Choosing Fats That Do Not Make you Fat!

Choosing Healthy Fats

Health professionals have preached that a low-fat diet is the key to losing weight, managing cholesterol, and preventing health problems. While this is definitely part of the solution, it is not the entire equation. The types of fat you eat matter. Bad fats increase cholesterol and your risk of certain diseases, while good fats protect your heart and support overall health. 

A walk down a grocery aisle can be confusing. We’re bombarded with so many options that try to fool us in thinking we are making wise and guilt-free choices such as: baked potato chips, fat-free ice cream, low-fat candies, cookies, and cakes. But while low-fat options have increased, so has America's mid-section and obesity rates. Clearly, low-fat foods haven’t delivered on their trim promises. 

The answer isn’t cutting out fat. Our bodies NEED fat. It’s learning to make healthy choices and to replace bad fats with good ones that promote health and well-being.

Below are charts to help distinguish between the good, the bad, and the UGLY!

GOOD FATS VS. BAD FATS 

GOOD FATS
Monounsaturated fat	Polyunsaturated fat
Olive oil Canola oil Sunflower oil Peanut oil Sesame oil Avocados Olives Nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews) Peanut butter	Soybean oil Corn oil Safflower oil Walnuts Sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds Flaxseed Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines) Soymilk Tofu

BAD FATS
Saturated fat	Trans fat
High-fat cuts of meat (beef, lamb, pork) Chicken with the skin Whole-fat dairy products (milk and cream) Butter Cheese Ice cream Palm and coconut oil Lard	Commercially-baked pastries, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough Packaged snack foods (crackers, microwave popcorn, chips) Stick margarine Vegetable shortening Fried foods (French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, breaded fish) Candy bars

Sources of Saturated Fats	Healthier Options
Butter	Olive oil
Cheese	Low-fat or reduced-fat cheese
Red meat	White meat chicken or turkey
Cream	Low-fat milk or fat-free creamer
Eggs	Egg whites, an egg substitute (e.g. Eggbeaters), or tofu
Ice cream	Frozen yogurt or reduced fat ice cream
Whole milk	Skim or 1% milk
Sour cream	Plain, non-fat yogurt

This is a recipe that uses avocado, a healthy fat that offers many benefits. If you've ever been to Houston's restaurant, this is a MUST try. I go specifically on Thursday's when it is the featured soup of the day:)

Mexico City Chicken & Rice Soup

Ingredients for Chicken Broth: 
Chicken (I like to use a mix of drumsticks and thighs with bones but no skin)
Carrots  
Celery 
Corn
Thyme
optional: Saffron

Ingredients for toppings/garnish: 
Tomatoes
Red Onion
Avocado
Jalapeño
Corn - cook briefly in chicken soup, remove and cut off kernels
Cilantro
Rice - cook in rice cooker with slightly less water
Optional: lime

Directions:
1. Boil water and drop in chicken pieces. Cook for 1 hour. In the meantime, drop in whole corn, let cook, remove and cool. Cut off kernels to be used for garnish later.
2. Cut carrots and celery into large chunks. Add carrots, celery and thyme into the pot. Cook for at least another hour. 
3. While the broth is cooking, prepare the toppings/garnish: chop the tomatoes, red onion and jalapeño into small pieces. Finely chop the cilantro. De-seed and cube/slice/chop avocado (do this last as avocado oxidizes).
2. When the broth looks ready, scoop out the chicken and carrot. De-bond and hand shred chicken meat into small pieces.
3. Pour the remaining soup through a sieve to retain the clear broth. Add chicken and carrots back in and reboil. Flavor with salt and pepper.
4. Scoop out a bowl of hot broth with chicken and carrots. Serve with toppings/garnish on the side.