Healthy fats play an important role in good nutrition and weight loss. There is a lot of talk in the media about how omega 3-fatty acids, found in cold water fish oils increase your immune function and provide health benefits to the heart, skin and brain. But it helps with losing weight, too – along with other kinds of healthy fats.
Perhaps the most important reason you need healthy fats in your diet it you are trying to lose weight is that they help to turn off the feeling of hunger and trigger the feeling of having eaten enough. That feeling of being full and being able to say no to a second (or third) helping is exactly what you need to stop yourself from overeating. The lack of feeling full is one of the major reasons people often continue to overeat and have trouble losing weight on fat-free diets.
So what are some other sources of healthy fats? Avocadoes are a great natural source of fat soluble vitamins A and E because they high in monounsaturated (healthy) fat. Even people who have a hard time digesting fats can usually eat avocados. They are also linked to lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure, among other health benefits.
Coconut meat is rich with MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides), which are easier to digest than long chain-triglycerides contained in other saturated fats. Scientists advised against eating coconut oil for a while because of its fat content. But it turns out they were wrong. There is now some research showing that coconut oil can actually help increase your metabolism and burn fat faster, although other researchers say the effect is negligible. In any event, the flavor of coconut oil can also help you stay on a diet by keeping flavors interesting and delicious.
Nuts are another good source of natural and healthy fats. Almond oil and walnut oil are delicious to use on salads or ground up into butters to spread on fruits and veggies. Just make sure you use the raw versions to stay true to your raw food diet.