Fat is good? It is in these foods!

A great article on MSN today reviewed six foods that were loaded with healthy fats. Article here
http://health.msn.com/nutrition/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100216691&imageindex=1

To save you the time of going through the article, or if it gets lost in time, the six foods listed are:

1. Walnuts
2. Edamame (soybeans)
3. Fish (salmon and swordfish in particular)
4. Walnut oil
5. Wheat germ
6. Ground flax seeds

All of these are fantastic options, and might I add that other mixed nuts like almonds and pecans are also fantastic sources of healthy fats. Olive oil has also been know for some time to be healthy, and is cheaper and easier to find in my opinion than walnut oil.

So yes, fat is good for you. Too many people cut out all fat from their diet because in there mind they equate eating fat with being fat. This is just not true!!

Even saturated fat that we find in meats and eggs is needed for a healthy diet. The problem with the typical diet though, is that we have a gross imbalance. Work to get a variety of healthy fats into your diet, including one or more from the list above.

One final caveat regarding healthy fats, they are very calorie-dense. This means that just a small serving can contain a lot of calories. This doesn't mean we should avoid such foods, just that we should be diligent in measuring out appropriate portions.

For most nuts, this means the amount of nuts that can fit in the palm of your hands. Not a lot eh?

If you're still unsure about serving amounts, try picking up a food scale. I currently use this one and recommend it for it's accuracy and ease of use:
http://www.target.com/Chefmate-Nutritional-Digital-Scale-Silver/dp/B000LWPZDO/qid=1222808996/ref=br_1_1/601-2736515-2491305?ie=UTF8&node=13003941&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1

Remember - fat can be good!