Gene variant common in Africa ups HIV risk: study (Reuters)

Reuters - A gene variant that emerged thousands of years ago to protect Africans from malaria may raise their vulnerability to HIV infection but help them live longer once infected, researchers said on Wednesday.

Jack Sprat could eat no fat ... I heard that nursery rhyme as a child. I did not understand it then, and still don't now. Maybe, waste not, want not. But one thing is for certain Jack would fit right into today's society of thin.

Unfortunately, zero fat is not a healthy diet. That's correct, not a healthy diet. In fact, some fats are a necessary part of the human diet and certain fatty acids are not or cannot be easily synthesized by our bodies.

There must be a billion pages written on fat types and diet considerations. Let me simplify it a little from the viewpoint of a male and an engineer.

Basic Assumption:

Any diet should not contain more than 30% fat of any type.

If you are serious about losing weight, then you should aim for 25% or lower.

Fat facts:

• the total number of fat cells in your body does not increase after puberty, they just get larger.
• one gram of fat contains about 9 calories, carbohydrates and proteins about 4 calories per gram.
• most dieters are aiming at around 1800 calories. There many calorie calculators on the web, I favor the one at the mayo clinic site - see the resource box. Using this calculator you input your age, height weight and sex; the next screen asks you to buy creatine ethyl ester malate an activity level, then you are given your estimated daily calorie needs per day, usually in the range of 1500 to 2700.
• only 3% of the calories in fat are expended to convert fat into energy or storage.
• 25% of the calories in carbohydrates and protein are expended to convert them into energy or storage.
• not all carbohydrates are created equal. There are the "calories dense" type. The body cannot process all of the calories in the "average serving" of these carbohydrates so it processes what it can for "ready energy" and directs the remaining calories to storage, for storage read body fat.
• and lastly, muscle weighs about 23% more than fat.

Tangent:

In a valiant attempt to complicate the issue, our food industry introduced hydrogenated fats years ago, which are simply unsaturated fats with extra hydrogen atoms added which in effect makes them saturated fats. Because these fats have been chemically altered they tend to be difficult for our body to process. They are not useful from a nutrition point of view. Best totally avoided. Example - margarine.

OK, let's discuss the two types of fat:

1. saturated fatty acids SFA
2. unsaturated fatty acids.

Saturated Fatty Acids:

Recommendation - minimize the amount of saturated fat in your diet.

How to recognize - saturated fats are usually solid or semi-solid at room temperature.

Examples of saturated fat - all animal fats (beef, veal, lamb, pork, poultry), dairy products (butter, milk, cream, cheese etc.), margarine, bakery products, coconut oil and junk food like potato chips.

Pros - calorie source

Cons - unhealthy calories, in excess it raises LDL cholesterol levels (the bad cholesterol) - leads to heart disease.

Unsaturated Fatty Acids:

There are two types - monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

Monounsaturated Fatty Acids MSFA

Recommendation - Overall fat content should be limited to 25 - 30%. MFA are necessary but not in excess.

How to recognize - monounsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature.

Examples of monounsaturated fatty acids - avacados, vegetables, olive oil, kanola oil, nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts) , fish (salmon, tuna, trout)

Pros - AHA - lowers the risks of heart disease

Cons - excess will result in weight gain

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids:

Recommendation - Overall fat content should be limited to 25 - 30%. PFA are necessary but not in excess.

There are two types - Omega-3 and Omega-6

Pros - source of linoleic acid - linoleic acid deficiency leads to weakness, blurred vision and bad skin.

Cons - can spoil or go bad at room temperature, too much will result in weight gain, too much may cause cancer and lower the HDL level (the good cholesterol - lowering this is bad)

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

How to recognize - liquid at room temperature, unstable and can go bad.

Examples of omega-3 fatty acids - oily fish, salmon, tuna, trout

Omega-6 Fatty Acids

How to recognize - liquid at room temperature, unstable and can go bad.

Examples of omega-6 fatty acids - palm, soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oil, poultry, eggs, whole grain bread, baked goods and nuts.

Armed with this information about fats, it is time to find out more about our bodies and how the calories in our food are utilized. Better yet, it is time to find out how we can motivate our bodies to lose body fat without starving ourselves.

Here is the link to the mayo clinic calculator.
To understand better how to achieve a healthy balanced diet
which will help you enjoy a better quality of life,
please visit The Health Jerk Blog.