Imagine losing up to a pound a day by eating your favorite fats. Sound far-fetched? These are the reports I get from those on my new program. My book, Radical Metabolism, discusses the secrets of how to revive a sluggish over-40 metabolism  — secrets that work even faster if you’re in your 20s and 30s or suffer from thyroid issues. If you’re a “slow loser” who wants to finally shed those stubborn pounds and keep them off, then this book is for you.

Could a ‘toxic metabolism’ be slowing you down?

The obesity epidemic is no joke. We’ve finally seen the tides turn with respect to dietary fats, after decades of avoiding them got us nowhere. It’s finally widely accepted that eating more fat — rather than less — along with reducing sugar and carbohydrates is helpful if you want to be lean and healthy. People everywhere have jumped on the keto diet or paleo diet train — so why are millions of people still struggling with their weight?

The reason is they are missing a critical piece of the puzzle: a toxic metabolism. Toxic metabolism is why many ketogenic-type diets fail. If your metabolism is toxic, you can’t process those fats, no matter how “healthy” they are. When your body can’t correctly process fats, it stores them.

When it comes to the science of slimming, myths and misunderstandings abound, and this book dispels a good number of them. A big one has to do with omega-6 fats. The much-maligned omega-6s have become the pariah of both conventional and alternative health experts alike. Here’s the deal: the concept that all omega-6 fats fuel inflammation is a myth. The common advice to consume as many omega-3s as possible while shunning all omega-6s is doing nothing for your waistline or overall health.

Many people are unable to lose weight because they are not eating the correct ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats — the ideal ratio is 4:1 —  or even the right kind.

How Omega-6 Fats Help You Slim Down

Just like the omega-3s, high-quality omega-6 fats are essential for every single cell membrane in your body. No disease can be healed if your cell membranes, which direct nutrients in and poisons out, are weak and unstable. The omega-6s are also a critical fuel for reigniting sluggish mitochondria, the energy engines in our cells. The mitochondria are linked to metabolically active “brown fat” that eats up heavy-duty amounts of glucose and fat for dramatic weight loss, and decreased risk for insulin resistance.

Do you know why walnuts offer so many health benefits? It’s those omega-6s. Contrary to what you’ve been told, it’s the omega-6s that account for their cardiovascular benefits, not the omega-3s. Walnuts have five times as many omega-6s as omega-3s.

Hemp seed oil is a super skinny fat and a key food in my program. Hemp seeds, also known as hemp hearts, and their oil has a near-perfect omega ratio of 3:1, with omega-6 in the form of linoleic acid. Hemp seeds can be sprinkled over salads or cooked veggies, and hemp seed oil is lovely in a vinaigrette or drizzled over vegetables, salmon, or basmati rice. It can even be added to your green juice.

In Radical Metabolism, you will learn which forbidden fats to eat to supercharge your metabolism. Individuals on the Radical Metabolism plan are seeing those extra pounds melt off at an astounding rate, as well as experiencing increased energy, improved moods, and a variety of vanishing symptoms — which is what happens when you turn your metabolism from toxic to terrific.

This post was written by Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, author of Radical Metabolism. Gittleman is a nutritional expert and a New York Times bestselling author who has published more than 35 books on weight loss, health, and wellness. She is an accomplished speaker and has been featured on numerous television programs, including Dr. Phil, The View, and Good Morning America. She has dedicated her career to educating the masses on nutritional health, metabolic repair, and beating the American obesity pandemic.