The Skinny on Fats

In order for you to stay healthy, your body needs fat. Fat is used in your body to make tissues and hormones. Fat cells are also carriers for Vitamins A, D, E, K (fat-soluble vitamins). Visible body fat provides a source of stored energy, gives shape to your body, acts as a cushion, and helps to reduce heat loss by acting like an insulation blanket. Fat also plays multiple roles in the body that you can't see. Fat is a part of every cell membrane, a component in the protective covering of nerve cells, and it acts as a shock absorber to protect your organs if you should fall or get injured.

All fats, regardless of type, contain 9 calories per gram. This is more than twice as many calories as protein and carbohydrates pack per gram, but fat doesn't provide twice as much energy. Your body has a hard time digesting fatty foods and pulling out the energy. To get the energy that your body needs it is recommended that you consume only 25-35% of your daily calories from fat.
Types of Fat
Saturated Fats

• typically comes from animal sources, such as meats, butter, and other dairy products
• many baked goods are high in saturated fat
• solid at room temperature
• main culprit in raising "bad" cholesterol
• increase your risk of heart disease
• limit your intake to less than 7% of daily calories

Monounsaturated Fats

• typically come from oils (olive, canola, peanut)
• liquid at rom temperature
• work to decrease "bad " cholesterol
• the most heart healthy fat
• consumption may reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke

Polyunsaturated Fats

• also come from oils (safflower, sunflower, soybean) and fish
• either liquid or soft at room temperature
• work to decrease total cholesterol
• include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids

How to Include Healthy Fats in Your Diet
Limit your fat intake to 25-355 of your daily caloric intake, with less than 7% coming from saturated fat. Trans fats should account for no more than 1% of your calories. Most of your intake of fats should come from good plant and fish oils with less fat coming from animal sources and processed foods. Many processed foods are made with hydrogenated vegetable oils, coconut oil, and palm oil which are all high in saturated fats. Foods with healthy fats are usually high in calories (remember fats have 9 calories per gram) so be sure to consume these foods in moderation!

Foods Containing Healthy Fats

• Almonds
• Avocados
• Cashews
• Cold-water fish
• Flaxseed
• Hazelnut oil
• Nut butters
• Olive oil
• Pecans
• Pumpkinseed oil
• Safflower oil
• Sunflower seeds
• Walnuts

Powerful Protein

Protein is found is many cells throughout the body - muscle, skin, hair, bone, etc.- and is essential for human function. Protein is used in your body to build, maintain, and repair cells and tissues. All proteins are made up of amino acid building blocks. Your body requires a wide array of these amino acids for different functions but not every protein sources contains every amino acid. To build all of the protein that your body needs, you require 22 different amino acids. Ten of these amino acids are essential, meaning that your body cannot produce them so you must get them from food sources. The other twelve amino acids are considered to be nonessential because they can be produced in your body. Three more amino acids also exist, but they are only needed by the body in times of illness or injury.

High-quality and Low-quality Proteins
Proteins from animal sources - meat, fish, poultry eggs, and dairy products - contain similar combinations of amino acids as needed by humans therefore making these high-quality proteins. These high-quality proteins are processed more efficiently by your body and have a limited amount of waste. Low-quality proteins - grains, vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, and seeds - have fewer amino acids making their nutritional value lower than that of animal proteins.

Complete and Incomplete Proteins

Proteins can also be described at complete or incomplete. Complete proteins are those that contain sufficient amounts of all amino acids; incomplete proteins do not have the necessary amounts of all amino acids. The quality of incomplete proteins can be improved by pairing them with another incomplete protein that has the missing amino acids. Complete proteins come from animal sources. The following foods have incomplete proteins: grain foods, legumes, and nuts & seeds.

How to combine incomplete proteins

• Pair whole grains with legumes (ex. rice and beans)
• Pair dairy products with whole grains (ex. whole grain pasta with cheese, grilled cheese sandwich)
• Pair legumes with nuts and/or seeds (ex. vegetarian chili with caraway seeds)
• Pair dairy products with legumes (ex. chili beans with cheese)
• Pair dairy products with nuts and seeds (ex. yogurt with mixed nuts)

Incorporating Protein in your Diet
It is recommended that healthy adults get 10-35% of their daily caloric intake from protein. A good number to aim for is 45 grams per day for women and 52 grams per day for men. Also, a quick calculation that you can do to calculate your personal protein needs is to multiply your weight in pounds times 0.36. These amounts of protein can be easily incorporated into your diet as two to three 3-ounce servings of lean meat, fish, or poultry. Vegetarians can get their protein from 2 eggs, 2 slices of fat-free cheese, 4 slices of whole grain bread, and one low-fat cup of yogurt.

Examples of Lean Protein

• Beans of all kinds
• Beef tenderloin
• Bison
• Canned salmon, packed in water
• Canned tuna, packed in water
• Chicken breasts
• Chickpeas
• Eggs
• Fat-free plain yogurt
• Fresh fish (cod, salmon, tilapia, etc.)
• Lean ground turkey
• Lentils
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Natural nut butters (almond, cashew, peanut, etc.)
• Non-dairy beverages (fat-free almond, rice, or soy milk)
• Pork tenderloin
• Tempeh
• Tofu
• Unsalted raw nuts and seeds

Protein values of common foods

• Egg white 3.5 gm/1 large egg
• Egg 6 gm/1 large egg
• Cheddar cheese 7 gm/1 oz.
• 1% Milk 8 8gm/8 oz.
• Yogurt 11 gm/cup
• Cottage cheese 15 gm/0.5 cup
• Haddock 27 gm/ 4 oz.
• Hamburger 30 gm/4 oz.
• Pork Loin 30 gm/4 oz.
• Chicken Breast 35 gm/4 oz.
• Tuna 40 gm/6 oz.
• Almonds 3 gm/12 nuts
• Peanut butter 4.5 gm/1 tbsp
• Kidney beans 6 gm/0.5 cup
• Hummus 6 gm/0.5 cup
• Gardengurger 6 gm/2.5 oz. patty
• Refried beans 7 gm/0.5 cup
• Lentil soup 11 gm/10.5 oz.
• Tofu 11 gm/3.5 oz.
• Baked beans 14 gm/ 1 cup
• Boca burger 13 gm/2.5 oz. patty

*Actual values may vary depending on brand*

Information adapted from: Nutrition for Dummies, 4th ed., The Eat Clean Diet Recharged! by Tosca Reno, and Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 4th ed.

Curious about Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are our body's main source of energy for intense physical activity. Carbohydrates can basically be broken down into 2 groups: simple carbs and complex carbs. The classification of simple or complex depends on the chemical structure of the food and how quickly the sugar is digested and absorbed by the body. Simple carbs provide the body with a quick burst of energy, they break down easily, and tend to send blood-sugar levels out of control. Simple carbs have either one or two sugars and include:

• Fructose (found in fruit)
• Galactose (found in milk products)
• Lactose (found in dairy)
• Maltose (found in certain vegetables and in beer)
• Sucrose (table sugar)

Simple carbohydrates are found in a variety of foods, some good and some bad. Simple carbs that are good for us provide the body with vitamins and minerals and include fruits, milk & milk products, and certain vegetables. Simple carbohydrates can also be found in candy, carbonated beverages and sodas, syrups, and table sugar as refined or processed sugars. These processed and refined sugars contain calories but do not provide the body with vitamins, minerals, or fiber.  Foods like this that we consume that have little or no nutritional value and a high number of calories are considered to be calorie dense. We can also say that these foods have empty calories.

Complex carbohydrates are high in fiber and improve digestion. They provide you with energy, keep you satisfied after meals, and stabilize blood-sugar levels. Complex carbs are more complicated molecules and need to be taken apart by the body before being fully digested, making you fuller for a longer period of time. Complex carbohydrates contain 3 or more sugar molecules linked together in a chain. Complex carbs are found in a variety of foods including legumes (beans/lentils), starchy vegetables, and whole grains.

How to Include Carbohydrates in your Diet
40-60% of your total caloric intake each day should be provided from carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates and natural sugars should make up the majority of these calories. Complex carbohydrates will provide your body with the energy, vitamins, minerals, and fiber that it needs to be healthy. To increase your intake of complex carbs include more fruits and vegetables in your diet, eat more whole-grain breads, cereals and pastas, and include more legumes.

Here's Some Examples of Complex Carbohydrates

• Apples
• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Bananas
• Beans (kidney, navy, pinto, soy)
• Berries
• Broccoli
• Brown Rice
• Brussels Sprouts
• Buckwheat
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Chickpeas
• Citrus Fruits
• Cucumbers
• Cream of Wheat
• Eggplant
• Grapefruit
• Grapes
• Kiwi
• Lentils
• Lettuce
• Mango
• Melons
• Oatmeal
• Okra
• Onions
• Oranges
• Papaya
• Passion Fruit
• Pears
• Plums
• Pomegranate
• Potatoes
• Quinoa
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Split Peas
• Sweet Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Watercress
• Wheat germ
• Whole-grain pasta
• Zucchini

Information adapted from MedlinePlus and The Eat Clean Diet Recharged! by Tosca Reno

All About Calories

You know by now that eating and physical activity affect your weight. Eating provides your body with the energy it needs while physical activity uses calories for energy. So whatever your goal - weight loss, maintenance, or weight gain - the key to success is finding the right ways to balance the calories you take in with the calories you burn off.

What is a Calorie?
The calorie is a unit of energy. When you eat something, the number of calories it contains is actually the amount of energy that the food provides the body. The calorie is also the measure that your body uses for energy output. The body uses calories for many fuctions such as breathing, sitting, and exercising. So the calorie is used to measure both the amount fo energy contained in foods that you consume, as well as the amount fo energy that your body uses during activity.

Where do Calories come from?
Calories come from 3 of the 6 classes of nutrients - carbohydrate, protein, and fat. The other 3 classes of nutrients (water, vitamins, and minerals) do not provide the body any energy.

• 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Calories are also found in alcohol but  because it can't be used in the body to promote growth, maintenance, or repair, it is not considered a nutrient. Alcohol is a toxin that is broken down as an energy source and can be converted into fat.

• 1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories

How are Calories used and saved?
While the function of each calorie producing nutrient is different, the result of excessive intake is the same - FAT STORAGE!!
Carbohydrate is broken down into glucose for immediate energy needs, and the surplus is stored as glycogen for long-term energy needs and brain function. However, after the glycogen stores are filled, the excess carbohydrate is stored as FAT. The nutrient Fat is initially broken down and used for its primary functions, such as providing cell structure. However, any excess fat fragments will be reassembled and stored in the FAT cells. Protein will also encounter the same fate. Once protein has met immediate energy needs and provided the body with other building and repairing functions, the excess will be converted into FAT and stored away.

All foods supply energy in the form of calories; however, some provide more calories than others. No single food or class of food is “fattening” by itself. When the calories provided in food are not needed by the body, the excess is stored in the body in the form of fat. This storage process happens no matter what food the calories came from. And while the storage of most cells is limited, fat tissue is able to store an unending amount of fat. So all that being said, finding your personal balance of calories in to calories out is very important. Read my next post for strategies you can use to find that correct calorie balance!