You may have heard that essential fats are an important aspect to maintaining the health of your body. But what exactly are they?

Basically, there are two truly essential fatty acids, Linoleic and Linolenic. You may have heard of these referred to as Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids.

So, why are they called essential? The term essential in the life sciences refers to the fact that a nutrient cannot be synthesized by the body. Thus, you must have a dietary or supplemental source to supply your need for these acids.

You probably heard of the 8 essential amino acids. It’s the same idea here but in this case we are referring to fatty acids rather than an amino acid.

These fatty acids exist in and are used in every cell of your body. So they are crucial to a cell’s health and therefore to our health as people. The good news is that in North America, you generally get enough Omega -6 in your diet. Omega-3 has presented a question mark to researchers. Are we getting enough or not?

Fortunately, you can get Omega-3 from fish and certain nut oils. If you have any doubt at all, you can get Omega three from flax oil,which is in abundant supply at your local health food store.

Don’t let the phrase essential fat or essential fatty acid fool you. These are not going to make you gain unwanted weight.

As those of us who truly understand weight loss and gain can tell you, the key to losing or gaining fat storage from your body centers around the bodies short term energy storage supply.

This article is for information purposes only. It is not meant to diagnose, treat or prevent any disease or condition. Consult your primary health care provider if you have or suspect you have any physical ailments.

More people are becoming aware of their own health and fitness needs in these modern times. As part of this new awareness of a persons general health is the realisation that cholesterol level is very important and having the correct level can reduce your chance of heart disease which is a major killer in the modern world.

The first thing to do is to get tested properly and find out what your cholesterol level is and then finding out importantly the difference between good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. The bad cholesterol is known as LDL Cholesterol the LDL stands for Low Density Lipoprotein. The good cholesterol is known as High Density Lipoprotein.

Bad Cholesterol problems when too much LDL is circulating within your blood stream, it can slowly build up on the inner walls of your arteries . The arteries are extremely important in delivering fresh oxygen rich blood from the heart to the brain and other vital organs.

The bad cholesterol builds up with other substances to form a plaque, a thick hard deposit that when it builds up reduces the diameter of the arteries and also makes them less flexible. This can lead to the following problem of a clot forming within the arteries which leads to a stroke or worse a heart attack.

Good Cholesterol HDL provides the defence against heart attacks. Between a third and a fourth of blood cholesterol that flows within your arteries is made up of HDL Cholesterol. The HDL Cholesterol is good at taking the LDL Cholesterol from the Arteries to the Liver where the body can process it and it can be passed from the body safely.

The best course of action is to examine your diet and reduce the amount of fatty substances that you eat, lay off the desert menu. Take an Omega 3 supplement daily fish oils have a very good effect on reducing your LDL Cholesterol. I know within my family that has been a number of deaths from heart attacks. I take regular exercise and go swimming, swimming is a very good exercise as it stretches most muscles and gives the added benefit that its a non impact exercise.

Some exercise such as running a impact based and maybe not as good as looking for exercise equipment that is designed to produce non impact fat burning. Consider finding out your ideal weight and seek medical advice on how to attain it. Give yourself reasonable goals in achieving this and mark your progress on something visible.

Its important you need to see progress and that you feel the difference within yourself. Sometimes if you can not manage to get to the gym go for a good 2 mile walk and try to attain a good breathing rhythm. This can be more therapeutic than sweating buckets on a treadmill.

When you go shopping spend a little bit more time in reading the labels and if you are not sure what a product is research it and find out how good it is to eat and will it provide you with healthy sustenance or be bad for you. Getting the balanced diet and understanding your bodies processes can really help in maintaining a healthy heart and a longer more enjoyable lifestyle.

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2007 Andy Bolton 39 Liverpool UK

Most people who are trying to lose weight often become frustrated by the number that is displayed on the scale. As a personal trainer I use the scale as a tool to determine an individuals fat mass. Multiplying a persons body fat percentage by the weight measured on the scale easily accomplishes this. The fat mass number is then subtracted from their body weight, thus giving the individuals lean mass, which is the muscle, water, and internal organs of the body. For example, two females that are 5’6 and weight 135lbs can look very different from each other, even to the extreme of being polar opposites. One might have a body fat percentage of 33, while the other might have a percentage of only 22.

The individuals whose weight will fall the most significantly on the scale are those individuals that are obese. Generally as body fat percentages go for males, 10 and under indicates very lean, 11-15 indicates a lean individual, 16-20 is average, and 20 and higher is considered obese. For women, the following percentages are used 20 and under indicates a very lean individual, 21-25 indicates a lean individual, 26-34 is average, and 34 and greater is considered obese.

A qualified personal trainer can check your body fat percentage with a skin caliper and will be able to calculate your fat mass. A realistic goal for most people is to loose 3 body fat in 4-6 weeks. This is done without starving the body, and being on a rigorous exercise program.

So get your body fat percentage and lose weight by the test, not the scale!

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