The Importance of Healthy Fats
I remember the 80s and the low fat craze. I would buy Snackwells devil food cookies and eat them with a free pass because they were “fat free”! Entenmanns had a fat free coffee cake, and I could have all the Frosted Flakes I wanted because they were fat free too. Eating this way was supposed to help us lose weight and get healthy. But I weighed more at that time than at any other point in my life. And I felt like the crap that I was eating!
So, why have we been told to avoid fat for so long? In the 1950s and 1960s, studies were published linking high fat diets with high cholesterol and heart disease. By the 1980s, a low fat diet was not only recommended for those at risk for heart disease, but the entire nation.
The government, physicians, media, scientists, and the food industry all promoted fat free products as the healthiest products. In turn, this narrative had us replacing fat with sugar and refined carbs. When we remove fat from food, it doesn’t taste good so the sugar content has to go up! This diet leads to an increase in weight gain, obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, amongst other health issues.
The truth is that healthy fats are not only beneficial, but completely necessary for our bodies to function properly. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines removed any limits on total fat, and dietary cholesterol calling it “no longer a nutrient of concern”.
Why healthy fats are so important:
Fats are one of our essential building blocks, and are 100% necessary to reach optimal health. Fat serves as one of the three macronutrients needed to survive and function (along with carbohydrates and protein). It supports immune function, maintains cell structure, insulates our organs, aids in body temperature regulation, supports healthy skin and hair, and is a primary energy source.
The brain is also primarily made of fats and it’s used to protect neurons. Eating enough healthy fats will improve cognitive function and protect against Alzheimers, depression, anxiety, and ADHD.
Eating healthy fats can actually keep you lean. They are satiating, meaning you feel full and curb the cravings. Eating carbs will cause you to store the calories as fat, while eating fat allows you to burn fat.
When we eat carbs, we release insulin, and insulin is our fat storage hormone. Believe it or not, when we eat fat, we don’t release insulin so we don’t go into storage mode and will burn those calories instead.
The bottom line is: fat doesn’t make us fat. Sugar makes us fat.
As you can see just from this short list, fats are responsible for countless processes that support optimal health. Healthy fats should never be excluded from our diet! Now, what is healthy fat vs unhealthy fat?
Healthy Fats vs Unhealthy Fats
Some fats are unhealthy. These include trans fats and vegetable oils which are inflammatory. These fats are found in junk food and fried food that provide no value, promote inflammation, and generally cause harm to the body.
The next time you're in the supermarket, take a close look at the ingredient list. Try to avoid the following:
Canola Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Peanut Oil
Corn Oil
Safflower Oil
Sunflower Oil
Soybean Oil
Instead of consuming these cheap and inflammatory oils and fats, opt for these:
Coconut Oil
Olives and olive oil
Grass fed butter and ghee
Nuts and seeds
Avocado and avocado oil
Free Range Eggs
Grass fed meat
Wild caught, cold water fish
Dairy fat (if you’re not sensitive to dairy products)
High quality dietary fats are absolutely essential for our health. Don't be fooled by the myths and misinformation surrounding fat! Including healthy fats in our diet can promote health and weight loss. And going back to the basics - the natural sources of fats like those listed above, instead of packaged kind - is all we really need to do. Guacamole anyone?