The how to lose weight fast guide to telling good fats from bad fats.

Dietary guidelines…do they confuse you? How much protein should we eat? What about carbohydrates? Should we eat them at all? If your blood type is O, do you eat differently to your partner whose blood type is AB?

If there’s a more confusing and contradictory issue than human nutrition, I have yet to find it. Well maybe the psychology behind male and female relations comes close – anyone who’s single & online dating will know all about that!

But scientific literature on the subject of diet and nutrition is so conflicting that you start to question the value of anything you read. You take time to study, say, four articles on diet and you get four totally different opinions written by authors with lots of impressive initials after their names.

Let’s look at fats. What a maligned character is that of poor fat. The no-fat diet was huge in the 1970s (There are those who think that this could be a direct contributor to the huge surge in brain disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s that we see today).

This diet is making a pretty reasonable comeback in Generation Now. People avoid fat like a Scandinavian backpacker in a shopping mall collecting money for Greenpeace.

But this avoidance of a substance we need in fairly reasonable amounts (20-30 per cent of our daily caloric intake) in our diet is not only unhealthy but also pointless, as the liver converts carbohydrate to fat very simply and quickly.

A close relative of fat, cholesterol, is even more despised. But did you know that human breast milk has a higher proportion of cholesterol than any other food? It’s also 50 per cent fat, most of which is saturated. Hmmm.

Ok, so what is saturated fat good for? It:

- makes up 50 per cent of all cell membranes, so is essential for the health of all cells.

- protects the liver from alcohol and other toxins.

- has an immune function.

- is antimicrobial in the digestive tract.

- enhances essential fatty acid utilisation.

And what about cholesterol? It is:

- essential for sex hormone production and corticosteroids that help the body deal with stress and protect against heart disease and cancer.

- essential for Vitamin D production which in turn supports bone and nervous system health, growth, metabolism, muscle tone, insulin production,reproduction, immunity, digestion, and serotonin production.

To add to this, fat (good fat that is) in general is an anti-inflammatory and makes up the myelin sheath that covers your brain, spinal cord and nervous system.

So what’s the dietary take home message? We must increase our intake of good fats, ie coconut oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil, fish oils, etc. As long as the oil is pure, extra virgin and cold pressed it will be nutritionally beneficial.

Remember the only oil you can cook with is coconut oil or butter. All other oils are destroyed by heat. Eggs (organic) are a wonder food and should be eaten with confidence. The same goes for organic butter. Trans-fats should be banned for human consumption (animal consumption too for that matter).

But what if your doctor says you should cut out saturated fats and cholesterol from your diet? Is that right? Are they sure? Before you believe them, just take a closer look at your doctor…

So, the next time you’re dating someone & the conversion turns to diets, start talking about good fat if you need to cover a few of your own pounds hanging over your belt!

If only online dating guidelines could be broken down so easily…that’s impossibly more complex than dieting.

Teen Dieting

There is more teenage and childhood obesity today than at any other point in the world's history. Much of the blame for this is down to the fast food, low energy society that we have become. Far too often we feel that it is safer to keep our children inside our homes rather than out and about in the great outdoors. The things we are doing for the protection of our children are actually detrimental to their health.

There are things however that are being done to address the problem and get children more involved, more active, and better educated about making the proper choices about diet, nutrition, fitness, and overall health. The problem for most teens is getting them off the computer, phone, or away from the television long enough to get active.

Even video games are getting in on the act of getting children up and active by creating games such as Play Station 2's Dance Party Revolution and the Nintendo Wii gaming system. These systems allow consumers, to actively participate in the game play adventure rather than sitting back and playing the game in a static environment. It is a great way to get teens off their backsides and active. These games are also fun for adults and will have the same effects when it comes to activity. Whoever thought we'd be actually encouraging game play for exercise?

Get Outside and Get Active

Teens learn by example and whether they care to admit it or not, they typically enjoy doing things as part of the family. Go rock wall climbing or mountain climbing. Go bike riding as a family. Camp in the great out doors and go hiking, boating, or biking yet again. Learn a new sport together. It's amazing how much fun you can have learning how to scuba dive and while you are at it, you won't be consuming empty calories. Even if the sport you take up together doesn't involve a lot of physical activity it is quite likely more active than sitting in front of the television.

Have your teen join a recreational sports team.

There are many kinds of sports teams  in most communities  which teens can join. Even those with no skills at all can join and play in some of the leagues while other leagues are competitive. Getting out and about for a softball game, soccer game, and even volleyball can be a great way for the family to do something together and the games and practices are opportunities for your teen to be active.

Lawn work. 

Is another way to get out and get active with your teen. The key, as always, is in your teen burning more calories than he or she consumes. It is often easier said than done but it is quite possible if you work to get them out and about. Find things however that will be interesting to them, and focus on those rather than torturing them with activities that hold no interest at all (well maybe not the yard work). At any rate, filling their time with activities is also allowing time that they aren't consuming calories as well and that is something worth considering.

Encourage your teen to eat healthier foods.

Eliminate calorie-loaded sodas, fruit juices, and energy drinks from your pantry shelves, and encourage your teens to drink plenty of water each day. Introduce as many vegetables as possible into their diet and get rid of the prepackaged convenience goodies that teens are notorious for depleting in one sitting. Also having your teens actively participate in the preparation and clean up for meals will help them pay more attention to the things they put into their mouths, as well as the mess they make in the process.