01/04/2025
It might be surprising to some, however, including fats in your diet can actually help you lose weight. Certain fats are essential to health, needed for every cellular process in the body, and speed up energy and metabolism. There are other fats, when in excess, hinder cellular processes and prevent the production of hormone-like structures that enhance metabolism. More important to maintaining a healthy weight than counting calories, understanding fats could be the key to successful weight management!
There are several factors we should be mindful of that affect how we gain or lose weight. These include diet, exercise, age, gender and genetics. Movement plays a large part in our ability to slim down because when we exercise our muscles consume fat to produce energy. Our diet can influence our ability in movement. When we consume foods low in nutrients, processed and highly refined, it can make our body feel sluggish and crave more food (when it is actually only craving more nutrients). Our genetics dictate an optimal diet plan, because each of us is unique and a diet plan should be tailored to fit our individual nutrient requirements to unlock our optimal genetic expression. As we age our nutrient requirements change. Our diet and movement plan should alter to accommodate these shifts in our life cycle. An optimal diet, that will put a fire in our metabolic processes and fuels lasting energy, must include essential fatty acids.
Essential fatty acids like linoleic acid and alpha linolenic acid, rich in omegas, are essential, meaning that our body needs them to function but cannot produce them within the body so they must be acquired through diet or supplementation. The minimum requirement of linoleic acid is about 1% of daily caloric intake (about 3 grams in a 2,500 calorie diet), but optimal dose is closer to 3-6% (or 9 to 18 grams per day). Alpha linolenic acid daily requirement is unknown, but scholarly estimates indicate 2-2.5% of calories per day as an optimal daily intake. Essential fatty acids are fuel to the fire of our metabolic processes in the body. Essential fatty acids are required for every cell in the body, lubricating the cell membranes. Some examples of natural sources of these essential fatty acids include seeds (especially h**p and flax), nuts, and fish.
While we don’t even have a thought about it, our body is engaging in an extremely complex metabolic lipoprotein system to ensure that fats are digested, absorbed into our body and transported to our cells to fulfill their vital roles within the body. This system has many points of regulation and controls to ensure proper function and works effectively and marvelously efficiently when we eat whole foods as nature made them. Over-rich, over-fat, over-sweetened, and over-processed foods lacking antioxidants, minerals and vitamins can gum up the works and hinder our ability to convert fats into energy.
Vitamins, minerals and antioxidants work as cofactors in enzymatic functions in fat and cholesterol metabolism. Over 80 enzymes pair with zinc to preform specific duties in the body. Vitamin E and carotene (vitamin A) protect essential fatty acids from deterioration from oxygen and free radicals. Vitamin C recycles spent vitamin E to be reused. Vitamins B2 and B3 are important to both the breakdown and burn of fatty acids. In these processes the body also requires pantothenic acid, sulfur, potassium and iron. Zinc, vitamins B6, B3, and C are vital nutrients in making essential fatty acids into hormone-like structures called prostaglandins which produce energy in the body. In order for cholesterol to flow smoothly through the blood, it needs to be linked to fatty acids with the co-factor B6. Vitamin C is used to convert cholesterol into bile acids. These are just a window into all the many functions of essential nutrients in the body. It is important to maintain an adequate amount of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and essential fatty acids to ensure proper metabolic functions in the body. Just as it is with every other aspect of life, there is no single ‘quick fix’ magic bullet solution to weight loss and overall health. Health requires a collaboration of many factors to ensure successful results.
Each person is truly unique in their dietary needs. We all share a common need for proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. We all need the same 50 essential substances to build and maintain a healthy body. However, we are each biochemically unique and in our uniqueness there are variations of specific nutrient requirements and allergies to specific proteins. No single diet is right for everyone. In order to determine which foods make us feel and perform at our physical and mental best, we need to pay attention to and get in tune with our body. Some people cannot digest fresh salads without rice, and get diarrhea, while others, like myself, love and crave delicious leafy greens! Although h**p is described as the best balanced blend of essential fatty acids, it is rare, but some people have an allergy to h**p and cannot consume it. When we tune into the needs, cravings and responses of the body, using common sense, we can develop a diet plan that is optimal for our specific needs.
It has been estimated that at least 68% of us die from food-related degenerative diseases, which confirms the surveys that suggest that 60% of us lack essential nutrients in our diet. It is not uncommon for folks to ‘miraculously cure’ from their degenerative afflictions through nutritional changes. Orthomolecular nutrition is a study of health through providing the body with the right molecules to thrive. Foods and essential nutrients are the main ‘medicines’ of orthomolecular practices. This is in complete contrast to the Toximolecular practices of our modern medical system that prefers to introduce foreign molecules, synthetic drugs, toxic radiation and chemotherapy as the main treatment plan for individuals with degenerative disease. The recommended amount of essential nutrients in orthomolecular medicine is much higher than the Recommended Dietary Allowance followed by doctors in the medical establishment. What would be considered nutrient deficiency to those practicing orthomolecular medicine would pass for a perfect blood panel to a toximolecular doctor ready to prescribe a medication or surgical procedure rather than suggest a dietary recommendation.
Although counting calories is a popular method in weight management strategies, there are obvious flaws in this practice. Different types of foods burn at different rates and provide unique benefits to overall metabolic processes. There are vastly unique differences in food burning ability. The caloric value of fats is overrated, because fats convert to ketones which can be compared to coals left after wood is burned. If you know anything about starting fires, it is always much easier to catch a flame on a bed of coals than with wood alone. Our body uses essential fatty acids for structural, hormonal and electrical functions to increase metabolic rate and fat burn-off. Those are calories you do not want to count out!
When we consume foods that contain essential nutrients in optimal amounts, avoid toxic foods and substances, live an active lifestyle, and engage in stress management practice, the body can freely act out regular metabolic processes and ensure health and vitality.
Reference Material: "Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill" by Udo Erasmus pg. 153-205 ISBN: 0-920470-40-8
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