Nutrition · Apr 01, 2020

6 Benefits of Combining Clean Protein With Healthy Fats

healthy fats and clean protein foods on wood table|benfits of combining clean protein with healthy fats

Combining nutrients, such as protein and fat, work interdependently in your body to help keep you healthy. Protein is a natural fat burner. According to the Journal of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, researchers showed that high-protein meals increase metabolism. That’s because of the protein's higher thermic effect of food (TEF). Healthy fats like nuts, seeds and healthy oils such as avocado, olive and hemp also boast a higher TEF. Healthy fats and clean proteins interact synergistically with each other in your body. For example, fat helps your body absorb vitamins A, D, E and K. Protein is found throughout the body—in muscle, bone, skin, hair, and virtually every other body part or tissue. It makes up the enzymes that power many chemical reactions and helps the body manufacture essential enzymes and hormones.

Eating clean protein and healthy fat helps keep you feeling fuller longer, which can help maintain a healthy body weight. By combining clean protein with healthy fats, you can benefit from both nutrients and give your body the right fuel it needs.

Here are six benefits of eating clean protein and healthy fats:

Boost brain health
Aid weight loss
Support diabetes
Repair after injury
Reduce the risk of heart disease
Sustainable energy levels

Clean Protein and Healthy Fats

Clean protein forms part of the clean eating bigger picture, which emphasizes eating whole, fresh foods instead of eating overly processed and refined foods. By choosing clean protein sources, you’re eating nutrients and minerals that are closer to their natural and fresh state. During the refining process, the majority of foods are stripped of their natural nutrients. The result is an end product that isn’t as healthful as the item in its original whole-food state.

Sources of clean protein include:

Almonds
Lentils
Quinoa
Spirulina
Tempeh
Hemp seeds
Chia seeds

Not all fat is bad for you and by choosing healthy or “good” fats, you can reap the benefits for your mind and body. Fats are often put under this umbrella term but fats can be very different depending on their source. Saturated fats and artificial trans fats are unhealthy fats and can be blamed for things like weight gain, increased risk of diseases and clogged arteries.

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated are known as “good” fats because of the good they do in your body. Healthy fats are good for your heart, your cholesterol, and your general well being.

Healthy fat sources include:

Peanut butter
Avocados
Olives
Nuts
Flaxseeds

Clean Keto and Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Eating a ketogenic diet usually means getting the majority of your calories from fat, followed by a smaller chunk for protein and about 5% from carbohydrates. Some people find the keto diet very beneficial for things like weight loss, sustainable energy, and decreased inflammation.

When following a keto diet, fat is your primary energy source. It’s important that when choosing which fats to eat, you pick healthy ones. Clean keto applies the same guidlines as clean eating; eating foods that are in their natural state. When choosing fats, try to eat fats that occur naturally in foods rather than being heavily processed.

An essential member of the polyunsaturated fats family is omega 3 fatty acids. The body can make most fats it needs out of other fats and raw materials. This is not the case with omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3’s are considered an essential fat because the body can’t make them and has to get them through foods.

Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to prevent heart disease and stroke and may play other protective roles in cancer. Sources of omega 3 fatty acids include seaweed and algae, chia seeds, flaxseeds, and hemp seeds.

6 Benefits of Combining Clean Protein with Healthy Fats

human brain |benefits of clean protein and healthy fat for brain health

1. Boost Brain Health

Clean foods are packed with vitamins and minerals and contain a host of benefits. Your body needs fats to protect your brain and support overall health. Healthy fats help the brain to function more effectively, in particular, omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 is crucial for brain development in infants. Getting enough omega 3s during pregnancy is associated with a number of benefits for the child including higher intelligence, better social skills, and fewer behavioral issues.

Omega 3 is also very useful in fighting age-related brain function decline and Alzheimer’s disease. Several studies show that an increase in omega 3 is linked to a decrease in age-related mental decline and a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

2. Aid Weight Loss

When that voice in your head is telling you to eat pasta or chocolate because you’re hungry, it’s probably your ghrelin talking, a.k.a your hunger hormone. Ghrelin is a hormone that signals your brain that you’re hungry. Research shows that adding more protein to your meal can lead to lower levels of this hunger hormone. This means that you will feel fuller longer, aiding in weight loss and management.

Following a high protein diet boosts your metabolism and tends to lead to an automatic reduction in calories and cravings. A high protein diet can be very beneficial for weight loss. One study found that overweight women who consumed 30% of their calories from protein lost 11 pounds (5kg) in 11 weeks. The participants didn’t intentionally try to restrict foods in their diet, but still lost weight through eating more protein.

Often, when you’re trying to lose weight, people tend to avoid fat. But, fat is a vital nutrient and serves important functions in the body. Diets such as the keto diet primarily use fat as an energy source and can do wonders for weight loss. Always focus on choosing healthy fat sources and avoid eating artificial trans fats and saturated fats, like the kind you find in processed and refined foods.

3. Support Diabetes

While there are various “diets” you could follow, research shows that a low carbohydrate diet works very well to help control blood sugar and A1c levels in type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. In general, any diet that focuses on eating whole foods with plenty of fruits and vegetables is beneficial for managing diabetes. Of course, it’s always important to follow your doctor’s recommendations when it comes to diet and diabetes management.

Eating fiber-rich foods, healthy fats and clean protein sources like whole grains and legumes is a good place to start. Foods like avocados and nuts contain healthy fats and can help lower cholesterol levels.

woman exercising on stairs|clean protein and healthy fats |benefits repair after ijury

4. Repair After Injury

Your body needs protein to heal and repair. Eating more protein can help your body to repair more quickly after an injury and speed up recovery. As protein forms the building blocks of your tissues and muscles, it makes sense that eating more protein can be beneficial for your body and healing.

5. Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease

Including healthier fats in your diet can help reduce the risk of developing heart disease. A healthy eating pattern will naturally provide a good balance of healthy fats in the diet. It’s also a good idea to limit unhealthy fats like saturated fats. Eating foods high in saturated fats can increase your levels of bad cholesterol, increasing your risk of heart disease.

Just because a diet is high in fat doesn’t mean it increases your risk of heart disease. In the Seven Countries Study in the 1960s, researchers found that Greece and other parts of the Mediterranean area enjoyed relatively low rates of heart disease despite eating a diet high in fat. The reason for this is that the fat doesn’t come from saturated animal fat but mainly from monounsaturated fat, like that in olive oil. Despite this finding, the Seven Countries Study formed a major part of the idea that dietary fat was associated with heart disease and majorly influenced how we eat today. A concept that is continually being challenged by new studies.

6. Sustainable Energy Levels

Eating a balanced diet with clean protein, healthy fats, and unrefined whole foods gives your body the energy supplies it needs. Foods like processed sugars and other simple carbs give your energy levels a boost in the moment, but then give you a severe sugar crash a short time later. The best way to keep sustained energy levels throughout the day is to avoid blood sugar level spikes. Protein helps to control our blood sugar levels and healthy fats help maintain continuous energy rather than having high spikes and low crashes.

Following a diet focused on whole and unrefined foods with clean protein and healthy fats can help support weight loss, boost brain health and reduce the risk of heart disease. By providing your body with the fuel it needs to achieve long-lasting and sustainable energy levels, you can increase your overall health and feel your best!

Sunwarrior has created an easy and clean way to help you stay in a state of ketosis. The Clean Keto Protein Peptides solution contains a blend of healthy fats, plant-based protein, essential vitamins, and Aquamin. The clean fat comes from MCT coconut oil combined with protein from fava beans, fermented pea, and brown rice. By combining clean protein and healthy fats, Clean Keto helps you to burn fat, control cravings, stay focused, and create long-lasting sustainable energy that lasts all day.

Whether you’re following the clean keto diet or just looking to eat a more natural whole foods diet, it’s beneficial to combine healthy fats with clean protein. Your body needs good clean sources of protein and healthy fats to function at optimal levels and feel the most benefits.

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Natalie Bohin