For some people, the idea of doing the keto diet sounds like it’s an unlimited license to eat a lot of fatty foods, but is that the case? While keto is a high-fat, low-carb, moderate protein diet, that doesn’t mean you should eat nothing but cheese and bacon. You still need to focus on proper balance and nutrition, and try to get in those healthy fats. In this article, our functional medicine Burbank professionals at Functional Medicine Los Angeles explore how these fats can support your health and weight loss goals.
Fat is Not All the Same
While people generally describe fats as being the same, it’s not the case according to our functional medicine Los Angeles experts. Different types of fats serve different purposes and are metabolized in very different ways. Many of the foods produced today contain fats that are difficult for your body to handle, so it becomes a matter of health that you make sure to get the right amounts of fats, and that you’re aware enough to avoid the fats that can cause illness over time.
When you’re looking at fats, there are about five basic groups from the standpoint of how they are handled in the body. These are referred to as saturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and trans fatty acids. Among these categories, it can be easy to get caught up in labeling the fats good or bad, but it’s not quite so simple.
Part of why that kind of labeling takes place is that people usually need more of one of the fats, and because of the content of most modern diets, people usually seem to end up lacking saturated fats. The truth of the matter is that the human body always wants to establish balance, and that’s difficult to do when the food that you eat is missing core components that can make food complete. Trans fats are typically labeled as bad, but upon closer examination, you’ll find that there are several naturally occurring trans fats in nature.
The primary issue here is how the fats were handled during food production. Some fats undergo chemical changes by losing electrons when they are heated past a certain temperature This creates a new substance that may have properties that are undesirable for your body. Due to the augmented versions of the fats, the body is now at risk of locking onto a pattern that leads to eventual failure. The best way to deal with fats that aren’t dealt with well is to limit them to rare consumption because too much of something so strange in your body could become a potential threat to your health if it’s allowed to get out of control.
1. Healthy Fats from Plants
Now that you’ve seen a brief breakdown of the types of fat, it’ll be a little easier to see where these foods fall in line with the thrust of your healthy decision-making. The foods that you eat to attain a healthy balance in your body should be simple so that they can be added to just about anything by just opening up your pooch and dropping them into the meal arena, or picnic table as fewer interesting people call it. That way you will always be prepared with the proper balance of nutrients that can keep your body running at an efficient level. The next few paragraphs will be a list of the amazing foods that you can use during this diet.
Avocado
- This is a power food for anyone on keto, but is also accepted on just about every other diet as well. It is a wonderful source of healthy fats and ensures you get all the most important nutrients into your diet. Avocado can provide a wide range of vitamins and minerals, along with important antioxidants for cellular repair, and rich oils that keep the elasticity of your tissues at an optimum level.
- Without these kinds of fats to help you carry out repairs, your body will begin to age prematurely. Without the elasticity provided by the fats and oils, the walls of your arteries could begin cracking suddenly due to stress. These kinds of complications and physical failures can create issues that make saving your life during distress very difficult or impossible for medical professionals.
- The best way to eat avocados would be with a few other types of food because balance in your nutrition is essential. Without that balance of nutrients, your body will have to work a lot harder to absorb and use the nutrient payload that you’re feeding it.
Olive Oil
- Olive oil is a kitchen staple that a lot of people turn to when they want to do some kind of healthy cooking. Olive oil is relatively plain, so it won’t affect your diet by throwing you out of ketosis. You can use it for all kinds of tasks, and it can also be ingested directly as a part of a meal. This oil is heavily antioxidant and can help you to reduce inflammation in your joints if ingested regularly.
- One way to get a good dose of olive oil would be to try making some homemade salad dressing. There are a thousand different recipes that can show you how to make a super healthy and super simple salad dressing that you can bottle and enjoy with your friends and loved ones for weeks. There is one precaution that you should be aware of, however. Olive oil is an oil that shouldn’t be heated on high heat. Try to stick to quick frying, or low-heat cooking when you’re using olive oil so that it can remain complete and unchanged.
Walnuts
- Walnuts are flavorful and fun, but they’re a great source of omega-3 fatty acids that help your body to stop swelling and cellular deterioration. Research has suggested that walnuts can even help to aid and preserve brain functions that are prone to deterioration through age. They fall under both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat types and can help you handle cravings for food during the middle of the day.
- Just be sure that you have a decent protein and some of the core vitamins that your body needs. When you want a quick healthy snack, you can put a large handful of walnuts into a zip freezer bag. If you want to do something a little more complex, then you can add a few pieces of dried fruit to the mix so you can have an ultra-fresh nut mix.
Chia Seeds
- When people think of chia seeds, they’re probably not really thinking about anything that can help you heal your body or give you a ton of nutrients in one serving. Studies of history going back to the times of antiquity have revealed that people used to consider chia seeds to be an essential part of their nutrition. As it turns out, recipes for life-affirming gels, and routine additions of the seeds to thick frothy drinks have been a part of culture for over one thousand years.
- Today, people use them to kick their protein and vitamin intake up just a little bit more than the thing they’re adding them to. If you ever decide that you don’t want to eat eggs for a while or ever, then you can chia seeds as a substitute for eggs. This is done by simply soaking them until they turn into a sludge. Once made, you are free to use it to add to smoothies without experiencing the seed texture, or you can use it to replace eggs in baking.
Brazil Nuts
- These large nuts are on this list for their protein and fat content as well. Doctors have recommended that you eat Brazil nuts with some fruit like berries during breakfast time. This will help balance out the payload of nutrients. Fruit-like strawberries make an excellent pairing when you’re on the keto diet because they don’t contain enough sugar to throw off your ketosis journey.
Hemp Seeds
- Hemp seeds are the last of the plant-based fats on this list. These seeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids, so they will serve a few different purposes in your search for health. Many of the seeds that appear on this list can be used as supplements to any missing nutrition. This is helpful because you can simply add these items to any meal that you feel is lacking.
- If you’ve grown up in the western landmasses, then you are probably aware that people in the west commonly forget that their nutrition should avoid any extremes because they can cause other unforeseen issues in your body. Just because fat is healthy doesn’t mean you won’t gain weight if you eat it enough. Try to keep the ingestion of these kinds of added ingredients in your food at a low level, because scarfing down an entire pack of nuts can make you gain weight. This is especially true when you’ve gone back to eating a regular non-ketosis diet.
2. Healthy Fats from Meats
Salmon
- If you’ve been out anywhere fish is sold, salmon is a pretty common fish variety to encounter. There is a sort of familiarity with salmon because of its placement in culture and wide availability, and it’s also very high in healthy fats. Salmon is a great way to get protein and guide your keto diet along. Salmon is one of nature’s more readily available sources of keto-affirming proteins.
- One cool thing about salmon is that there are a lot of ways to enjoy it. Fresh salmon can be eaten much like sushi. If you want something memorable, try eating some salmon with a mix of seared vegetables. That will help you to appreciate the flavor more fully and help you achieve a balanced meal for that time of the day, benefiting functional medicine digestion in Los Angeles.
Grass-Fed Beef
- A lot of people throw terms for animal enclosures around like they’re buzz words intended to start a conversation, which you can see works with a lot of effectiveness, but the reality for many of these factories that produce meat is that many of the animals don’t ever see any sort of daylight. To be called grass-fed, the animal has to be raised in an outside environment where they will be allowed to get exercise and move around.
- Most beef is fed with ground-up leftovers, and hormones intended to make the cow grow faster. Cows that are raised on grass outside are happier and they get to live longer lives. Animals in captivity will often submit to exposure to any number of serious illnesses that can harm them for the rest of their lives.
The healthiest beef you can get is grass-fed beef, which is more than worth the slightly higher price you pay for it.
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