30 Jun 10 Nutritional Agreements: Part 4
This week, we are wrapping up our series. For a quick recap of the nutrition facts we have discussed, here we go:
- There is no one-size-fits-all diet.
- “Diets” don’t work.
- Vegetables are all-stars.
- Added sugar does more harm and no good to our body.
- Unrefined has its place when it comes to carbohydrates.
- Striving to include omega-3 fats in your diet is important.
- We really need the sunshine vitamin.
- Supplements are nice, but not everything.
Our final two are related, but worth noting individually.
- Artificial trans fats are bad news for health. While the macronutrient fat has its pros and cons, there is one con that holds true among keto and non-keto circles. Artificial trans fats provide zero nutrition and lots of health problems. Harvard Nutrition Source says:
Trans fatty acids, more commonly called trans fats, are made by heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen gas and a catalyst, a process called hydrogenation. Trans fats are the worst type of fat for the heart, blood vessels, and rest of the body because they:
- Raise bad LDL and lower good HDL
- Create inflammation – a reaction related to immunity – which has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions
- Contribute to insulin resistance
- Can have harmful health effects even in small amounts – for each additional 2 percent of calories from trans fat consumed daily, the risk of coronary heart disease increases by 23 percent.
- Whole foods for the win. If we know that trans fats are not great for our health and they are a by-product of hydrogenation, then we know that processing food really changes things. As a result, it is safe to say that unprocessed food is the best and healthiest. Allowing food to remain in its natural state ensures that beneficial nutrients (like fiber) stay available and artificial chemicals and added ingredients such as flavor enhancers (sugar, salt, trans fats, etc.) remain out of the picture. So we aim to keep it simple and reap the winning health benefits that unprocessed, whole foods provide.
We hope that you learned more about some of the basic nutrition truths that have a lot of support and power. Did you learn anything new? Was there a nutrition fact that made you feel like you’re on the right track? Please tell us. We’d love to learn more about your individualized nutrition, wins, challenges, and goals.
By Victoria Emmitt RD
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