We need a certain portion of fat. Believe it or not, a certain amount of fats are necessary to maintain our skin, immune system, muscles, hormone levels, reproduction, and many other functions.

Certain types of fat can promote health.

Fat-free foods are not all healthy for you. Some fat free foods have much more sugar, salt and additives than the regular version. In fact, for some food products, the fat-free version has just as many calories as the regular version! Many fat-free foods have a large amount of refined sugar, which causes spiked glucose and insulin levels in your blood. Over time this reaction increases your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Too much fat like too much of anything is a bad thing. Don't be afraid of fat. Simply limit your fat to no more than 25% of your daily intake

Most fast food restaurants are bad for you. Fast food restaurants are known to serve food high in saturated fat and low in fiber, fruits and vegetables.

Eating out too often can be bad for you. Most restaurants serve food high in saturated fats, regardless of whether they are fast food or not. That's why their food tastes so good. Luckily there are other healthier methods for making food taste good, which you can use at home.

Too much fat leads to cancer. Fat increases your risk ofÉ
Colon cancer
Breast cancer
Uterus cancer
Prostate cancer

Why breast cancer? Estriol (estrogen hormone E3) has a strong influence on breast cancer. If you have an early first period, the hormones produced can effect your body in ways your body isn't prepared for. As a result, your risk of breast cancer could increase. A diet high in fat can cause you to become overweight, which is known to encourage an early first period, thus increasing your risk of breast cancer. Adolescent obesity is also strongly linked to breast cancer.

SoÉ staying nourished, but keep the fat ratio under control, and exercise or play sports, which can help postpone an early first period.

Which fats do I eat?
There are two main classifications for fatsÉ

Saturated fats: butter

Unsaturated or Polyunsaturated fats:
Margarine
corn oil
beef or lamb high in fat

Fat, especially unsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, can enhance the negative effects of carcinogens and other toxins in the body. Beef or lamb that's high in fat can lead to colon cancer. Fried foods lead to breast cancer.

Saturated fats are linked to heart disease.

So what do you do? The answer lies in your family's medical history. If there's a history of heart disease, concentrate on avoiding butter and other sources of saturated fats. If there's a history of cancer, focus on avoiding margarine, corn oil and other sources of unsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. If you find both or neither in your family's history, then control your overall intake of fats.

Don't eliminate fat altogether and don't attempt quick result fad diets. Although too much unsaturated or polyunsaturated fat can enhance carcinogens and toxins, a normal level of body fat is used to trap these toxins. When people go through rapid weight loss, large amounts of toxins are released into the blood stream as the stored fat is broken down. This can be very unhealthy. For this reason quick weight loss fad diets can be very damaging. Not only do you release a lot of toxins the first time you use them, but people who use fad diets tend to fluctuate rapidly in weight again and again. The reason for this is that fad diets don't work over the long term. They might work quickly for a short period of time, but eventually most of these diets result in further weight gain. This motivates people to try fad diet after fad diet, none of which produce the long-term results that are desired. This continuous fluctuation in weight produces a steady stream of damaging toxins. If you want to lose weight, do it gradually over time in a healthy more successful manner.

Burning Fat

Fat verses Carbos

In order to use fat to produce energy, it must be broken down into molecules known as fatty acids. Carbohydrates are broken down into molecules known as glucose.

For every molecule, fatty acids produce more energy than glucose.

Fat weighs less than carbohydrates.

Producing energy using fatty acids requires more oxygen than producing energy using carbohydrates.

What you burn most depends on the intensity and length of your exercise.

coming soon

References

Romijn JA, Coyle EF, Sidossis LS, et al: Regulation of endogenous fat and carbohydrate metabolism in relation to exercise intensity and duration. Am J Physiol 1993;265(3 pt 1):E380-E389