Fatty foods that make you skinny

You are what you eat?

If you eat fat, you’ll get fat. Sounds reasonable, right? So by that logic, if you eat money, do you get rich?

Dietary fats have been getting a bad rap for the better part of four decades now, thanks in the most part to the “low-fat/fat-free” ideology of consumer marketing. In truth, excess kilojoules make you fat, and yes, dietary fat is high in kilojoules. But if a high-fat diet is all it takes to make you fat, someone forgot to tell the traditional Inuit people, whose diet consists of around 90 per cent fat.

If these “fatty” foods have been exiled from your diet, it’s time to welcome them back with open arms.

Grass-fed beef

Sure, grass-fed is more expensive. But like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

According to a study published in Nutrition Journal, grass-fed meat contains higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than conventional grain-fed beef, which are known to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Consider this: a conventional 200g steak, trimmed of excess fat, will cost you around 1600kJs and 16g of fat. The same size grass-fed steak is only 980kJs with only 5g of fat. You do the math.

Dark chocolate

Despite often being thought of as a “falling off the wagon” food, dark chocolate can actually help you flatten your stomach. A recent study found that when men ate 100g of dark chocolate two hours before a meal, they consumed 17 per cent fewer kilojoules.

The researchers believe this is because dark chocolate contains pure cocoa butter, a source of digestion-slowing stearic acid.

Olive oil

There’s no denying olive oil is high in kilojoules – just like all fats – but the health benefits of the cancer-fighting polyphenols, heart-helping monounsaturated fats and other antioxidants should be enough to convince you not to switch to a lesser grade cooking oil.

Next time you’re shopping for a cooking oil
Look for: Extra Virgin – the purest version, which is cold-pressed and uses no chemicals in the manufacturing. It also contains the highest levels of antioxidants
Avoid: Extra Light – the term refers to the colour of the oil, not it’s kilojoule content. This version is refined and retains very little flavour.

Coconut

Coconut’s high levels of sat fats (around 30 per cent) are intimidating, to say the least, for would-be gutless wonders. However, more than half of those come from lauric acid, a unique lipid that battles bacteria and improves cholesterol scores.

According to a study published in Lipids, a dietary supplement of coconut oil actually helped reduce abdominal obesity in study participants.

Almond butter

There’s no denying almonds have a high fat content. However, in a study published in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, a six month comparison of two dieting groups (one on a low-fat, kilojoule-restricted diet and one on a moderate-fat diet, supplemented by almonds) found that the almond-eaters lost more weight.

Why? Almonds contain compounds that limit the amount of fat absorbed by the body, so some passes through undigested.