The worst possible diet you can eat—the one that will cause and worsen type 2 diabetes—is a diet that is high in both refined carbohydrates and refined fats—which, coincidentally, is the typical American diet. In addition to watching your intake of sugar and simple carbohydrates, you need to reduce the amount of refined fats (refined fat includes all fat from animal sources and vegetable oils in your diet.
Eating these refined fats on a regular basis increases inflammation in your body and makes your cells less responsive to the effects of insulin. This is called “insulin resistance,” which can lead to diabetes. Increased fat stores in the belly also increase the risk of insulin resistance. When you have insulin resistance insulin works sluggishly, your pancreas has to produce more and more insulin to move sugar out of the blood and into cells. If you are gaining weight around your middle, then you probably have insulin resistance, and you’re likely putting stress on your pancreas.
Not all fats are unhealthy. The trick is to learn how to avoid the refined fats and begin using more unrefined fats from nuts and seeds and other plants.
“Good Fats” versus “Bad Fats”
We tend to think of fat as a bad thing. “Low fat” has become a diet mantra. Much of the blame for this confusion about fats comes from the food industry. When you see “fat free” on a package label, you have become conditioned to believe it means “healthy.” But this is not necessarily true. For one thing, many foods that contain fat are very good for you. Secondly, many foods that are labeled “fat free” are actually loaded with ingredients such as sugar and refined carbohydrates, which can be every bit as unhealthy as fat, and sometimes even worse.
There is also the common misperception that eating fat will make you fat. Again, this is not true. For the last 30 years we have been hearing about and following “low-fat” diets, yet everybody is heavier and no one seems to be losing weight. Why? Because calories from refined carbohydrates and refined fats are missing the fiber that provides a sense of fullness. When you get your calories from refined foods it is very easy to overeat and still not be full. Eating more calories than you burn is what makes you fat. Studies have shown that when you eat foods that are rich in unrefined fats such as nuts, seeds, olives, and avocado you actually lose weight. Fats per se do not make you fat but eating unrefined fats certainly can.
In reality, your body needs fat to survive. The brain, for example, is composed of 60 percent fat. Fat also lines the organs, insulating us from the cold. Fat plays an important role in keeping our cells healthy, and in regulating vital cell activities. Each of our body’s trillions of cells has a protective layer around it made up of fatty acids. Membranes throughout our body—even in our skin—need fats to grow. Fats can influence our moods, energy levels, how we sleep—even mental functions such as memory and alertness. In short, we cannot live without fat. And because the body can’t produce all the different fatty acids it needs from its own resources, we need to get fats from our diet.
So why do fats get such bad reputation? Because too often the fats we eat are the wrong types of fats. Unrefined plant fats are the best fats to eat as these come packaged with fiber and phytochemicals that keep inflammation levels in our bodies low when we burn them. We recommend that you get your fat from these sources. Monounsaturated refined fats such as those found in olive oil and canola oil are probably the next best source of fat but we recommend that you avoid or at least severely limit these as they are missing the beneficial fiber and micronutrients that the olives and whole seeds have. The worst fats are refined saturated fats (or hydrogenated fats) such as those from animals, particularly 4-legged animals, vegetable shortening, coconut oil and palm oil. All saturated fats whether from an animal source or natural vegetable source or chemically hydrogenated vegetable source will increase bad cholesterol “LDL” and cause inflammation which tends to increase insulin resistance.
Today you hear a lot about Omega-3 fats and their importance. These fats are important for your body. They reduce inflammation and help lower your risk for some chronic diseases. One source of these Omega-3 fats is fish but we recommend that you get your Omega-3’s from the same source as fish do — plants. Certain types of sea plants are rich in Omega-3’s but we recommend that you get these beneficial fats from flax seeds, walnuts, soybeans, chia seeds, and other plant sources.
Despite the health risks, many of us eat large amounts of these unhealthy fats every day. Doughnuts, French fries, cookies, baked goods, and many of the other products we buy in a box or in the frozen food aisle contain large amounts of these unhealthy fats. According to nutritional guidelines, less than 10 percent of our daily fats should come from saturated fat, and as little as possible should come from hydrogenated fats.* Yet the average American eats far more than the recommended amounts of these unhealthy fats. Every time you go to a fast food franchise, or eat a doughnut, frozen pizza, cheeseburger, or dish of ice cream—you’re eating unhealthy fats.
Study after study has shown that trans fats lead to weight gain. According to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, foods rich in these “invented fats” had a larger than normal influence over whether people got fatter over time. Potato chips were the worst offenders, leading to more weight gain per serving than any other food examined.
If trans and saturated fats are the dietary “villains”—the bad fats—then mono- and polyunsaturated fats are the dietary “good guys.” Provided of course that they come in whole foods such as nuts, avocados, olives, and seeds as these provide essential fatty acids, fiber and other micronutrients, which the body needs. And, they help remove cholesterol from the body reducing the risk of heart disease. Because unrefined fiber —rich fats are absorbed slowly, they help keep the blood sugar and insulin levels low. Eating good fats is essential to certain body functions, including maintaining the body’s cells. We need these dietary fats to thrive.
We want you to eat and enjoy fat as a part of your diet in moderation—just as long as you eat the right fats!
*www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/chapter6.htm