The Good News About Good Fat — Soupure

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REPEAT AFTER US: FAT DOESN’T MAKE ME FAT!

You’ll notice that a few of our recipes call for a decent amount of fat (oh yes, I said it), whether it’s from nuts and seeds or olive oil. But here’s the thing: Fat doesn’t make us fat. It is eating processed foods, refined sugar, and an otherwise imbalanced diet made up of poor-quality foods that makes us fat!

Bad fats include trans fats and saturated fats, including fats from margarine, fats used in deep frying, oils used in processed foods, hydrogenated oils, fats that have high amounts of omega-6s like soybean oil, and most processed vegetable oils. These raise your bad cholesterol (the kind that clogs up your arteries) and lead to inflammation, which increases the risk for disease. Good fats are those high in omega-3s. These are also known as essential fatty acids. We need to get them from outside sources, as the body does not manufacture its own. Hence the word “essential.” We can get them from vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fish. Without these fats, our bodies can’t use many of the critical vitamins and minerals we consume, like vitamins A, E, and D. Fat surrounds every cell membrane of our bodies so it can metabolize. Fat lines our nerves to send signals and reflexes faster between our brain and body. Fat regulates our hormones and our body temperature. Fat protects all of our most vital organs from injury. Fat is efficient brain food that allows signals to speed along. It also makes our skin and hair beautiful, touchable, and sexy. So, now say it with us: Fats are good for me.

So don’t skip the fat to stay fit. Don’t break into a sweat when you see fat on a nutritional label. Find out instead the kind of fat included. And, when it is the “good fat”, thank nature for giving us the best mechanism to help survive on this planet, perpetuate our families, and give us a sense of well-being.   

Read more about fats in our book The Soup Cleanse, available at Amazon and Target online or at your local retailer