to fat cells). Plus, it inhibits the fat storage capacity of adipocytes (the cells that store fat).
So, not only does DHA decrease the total number of fat cells, it also diminishes the fat-storage ability of existing fat cells.
If you eat a lot of processed food and conventionally raised meats, you are probably consuming far too many omega-6 fats and too few omega-3s. If you are carrying too much fat on your body, that is probably at least part of the problem.
The best source (by far) of DHA is fish oil. Here are two superior quality, low priced fish oils to choose from.
Healthy Choice Naturals
Omega Naturals Fish Oil 1000
|
| $27.95 each |
$18.90 each |
$9.05 each |
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