Questions About Fat: A weight-Inclusive answer for people with diabetes
It is time to review four critical questions about fat without diet culture butting in!
In recent years, fat has had a glow-up. Once feared back in the 1980-1990, our understanding of fat has radically changed. This article will review four critical questions about fat; no weight loss is required.
There are four macronutrients: Carbohydrates, Protein, Fat, and Alcohol. When someone has diabetes, the focus is primarily on the amount and quality of carbohydrates in the diet. Yet, sometime in 2000, there has been a shift in thinking about fat.
Dust off your understanding of fat. There isn’t just one, but three types of fat.
Saturated fat or fat is solid at room temperature. It comes mainly from animal products and causes the body to make cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.
Trans fatty acids are caused by hydrogenating vegetable oils, which make food products more shelf-stable. Trans fats are worse for you than saturated fats because they raise the LDL cholesterol associated with heart disease and lower HDL cholesterol, which reduces heart disease.
Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and are primarily found in plant oils. Unsaturated fats can improve blood cholesterol levels. There are two types of unsaturated fats: Monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil, canola oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds. Polyunsaturated fats are found in sunflower, corn, soybean flaxseed oils, walnuts, flaxseeds, fish, and canola oil.
Fat + Insulin Resistance
Now that you know the types of fats, it is helpful to understand that studies also show that a high saturated fat intake is associated with insulin resistance, which is the hallmark of type 2 diabetes. It means that reducing your intake of saturated and trans fats can lower blood levels indirectly by reducing insulin resistance.
What is insulin resistance?
Imagine insulin as a knife and insulin resistance as a dull knife. No one wants to cut up anything with a dull knife! When you eat a diet high in saturated fat, you unknowingly dull your insulin knife.
Is having too much fat bad for people with diabetes?
This question is tricky, especially if you have been programmed by diet culture. Weight stigma and fatphobia degrade higher-weight people into believing that being fat is bad. It is easy to assume that eating fat would also make you 'bad.' If this is the thought in your head, that is the earworm of diet culture talking, shoo-shoo! Replace that erroneous thought with the understanding that fat is a macronutrient in your diet, and having fat in your diet can help you balance your overall blood sugar, have tasty and enjoyable meals, and feel satisfied after eating. The key is understanding how fat affects blood glucose.
Consuming mono and polyunsaturated fats, the fats from plants that are liquid at room temperature, can slow the absorption of carbohydrates, blunt blood sugar rise, and reduce insulin resistance. This is how eating more plant-based meals can lower blood sugar.
Do I need to become a vegan? Vegetarian?
No.
So, how do you limit your intake of saturated fats without becoming a vegetarian?
My suggestion is to ask: How many feet came to the meal?
There is more saturated fat from animals with four feet, i.e., cows, pigs, and sheep, versus animals with two legs, i.e., chicken, turkey, or duck, versus animals that live in the ocean. (Any food that lives in the water counts as a no-footed animal. It would include fish, lobster, crab, shrimp, and all clams or mussels)
Try it for yourself:
How many feet came to this meal: Two eggs, with sausage and cheese on a biscuit.
(Two feet for the eggs, four feet for the sausage, four feet in the cheese, and four feet for the biscuit because it is made with lard, butter, or hydrogenated fat) This meal has 14 feet
Let's try to adjust the number of feet in this meal by making the following changes.
Two eggs, with turkey sausage and avocado on an English muffin, topped with trans-free margarine, like Smart Balance. (Two feet for the eggs, two feet for the turkey sausage, zero feet for the avocado, and zero feet for the English muffin because it is made with margarine.) This meal has 4 feet.
How reducing (vs cutting out or avoiding) saturated fats can help you, no weight loss required.
Saturated and trans fats are found in processed foods. If you eat less processed foods like crackers, chips, and snack foods, you will likely decrease the amount of saturated fat in your diet. Many clients share that in the past, they cut these foods out of their diet to lose weight. At No Weight Loss Required, you are trying to learn how to eat a balanced diet.
Eating a balanced diet means having foods you love that might be higher in saturated fat AND adding in foods that are less processed and lower in saturated fat. It is hard to let go of the either/or, good or bad, right or wrong approach to food, nutrition, and life.
Pause and give yourself a loving reminder of why you are leaving a black-and-white view of the world. It is void of color, flavor, and beauty, and you deserve these things. Being an intelligent and able person, start getting creative with your meals. I love Instagram and Pinterest for ideas. Focusing just on snacks, here are a few ideas to get the wheels turning.
Fruit + nut butter. For example, apple and peanut butter
Whole grain cracker + hummus
Whole grain cracker + cheese
Whole grain cracker + nut butter
Roasted chickpeas
Nuts, pretzels, and chocolate chips
Yogurt + sunflower seeds
Cottage and nuts
½ of a sandwich
Cup of soup
Veggies and dip