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DETOX YOUR BODY
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Lymph Cleanse
Learn how to detox the lymph system. Plus, foods that naturally detox the lymph.
Lung Detox
How to support lung health this winter with a detox cleanse.
Colon Detox
Colon cleansing is essential to any detox program. Learn how to detox the colon safely.
Liver Detox
The liver is the primary organ of detoxification in the body. Learn how to detox the liver safely with this liver detox gude.
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DETOX DIETS
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Lemon Detox Diet
The lemon detox diet is one of the best and most simple detox diets. Here's a guide and one-gallon recipe.
Liquid Diets
Fasting with fruit and vegetable juices is a safe and thorough detox method when done properly.
Detox & Weight Loss
Yes, a detox diet will help you lose weight. Before you start any detox diet, read this.
Easy Detox Diet
This weekend detox diet is a safe and gentle detox method, perfect for the detox newbie and the ultra busy.
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Fat Myths: What You Need to Know About Dietary Fat
Fat is crucial for our health. Our bodies cannot live without fat. Essential fatty acids are just that -- essential. Dietary fats provide your body with energy, contribute to our cell growth, help the body absorb certain nutrients and promote hormone production. A certain amount of body fat is necessary to keep your body warm and to protect your body's organs. A no-fat diet or extremely low-fat diet is a prescription for health issues.
Here some interesting facts about fat:
- Not all fats are similar. There are four categories of dietary fat: trans fats, saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and monounsaturated fats. These fat types are differentiated by their chemical and molecular make-up, which affects how they are used and processed in the body. The bad fats are the saturated fats and trans fats. They are distinctly solid at room temperature (such as beef fat, bacon fat, lard and butter). The good fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are comparatively liquid at room temperature (these include vegetable oils). Learn more about good fats and bad fats.
- Fats are packed with calories. Per gram, fat has 9 calories (this is true of any fat, regardless of its type). By contrast, protein and carbohydrates contain about 4 calories per gram. This points to the fact that high fat consumption increases the overall calories in our diet. For this reason alone, it is imperative to limit fat intake if your are attempting to lose weight.
- Some fats actually lower chloresterol. The bad fats are bad mostly because they lift LDL chloresterol levels (also known as bad chloresterol). Good fats, the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, raise the HDL (known as good) cholesterol levels, which helps lower LDL chloresterol.
- Some fats promote weight loss. The monounsaturated fat found in walnuts, almonds, avocado, olive oil and canola oil have been found to encourage weight loss, especially body fat itself. Keep this in mind, you don't want to eat too many, but be sure to include small amounts of these nuts and oils in your regular diet if you are trying to lose weight.
- Fat supplies our body with energy. Polyunsaturated fats (found in salmon and oily fish, corn oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil) have a detoxifying effect on our cells, carrying away toxic fats deposited there that clog up cell activity.
- Fat lubricates the body. Good fats are like oil in a car engine, providing needed lubrication to our joints, digestive system (flax seed is excellent for constipation) and skin. Some of our dermatological problems are caused by deficiencies of good fats in our diet.
Good Fats: Which Fats Are Healthy Fats?
Is there such a thing as good fat?
Fat free, reduced fat, low fat -- we are attracted to these labels on foods because we believe they are better for us. In fact, we are led to believe that if we just had a fat-free diet, we would lose all the weight we need to since we are not taking any fat in. Unfortunately, the body cannot survive without fats. ItŐs not about no fat, its about the right fat. The type of fats found in sunflowers and soybeans are the good fats called polyunsaturated fats. The fats found in nuts and olive oil are called monounsaturated fats. These poly and monounsaturated fats should become a part of your daily diet.
LetŐs look at sources of these valuable and good fats:
- Omega-3 LetŐs start with the fatty acids that are good for your cardiovascular system. These fats will protect against stroke and high blood pressure. These fats are called the Omega 3s, predominately found in the oils of fish like salmon and tuna. But you donŐt have to fish the sea to get your Omega 3s. They also can be found in abundance in flaxseed oil and soybeans. If you donŐt care for these Omega 3 sources, you can get your Omega 3s from supplements that contain fish oil rich in this fatty acid. By including walnuts, almonds, and the coldwater oily fishes in your diet, you are sure to get this good fat naturally.
- Omega-6 This fatty acid is native to maize and other corn products as well the oils of sunflower and soybean.
- Omega-9 This other healthful fatty acid is found in canola oil and olive oil.
Bad Fats: Which Fats Are the Unhealthy Fats?
Now that we have identified the good fats, it is even more important to know which are the bad fats. Saturated fats are one of the main culprits with trans fats running a close second. Saturated fat has been medically related to increasing the levels of cholesterol in the blood. This is why heart patients are always placed on a low cholesterol diet.
- Saturated fats The problem with saturated fats is that they are found in some of the foods we love best. Meats and dairy products are the main culprits. Concentrate too many of the saturated fats in your diet and triglycerides and other heart threatening blood fats over time can be a real health risk. The accumulation of saturated fats in the heart will decrease the volume of blood that flows through the heart muscle and its attendant arteries. When someone has a heart attack, avoiding saturated fats is the first single line of defense against future heart attack episodes.
- Trans fats What is it that makes trans fats such a pejorative? A trans fat is made through a manufacturing procedure known as hydrogenation. Hydrogenation changes the fat from a liquid to a solid, but more importantly acts a preserving process so that the oil cab be stored at room temperature. The most famous trans fat is Crisco, the brand name for a form of shortening that really tastes good, but the trans fats inside shortening and lard (made from pig fat) is not only a serious cardiac threat, but also known to be cancer causing. The carcinogeous nature of trans fats along with weight gain and heart threat have forced the food industry to label precisely how much trans fat and saturated fat is in each portion of any manufactured meal.
- Tropical oils (palm and cocoa butter) If you canŐt live without the taste of these saturated and trans fats, foods with palm or cocoa butter is a lesser evil. These oils are also high in saturated fats, but they may be safer than the other unhealthy fats, since they have not been proven harmful to the heart.
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