For as long as people have been trying to lose weight and eat healthy, fats have been demonized in the standard American diet. We are told to eat less fat, cut fat out, or to go on one of those “low-fat’ diets. The media makes it seem like to be healthy you need to avoid fat at all costs and that fat leads to nothing but weight gain, clogged arteries, and heart failure.
Very rare do you hear someone say, “Did I consume enough fat today?”
With all the stereotypes that surround fat, you would be crazy to actually want to go out of your way to eat it, right?
But when we cut out all the fats from our diet, it does not make us healthier. In fact, it does quite the opposite. When we cut out fats we miss out on a whole host of nutrients and benefits.
The key to consuming fat without damaging your health is to make sure you are eating the right fats and eating them in the right balance with other foods.
Can Fat Be Good For You?
There are many different kinds of fats. Some fats you do want to avoid, as they can be detrimental to your health. However, there are many fats that are good for you and are important to include in your daily diet.
Healthy fats are just as essential to your nutrition as any other macronutrient; this includes carbohydrates and protein. Fats work to fuel your body with energy and provide it with vital nutrients. Healthy fats including monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and some saturated fats should be included in your diet every day to receive the following benefits:
Boost Your Metabolism– Metabolic health is key for your energy level, weight management, and overall function to keep your body moving and thriving. Eating healthy fats helps boost your metabolism and burn fat, while not getting enough fats has the exact opposite effect – it slows down your metabolism and encourages your body to hold on to excess fat. This is why the old myth that “fats makes you fat” is not true!
Control Hunger – Consuming healthy fats, such as those found in fish, nuts, seeds, and coconut oil can help you feel fuller longer and stabilize your blood sugar to help control cravings. In contrast, unhealthy trans fats may make you feel satisfied immediately after eating, but they do not control your hunger long term and lead to more cravings.
Glowing Skin –We need good fats to keep our skin plump, hydrated, and youthful! While external skincare is definitely important, our skin can never look its best without proper nutrition to keep our skin cells healthy.
Vitamin Absorption – Healthy fats help to transport vitamins A, D, E, and K throughout your body. These are known as fat-soluble vitamins, which means that you cannot absorb them without fat. When you consume these vitamins with fat it allows your body to dissolve them so they can enter into your bloodstream and fulfill their essential functions to keep you healthy.
Heart Health – Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats help protect your heart by lowering your cholesterol, improving your blood pressure, and stabilizing heart rhythms so you can keep your heart going strong! Saturated fats are a key energy source for our heart muscle.
Cellular & Organ Health – Fats make up our cell membranes, cushion our organs, and support other key structures within our body. Without them our organs and the individual cells that make them up cannot function.
What Are The Healthy Fats?
Healthy fats are not too hard to find and are easily incorporated into any diet. These beneficial fats are found naturally in whole foods from both animal and plant sources. Consuming these right kinds of fat helps keep your body running at its best so you can live a long and healthy life.
So, what are some healthy fats that you should include in your diet? They include monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and yes - even saturated fats! Consuming these different types of fats is essential for our health and wellness.
Monounsaturated Fat: Monounsaturated fat is found in a variety of oils, nuts, and other whole foods. It is considered a gold standard among healthy fats. When it is consumed in appropriate portions it can help lower your cholesterol and decrease your risk of heart disease. It has also been shown to lower your risk of breast cancer, help with weight loss, balance blood sugar, and to have anti-inflammatory properties. Monounsaturated fats are moderately heat stable, so you can cook with them at low to moderate heat or consume them cold. Cooking them at too high temperatures can change their structure and void their health benefits. This is the main issue I have with roasting almonds for almond butter!
Foods that contain monounsaturated fat are…
- Nuts (Almonds, Cashews, Pecans, Macadamia Nuts, Peanuts etc.)
- Olive Oil
- Avocado/Avocado Oil
Polyunsaturated Fat: This fat mostly comes from plants and plant based oils. Polyunsaturated fats mainly fall into two different categories: Omega-3 fatty acids and Omega-6 fatty acids. Both Omega-3s and Omega-6s are considered essential fats, meaning that we need to consume them in our diet. These fats are very delicate compared to monounsaturated and saturated fats, so it is not recommended to heat them.
Consuming Omega-3s can help lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and decrease your risk of heart disease and stroke. They are essential for brain health and can even help slow down the decline of the brain associated with aging, aiding memory and the ability to process information, and they can help prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Having the right balance of Omega-3s can help balance our mental health and prevent issues such as depression. They are also involved in the health of our nerves, skin, eyes, and other tissues.
Deficiency of Omega-3s is very common because they are not present in high amounts or in a large variety of foods. Foods that contain Omega-3s include:
- Wild Fish (Salmon, Mackerel, Tuna, White Fish, Sardines, Anchovies)
- Fish Oil/Krill Oil
- Flaxseed/Flaxseed Oil, Chia Seeds, Hemp Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds
- Walnuts
- Small Amounts in Egg Yolks, Grass Fed Dairy/Beef
The other type of polyunsaturated fat is Omega-6, which can be beneficial to your health in many of the same ways that monounsaturated fat can be. It lowers cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, and reduces triglycerides. However, it is important to note that excess Omega-6s or too high a ratio of Omega-6s to Omega-3s in the diet can be inflammatory to our body and negate the positive effects that they have in small amounts. It is estimated that the average American consumes 10-20x more Omega-6s than Omega-3s, while it is thought that the ideal ratio is somewhere from 2-4x Omega-6s to Omega-3s at the very most.
What does this mean? It means that while Omega-6s are healthy fats in small amounts we shouldn't necessarily go out of our way to consume more of them. I wouldn’t recommend using oils that are concentrated in Omega-6s like canola, soy, corn, vegetable, safflower, or sunflower oils. Omega-6s are very abundant in plant-based foods as well as some animal foods, so most of us get plenty when eating a whole food diet.
Foods that contain Omega-6 include…
- Vegetable Oils (Safflower Oil, Sesame Oil, Sunflower Oil, Corn Oil, etc)
- Canola Oil
- Soy
- Seeds (Sunflower Seeds, Sesame Seeds, etc.)
- Farmed Fish Like Tilapia
- Walnuts
Saturated Fat: There is a lot of debate over whether saturated fat should be labeled as a healthy fat or unhealthy fat. This type of fat can be found in animal based foods as well as some plant foods and is associated with raising your bad cholesterol (LDL), which has gotten it a bad wrap over the years. However, it also raises your good cholesterol (HDL). It was once thought that higher LDL automatically meant a greater risk of heart disease, but this did not take into account the rise in HDL, which reduces your risk of heart disease. Currently, there is no direct evidence that saturated fat is to blame for heart disease and there is mounting evidence that the real culprits are trans fats, sugars and other highly processed foods.
Saturated fats are an essential nutrient and have many health benefits including boosting your immune system, supporting hormone production, providing energy to your brain and heart, and helping you lose weight. They are also rich in vitamins A, E, and K2. There are 3 different types of saturated fats: short chain fatty acids, medium chain fatty acids, and long chain fatty acids. Short chain fatty acids (butter or ghee) and medium chain fatty acids (coconut) are considered the healthiest while long chain fatty acids (meat, palm oil) are considered less healthy. Saturated fats are the best to cook with because they are much more heat stable than unsaturated fats, making them suitable for high heat cooking.
When consuming saturated fats from meat, try balancing your intake and sourcing your foods wisely. For example, beef contains saturated fat but the fats found in cows that are fed grass are very different from the fats found in cows that are fed grains, soy, and corn. Grass-fed beef is lower in total fat, and contains higher amounts of healthy Omega-3s and of CLA, a beneficial form of Omega-6, along with the saturated fats. This makes it much more heart healthy in comparison to factory farmed beef and overall the healthier choice.
Foods that contain saturated fat include:
- Beef
- Dark Chicken Meat and Chicken Skin
- Dairy (Butter, Cheese, Sour Cream, etc.)
- Coconut, Coconut Oil/Milk
- Palm Oil
-
Lard
What Are Bad Fats?
Knowing what fats to stay away from is just as important as knowing the ones you should be consuming. It is recommended that you cut out or significantly limit your consumption of unhealthy fats. Regular consumption of bad fats, especially in abundance, can have adverse health effects.
What are the bad fats that you should be aware of?
Trans Fats: These are the fats found in foods you probably already recognize as being unhealthy. They are the worst kind of fat out there. Trans fats raise your bad cholesterol (LDL), lower your good cholesterol (HDL), and increase your risk of heart disease. These fats are also associated with a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes. Trans fats block essential nutrients from being able to enter your cells. This simultaneously creates an imbalance of blood sugar and nutrient levels, and keeps your cells from functioning properly.
Trans fats are commonly used in food to enhance the texture and taste, as well as to save money since they are very inexpensive and have a long shelf life (due to all the processing they have been through). Trans fats do not exist in natural, whole foods. They are man-made; engineered in a lab to cut costs and make you crave more of them. Fast food chains have a reputation of using them, but a lot of other restaurants use them as well. It’s always a good idea to ask questions and educate yourself on ingredients when you eat out!
Trans fat are also still found in a lot of packaged foods. Even foods that state they contain 0g trans fats on their nutrition facts may still contain them in small amounts. And unfortunately even these trace amounts can be harmful to your health. This is why it’s always important to read the ingredients list, not just the nutrition facts, and keep your eye out for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Foods that you will find using trans fats are…
- Fried Food
- Frozen Foods
- Baked Goods (Cookies, Cakes, Donuts, etc.)
- Granola Bars and other Snack Bars
- Margarine
- Vegetable Oil
- Processed Foods
- Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated Oils
Highly Processed Polyunsaturated Oils Another type of bad fat worth mentioning actually falls into one of the healthy fat categories we discussed earlier (polyunsaturated). You may recall me mentioning that polyunsaturated fats are very delicate and unstable under heat. Yet the food industry loves to subject these oils to high heat, chemicals, and other damaging processing to turn them into cheap, shelf stable cooking oils. The most common ones are canola oil, soy oil, corn oil, safflower oil, and “vegetable” oil.
The problem with processing these unstable oils is that it actually alters the structure of the fats, making them behave similarly to trans fats and have equally damaging effects on your body. Canola oil was long touted as a heart healthy oil, and unfortunately still is by some people. But in truth these types of oils are highly inflammatory oils that don’t contain healthy fats, as they have been destroyed in the heating process and changed into something that is no longer beneficial.
How To Integrate Healthy Fats Into Your Lifestyle
Getting healthy fats into your diet shouldn’t be difficult if you are eating whole foods. The best sources are simple foods like avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, and fish, plus their cold pressed oils.
The trouble occurs when you consume a lot of processed, packaged, or fried foods which contain less high quality, beneficial fats and more unhealthy fats. These foods may taste good, but they can be damaging to your health if you eat them all the time.
Does this mean you can never eat out or have another doughnut again?
Of course not! It’s mentally healthy to let yourself indulge every once and awhile. but be aware of what you are eating and how much, and balance your nutrition with real, whole foods. Read ingredient labels whenever you buy a packaged product. Try to make your own foods as much as you can, so you know exactly what you are putting into your body. Making your own meals and desserts allows you to use healthier, better quality ingredients to create healthier alternatives to your favorite dishes.
This is what inspired me to create Greater Goodness, looking to make better alternatives for myself than what was widely available on the market. Healthy fats are an important component in my almond butter, bars, and any recipe I create.
Unlike many popular peanut butter and almond butter brands, Greater Goodness does not use hydrogenated vegetable oil, a trans fat which can have damaging effects on your health, or palm oil, a less healthy long chain saturated fatty acid. My almond butter has no added oils whatsoever because it is naturally full of healthy monounsaturated fats from organic almonds. Plus, these healthy fats are more readily absorbed by your body due to the sprouting process.
References:
Aller, R., et al. "Effect of a high monounsaturated vs high polyunsaturated fat hypocaloric diets in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease." European review for medical and pharmacological sciences18.7 (2014): 1041-1047.
Gillingham, Leah G., Sydney Harris-Janz, and Peter JH Jones. "Dietary monounsaturated fatty acids are protective against metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease risk factors." Lipids46.3 (2011): 209-228.
Eslick, Guy D., et al. "Benefits of fish oil supplementation in hyperlipidemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis." International journal of cardiology136.1 (2009): 4-16.
Hayek, Tony, et al. "Dietary fat increases high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels both by increasing the transport rates and decreasing the fractional catabolic rates of HDL cholesterol ester and apolipoprotein (Apo) AI. Presentation of a new animal model and mechanistic studies in human Apo AI transgenic and control mice." Journal of Clinical Investigation91.4 (1993): 1665.
Katan, Martijn B. "Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and coronary heart disease." The American journal of clinical nutrition89.5 (2009): 1283-1284.
Knopp, Robert H., and Barbara M. Retzlaff. "Saturated fat prevents coronary artery disease? An American paradox." The American journal of clinical nutrition80.5 (2004): 1102-1103.
Mohajeri, M. Hasan, Barbara Troesch, and Peter Weber. "Inadequate supply of vitamins and DHA in the elderly: Implications for brain aging and Alzheimer-type dementia." Nutrition31.2 (2015): 261-275.
Peter, Soumia, Sandeep Chopra, and Jubbin J. Jacob. "A fish a day, keeps the cardiologist away!–A review of the effect of omega-3 fatty acids in the cardiovascular system." Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism17.3 (2013): 422.
"Trans Fat." American Heart Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2017.
van Dijk, Susan J., et al. "Consumption of a high monounsaturated fat diet reduces oxidative phosphorylation gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of abdominally overweight men and women." The Journal of Nutrition142.7 (2012): 1219-1225.
Wolk, Alicja, et al. "A prospective study of association of monounsaturated fat and other types of fat with risk of breast cancer." Archives of Internal Medicine158.1 (1998): 41-45.
