Nutritional Tip of the Month - August 2012

Fun Fat Facts

Fat has more than double the amount of calories per gram that protein and carbs have. So, one way to help shed that unwanted body fat is to have only one fat source per meal. For example, if you're having a turkey sandwich for lunch have cheese, OR mayo, OR avocado, not all three. If you're having salmon for dinner don't have olive oil, nuts, avocado or any other fat with the meal. This will "put a leash" on your fat in a major way. On the other end of the spectrum you need to make sure that you get a fat source with every meal - no fat free meals. Fat is an important source of energy and helps with vitamin absorption. It also slows the production of acid in your stomach, assists in the digestion and absorption of other nutrients, and a whole lot more.

Another benefit of having only one fat per meal is the ability to manage and track the ratio of saturated fats to poly- and mono- unsaturated fats, with about a third of your day's fat calories coming from each. When you eat only one fat per meal, you can easily look back at your day and see a "snapshot" of that ratio. The ratio of calories from these fats affects levels of HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Anthony Baucom 
Fitness Director 
THE GYM ENGLEWOOD
20 Nordhoff Place
Englewood, NJ 07631 
Phone: 201-567-9399
abaucom@gettothegym.com
http://www.gettothegym.com/englewood/default.asp