Why Eat Good Fats For Keto Weight Loss?
Isn’t it incredible that on a strict keto weight loss, the good fat intake is no less than 75%? Of course, this is a difficult requirement to meet, so if you don’t reach such high levels in the early stages of a low-carb diet, it’s okay to take your time. However, as you slowly adapt to a low-carb diet, you can increase your good fats intake in moderation strictly as required by the keto diet, which is necessary for your long-term weight loss and health.
11 Reasons to Dispel Your Little Concerns About Good Fats
1. Fat is needed to release bile
Bile is stored in the gallbladder and is important for digesting fat. Simply put, when we consume fat from food, the gallbladder receives the signal to secrete bile into the digestive tract, and the fat is emulsified by the bile before it can be digested and absorbed by the body. But what happens if you don’t eat enough fat, or even if you don’t eat fat?
With a low fat intake, the gallbladder does not receive the signal to release bile, which is stored in the gallbladder and becomes sticky, and then in a vicious cycle, the gallbladder thickens, making it more difficult to release bile and the bile becomes thicker. This is why many older people who have been eating a low-fat diet for a long time have a high incidence of gallstones.
Of course, if you eat a low-fat diet for a long time and suddenly increase your fat intake, the gallbladder cannot squeeze out the thick bile, the fat is not digested, and not only does it not provide energy to the body. It may also cause diarrhea, constipation, indigestion, or worse, severe anemia, porous bones, brittle bones, and finally lead to serious impairment of gallbladder function. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to slowly consider ingesting cow bile when fat cannot be digested.
2. Fat is needed for gallbladder health
In recent years, so many people have had their gallbladders removed because of gallstones, and science shows that people on a low-fat diet are more likely to get gallstones. Why most people on a long-term low-fat diet have had their gallbladders removed? Because with a long-term low-fat diet, thick bile is stagnant in the gallbladder and cannot be excreted, eventually forming gallstones. If you have gallbladder problems or have had your gallbladder removed, you still need to gradually increase your fat intake along with a targeted supplement of ox bile.
3. Fat-soluble vitamins are found in fats
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are all fat-soluble vitamins, insoluble in water but soluble in lipids (fats).
- Vitamin A: also known as retinol, promotes autoimmunity, fights infections, reduces the risk of night blindness, and maintains healthy skin.
- Vitamin D: Helps regulate calcium and phosphate levels in the body, thus maintaining healthy bones and teeth.
- Vitamin E: Helps maintain cell structure by protecting cell membranes.
- Vitamin K: Needed for blood clotting, which means it can help wounds heal quickly, and there is growing evidence that vitamin K is also good for bones.
Fat-soluble vitamins are mainly found in fatty foods such as animal fats, including butter and lard, dairy products, animal liver, and oily fish, and low fat intake or impaired fat absorption can undoubtedly lead to deficiencies in these vitamins.
4. Cholesterol balance requires lots of good fats
Cholesterol has been demonized for many years and in the years when statins were sold the most, more and more studies have found that statins have a very high number of side effects, as well as, low cholesterol, which may increase mortality. Cholesterol does not cause atherosclerosis; in fact, low cholesterol levels may be associated with the following risks:
- Higher mortality
- Greater risk of depression
- Occurrence of violent crime and suicide
- Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
- Infertility
- Lower immunity
- Inflammation
Therefore, it is important to provide beneficial cholesterol through good quality fats (fresh egg yolks, butter, lard, coconut oil).
5. Fats are needed for blood sugar balance
By reducing carbohydrates and adding good fats to the diet, the glycemic response will be greatly reduced and blood sugar levels will stabilize, thus maintaining an ideal body weight. However, to please some consumers, manufacturers are bent on reducing fat in foods but realizing that reducing fat will make the food taste worse, they compensate by increasing sugar. The increase in sugar and the decrease in fat is precisely the main cause of high blood sugar!
6. Fat is needed for protein utilization
Just a few years ago, fitness enthusiasts were afraid to eat egg yolks (eat eggs without yolks). The vitamins and fatty acids in egg yolks are beneficial to protein absorption, and some people have done studies that eating egg yolks is better than not eating them for muscle gain.
Therefore, eating eggs without yolk, is not only waste, protein is not maximally absorbed, and the fat in the yolk is not enough to fear. In addition, a high-protein, low-fat diet can lead to many problems, including excessive growth and depletion of vitamin A and D reserves.
7. Fat is needed for hormonal balance
Without cholesterol, a person cannot have children, because, for men, this means low testosterone. After all, every sex hormone is synthesized from cholesterol. We must consume saturated fats containing cholesterol to provide the basis for sex hormones, including testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone.
Modern lifestyles lead to an excess of estrogen in humans, and stress and poor diets increase estrogen synthesis and decrease estrogen excretion. For women, a low-fat diet can lead to premenstrual syndrome and menopause, and for men, it can mean erectile dysfunction or enlarged breasts.
In addition, a low-fat diet will prevent the excretion of excess hormones (especially estrogen). When there is excess estrogen in the body, it is “packed” into the bile and excreted through excretion, but if the bile is not released, then the excess estrogen remains in the liver and gallbladder and undergoes a second cycle in the body.
8. Fat is needed for detoxification
The liver acts as a toxin filter and toxins collect in the bile. If everything is normal, when we digest food, the gallbladder releases bile and the toxins in the bile are excreted in the feces. However, if no fat is consumed, there is no signal to release bile, then toxins accumulate in the liver and gallbladder, and over time, the amount of these toxins increases and is reabsorbed and recycled by the body.
Toxins can be removed with coconut oil and animal fats, which are rich in saturated fats that stimulate the body to detoxify, balance hormones, and lose weight.
9. Weight loss needs fat
When you eat some dessert, cereal, or low-fat milk for afternoon tea, you will feel hungry in less than an hour, but when you consume 200 calories of coconut oil, the feeling of fullness can last at least 2-3 hours, and some people even longer.
Here is the difference between carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates are very susceptible to hypoglycemia and can easily produce hunger pangs. Fats not only feel satiating, but ketone bodies, a product of fat burning, also suppress appetite and allow you to eat less naturally. A ketogenic diet induces the body into fat-burning mode.
We know that weight loss is about burning off excess body fat. Increasing fat intake will reduce hunger hormones and increase leptin production, flipping your fat-burning switch and putting you into fat-burning mode.
10. Skin health needs fat
Fats are an integral part of healthy skin cell membranes, and they also provide internal moisture and nutrients to the skin. That’s why a common symptom of fat deficiency is dry, sagging, dull, and even peeling skin. In addition, as a natural anti-inflammatory agent, omega-3 fats may also reduce the swelling and redness associated with acne.
11. Fats are really tasty
Fats make food taste good. Vegetables that are otherwise tasteless become colorful and flavorful when butter, lard, or olive oil is added. Especially if you add a little extra oil to your meals at home, every dish becomes vibrant, fresh, and fragrant. Nutrient-rich healthy fats make food taste good and make life and weight loss taste good!
Conclusion
The purpose of eating fat is not to eat more, but to eat less, to process food better, because fat is satiating and produces ketone bodies when burned, which is the best means to control appetite. Finally, it must be remembered that the basic conditions of a ketogenic diet are not to eat if you are not hungry, to eat when you are hungry, to eat slowly, not to overeat, to try to accompany light fasting, and to have low-carb, low-carb, low-carb.