Have You Had Your MUFA Today?

Some of you are thinking, this gal has gone off her rocker. What the heck is a MUFA? Others may know what I am talking about. A MUFA is something that I have had in my diet for a long time, but until recently, had no idea how important it was. MUFA stands for monounsaturated fats. I have always consumed these MUFAs while living the low-carb lifestyle, but I never knew how improtant they were. After watching an interview with the authors of the book The Flat Belly Diet on Rachael Ray's show earlier this week, I pieced together some information.

I researched The Flat Belly Diet, and what it was all about for the past few days. The way the diet works, is you consume four meals that should be four hundred calories throughout the day. With each of these four meals, you are to eat a MUFA. The important part is, though, your MUFA must count as part of your four hundred calories, not in addition to those calories.

There were some things about The Flat Belly Diet that I disagree with. It seems that The Flat Belly Diet is geared towards being low-calorie, more so, than being low-carb. Well, you know me, I'm loving the low-carb lifestyle. I don't feel that low-calorie is the way to go for my personal body type. So, I decided to take some of the suggestions, and leave the others behind. I decided that I am going to try my best to incorporate a MUFA into each meal. It seems I have more success when I am eating more MUFAs anyway.

If you don't know what a MUFA is, I will give you the list. MUFAs, again, are monounsaturated fats. The four categories of MUFA that I like are oils, nuts and seeds, avocados and olives, and chocolate. Oils are specific, like Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Grape Seed Oil, and Soybean Oil. If you sautee your chicken in one of these oils, and put it on a mixed green salad with cheese and eggs, you have done great with a low-carb meal, and including your MUFA. The nuts and seeds category includes a lot of different snacks. Peanuts, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, and sunflower seeds are all on the list. These can be a quick snack, or you can add them to your meal. Pecan Encrusted Tilapia is a great way to include your MUFA, and be high protein at the same time. The avocados and olives category is pretty self explanatory. Olives make a great snack with some cheese. Avocados are great to add to your salad, or you can make a tasty guacamole to dip your low-carb tortilla chips in. Finally, my favorite, but least often consumed MUFA is chocolate. Dark chocolate, especially, is a good MUFA. Living low-carb, though, you must try not to have an abundance of chocolate, as it is not a low-carb food.

I like the idea of eating more MUFAs throughout the day, and I am thankful for having been reminded of this by The Flat Belly Diet on Rachael Ray. Hopefully this MUFA information, and list, can be of help to you on your journey towards living low-carb.