You mention how good olive oil is for weight loss, however if I ate this with virgin coconut oil daily and also with an omega3.6.9. oil will it still be okay if the aim is weight loss and healthy eating? 

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Eugene Thong:  Certainly.  There’s no reason to exclude healthy fat from your diet, and olive oil, and an omega 3-6-9 oil are certainly healthy fats (we don’t recommend regular use of coconut oil for reasons I’ll detail below).

 

Assuming you’re following proper nutritional principles with the rest of your diet and not consuming an overabundance of calories, we recommend that you get fat in your diet, as minimizing dietary fat (i.e., consuming less than 10% of calories from fat) will retard your fat loss efforts.

 

Here are some benefits to the oils you mentioned:

 

Olive oil:  Although olive oil contains a high Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio (see below), its role in healthy eating is well documented.  It has been shown in studies to decrease risk of colon cancer and contains antioxidants such as Vitamin E and polyphenols.  Just don’t cook with it – the unsaturated fatty acids in olive oil are easily damaged by high temperatures, causing oxidative damage to the oil.

 

Virgin coconut oil:  Because it contains a high amount of saturated fats, coconut oil is considered safe to cook with at high temperatures since its chemical structure is stable enough to resist those high temperatures. 

 

Although it is reputed to bestow a myriad number of health benefits, such as metabolic stimulation, improved immunity, and better skin, it also has a tremendous ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids.  Since one of the problems with the modern diet is overconsumption of Omega 6 fatty acids to Omega 3 fatty acids, adding coconut oil to the mix may only make this problem worse.  Because of this, we recommend you use it sparingly.

 

Omega 3-6-9:   An oil mix like this is helpful if you don’t normally get enough Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet (fish oil is the best source – Mike and I write about the fat loss benefits of fish oil in Black Book of Secrets) and you don’t like oily fish or can’t sit down long enough to eat it.  The Omega 9 fatty acids in these oil blends aren’t essential to your health, however.

 

Don’t fear fat – it’s a good part of a sound fat loss approach, and so long as you don’t go overboard and over consume calories, dietary fat consumption will only work to speed your fat loss.

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About the Author: Eugene Thong, CSCS, was born a weak, skinny, bespectacled child. Now, thanks to a steady diet of martial arts, scientific inquiry, and heavy compound movements, he's no longer weak.  His scientific bent, Zen-like demeanor, and efficient but intense methods have made him one of New York's most sought-after personal trainers.     When not helping clients cultivate their own inner 6-packs, Eugene can be found arm barring opponents at Renzo Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy or sailing through the air on his snowboard.  Read Eugene's semi-weekly musings on exercise, fitness, and fat loss at his blog Eugene is Mike's co-author of The Black Book of Secrets.  You can purchase it by clicking here.