Today I’m talking about how words are employed with regard to fat, because the term “healthy fats” annoys me.

Fats are one of three (or four) macronutrients: protein, fat, and fiber (plus water).  Some folks call those three categories protein, fat, and carbohydrate, but that makes it permissible to consider stripped (refined carbohydrate) a macronutrient and that is not the case.  Stripped carbohydrates aren’t food; they’re manufactured calories, and manufactured calories aren’t food.

If, on the other hand, we call that class of macronutrient “fiber,” then you know I’m talking about the carbohydrate that comes up out of the ground and is always, always rich in fiber.  Remember that, with the exception of milk and honey, carbohydrate doesn’t exist in nature without the fiber.  So whenever you come across carbohydrate without fiber attached, we humans probably made it that way.

Well then, what’s wrong with the term “healthy fats?”  Well, we don’t use the adjective “healthy” in front of protein or carbohydrates.  We assume that when you mention them in a blog about good health that you’re talking about the healthy kind.  Yes there are unhealthy carbs, loads of them in fact, yet we don’t feel the need to keep reminding ourselves.  So why do people persist in distinguishing fats as “healthy?”

A couple of reasons, I think. The main one is that we spent the last few decades being trained (by the advertising industry, under direction from the manufactured-calorie industry), to consider fats unhealthy.  We have heard, over and over, that if you eat fat you’ll get fat.  We internalized this message so successfully that we began to wrinkle our noses and stick out our tongues when we said the word “fat.”  Not funny. It turned out that the message was wrong.  We looked around and noticed that the less fat people ate, and the more refined carbohydrate they were taught to substitute, the more overweight they became.  Yes, it took a couple of decades to realize, but it’s no longer impossible to ignore.  We have an enormous weight problem in this country and it’s not because of fat.

We are, finally, coming to understand that fat is good for us, and we’ve identified a few kinds of fat that seem to be particularly good for us, such as olives, avocadoes, nuts, peanuts, and deep-sea fish like tuna or salmon.  In order to distinguish these from what we consider the gross, disgusting, fat-causing types of fat, we started to call these fats “healthy” fats, as if the fats themselves are healthy.  But they’re not.  They’re just chemical compounds that break down into fatty acids of a certain configuration that happen to serve one or another beneficial purposes once we consume them.

These are fats that nourish us, or that provide us with beneficial nutrients.  So from here on in, I’m going to call them nourishing fats, or nutritious fats.  There’s no reason for me to call them healthy; if you read about them on my blog, you already know how I feel about them. Do we now know everything we need to know, everything we’re ever going to need to know, about nutrition?  Definitely not.  But I do believe that there are some important things about which we can all agree.  And one of them is that nutritious fats play an important role in our diets.

All kinds of behaviors can have an effect on your weight, and the solution to each is different.  

Maybe portion size is your biggest issue.  Maybe it’s hard to get moving, even though you know you need to get some exercise.  Maybe you have a sweet tooth that you can’t shake.  Maybe you’re completely stressed out, and you never get a decent night’s sleep.  Maybe you are a nighttime snacker.  Or maybe it’s some combination of these.

How do you know which of these applies to you?  Be honest with yourself.  Check the ingredient list of everything you eat, and keep a log for a week.  Can you actually say that there is very little sugar or virtually no corn syrup in your diet?  It may be hard to believe, but it’s in yogurt, breads, ice cream, salad dressings, sodas and sports drinks, muffins, non-dairy coffee whiteners, and even some kinds of dark chocolate.  If you’re doing a fairly good job avoiding it, then it’s not number one.  But maybe it’s number two.  I have no problem with a treat now and then, but I want to know when I choose it, and I don’t want to eat “hidden sugar.”  It spikes your insulin levels, packs on the fat, and makes you crave more.

American portions are out of control, and not just yours.  Bagels have tripled in size since the 1960s.  There’s always room for dessert.  You can get a bucket of soda for ten cents more, so why wouldn’t you?   Just super size me, you know?   But I don’t want people to feel hungry, or denied.  Eating well and being satisfied are synonymous.  Luckily, there are good solutions to hunger, and they are called fiber, fat, and protein.  Fruits and vegetables and beans are delicious and filling.  Fat is flavorful and satisfying.  Protein keeps you going.      

Exercising your right to free speech more than anything else?  Getting exercise can be difficult, but it’s not impossible.  First, remove as many obstacles as possible:  Sleep in your T shirt and shorts, and put the gym shoes by your bed so you have to step over them to get up.  Ride an exercise bike at home instead of having to drive to the gym.  Commit to meet a friend and walk together, so you don’t keep one another waiting.  Secondly, reward yourself, with a chart and gold stars if necessary, and then redeem those gold stars for something you’ve been dreaming about.  Think about what it will take to get you moving, and do whatever it takes.  Make it worth your while.  If your knees bother you, then take a Tylenol beforehand.  As I tell my patients, “I’ll pay any price to keep you mobile.”

On a scale of one (always relaxed and focused) to ten (frighteningly freaked out and finding it hard to think), how stressed out are you most of the time?  Know that a very important part of being healthy is relaxation, in both daytime and nighttime.  If you rate your stress level almost always as lower than four, keep up the good work, and continue to work on protecting your relaxation time.  If it’s higher than four, you may find that walking helps, or meditation, or yoga, or talking about it with friends.  If your stress level is higher than six, you may want to schedule an appointment to talk about it with your doctor.  Your doctor should be able to refer you to a professional with expertise in stress management.

If you’re having difficulty sleeping, learn about “sleep hygiene” and see if you are doing something that is actually making it worse.  Are you finding it hard to fall asleep because you can’t turn off your mind?  Do you wake up in the early morning hours and have difficulty returning to sleep?  Maybe you aren’t getting enough sleep, period.  Any of these can derail weight loss efforts.

Have you been eating a big bowl of cereal before you go to bed?  A peanut butter sandwich or a candy bar?  That’s a problem.  Start working on this issue by trying to eat a bigger breakfast and lunch, thereby getting in more calories earlier in the day.  You may still want a nighttime snack, but it can be a healthier one.  Eat berries, for example, which are sweet and satisfying, but low in practically everything else (except fiber).  

See how these apply to you, and start thinking about the one that resonates most with you.  One step at a time, one day at a time, one issue at a time.  I don’t believe in quick fixes.  I believe in slow, sustainable progress, so that someday you can say, “Wow, I really eat differently than I used to.”

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

This weekend I was introduced to two great recipes, both of which owe their greatness to garlic.  The first is “pure de verduras,” or pureed vegetable soup.

My friend Stacy, who had the good fortune to live (almost 30 years ago) with a family in Spain for one year of high school, came home with enough recipes and inspiration to last a lifetime.  Yesterday she told me how her host mother would make pure de verduras with whatever vegetables were left at the end of the week and how, for this reason, it was never exactly the same twice.  Stacy sighed when she reminisced about the times that the recipe included red or golden beets.

Here’s what her host mother did:  She chopped up the combination of (washed, peeled) vegetables coarsely, and put them into a pan with a bit of hot olive oil.  After a few minutes of frying, she would add just enough water to barely reach the surface of the vegetables.  She covered the pan, and let the vegetables cook for maybe 10 minutes until they were just cooked through.  The cooking time differed depending on the types of vegetables.  Then she would put the contents of the pan into a blender and blend until the vegetables were pureed.

In the meantime, she would heat a bit more oil in the frying pan, and then add slices of fresh garlic.  These would cook for just a minute or so, so that they still retained their bite, but mellowed somewhat. To serve, she poured individual bowls and then spooned some garlic and oil onto the surface of each bowl of soup.  All these years later, memories of the taste of this simple dish brought such joy to my friend’s face.

Not two hours later, I was sitting in the kitchen of another friend’s home.  She brought out bowls of fresh vegetables, crackers, and a delicious red dip made of dried tomatoes.  This is great, I said, how do you make it?  Oh, it’s easy.  And she meant it.  

A couple of cups of dried tomatoes and 1 clove of garlic.  Put them into a food process or blender and pulse just a few times until it’s chunky.  Be careful though, she said.  If you turn on the machine and walk away, you’ll end up with tomato paste.   

I shared last week that cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling that comes from believing two conflicting ideas at the same time.  How does this apply to what we eat, and to its effect on our health, both as individuals and as a nation?