The Importance of Dietary Fats
Dietary fats are an essential part of our diet. While diet culture creates the idea that people should avoid eating fat at all costs, claiming that eating a low-fat diet will make you “healthier” is not necessarily true.
Making healthy choices does not mean cutting out all fat, but choosing a variety of healthy fats. It is recommended that 20-35% of your total intake come from healthy fats. A great way to make sure you are eating enough of the healthy fats is to start incorporating them into every meal.
Let’s dive into how dietary fats serve a purpose in body.
Provide lasting energy and satiety
Dietary fats take longer to digest than carbohydrates. This delayed absorption creates a feeling of fullness and satiety after eating a meal. Eating fats at a meal will help stabilize blood sugar levels for longer lasting energy.
Aids in absorption of vitamins
Fat also helps you absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. It is especially important to eat enough fats while eating foods with those vitamins (such as a big salad) to ensure that you are getting the most out of the foods you are eating. People who go on extremely low-fat diets are more likely to be deficient in certain nutrients than those who do not go on low-fat diets.
Lowers LDL cholesterol levels, while increasing HDL cholesterol
Monounsaturated (MUFA) and Polyunsaturated (PUFA) fats are two of the healthiest types of fats to choose from. Monounsaturated fats help to increase the “good” cholesterol (HDL) and decrease the “bad” cholesterol (LDL) in the body. Monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil, avocado oil, avocados, nuts, and peanut butter. Polyunsaturated fats are found in plant and animal foods, such as salmon, vegetable oils, and some nuts and seeds.
Lowers the risk of heart disease
Studies indicate that a MUFA-rich eating pattern benefits glycemic control and CVD risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes. A study found that a diet high in MUFAs had beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors, blood glucose, body weight, and body composition similar to a conventional lower-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.
Brain and nervous system support
Omega-3 fatty acids are particularly beneficial for the brain and nervous system. Studies have found that a deficiency of omega-3’s in the diet may be linked to early memory loss and the development of Alzheimer’s later in life. Eating enough fats, especially children, fats play a crucial role in growth and development of the brain and nervous system.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fats are essential nutrients that we need to get from our diet. Omega 3’s found in fish, walnuts and flaxseed are the best for supporting cognitive function and the nervous system. While most people get enough omega-6 fats, many people do not get enough omega-3 fats.
Omega 3’s are particularly important because they assist in making hormones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation. They also bind to receptors in cells that regulate genetic function. Likely due to these effects, omega-3 fats have been shown to help prevent heart disease and stroke, may help control lupus, eczema, and rheumatoid arthritis. The three categories are:
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) - found in fish
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) - found in vegetable oils, walnuts, flaxseeds, and some animal fats from grass-fed animals. The human body generally uses ALA for energy, and conversion into EPA and DHA is very limited.
Supports healthy hormones
If you have fallen victim to a low fat diet but have lost your period or have very irregular cycles, it’s more than likely your diet! Women especially need adequate fats in their diet to support healthy hormones. First, it’s important to know that hormones are formed from fat and cholesterol. Cholesterole plays an important role when it comes to sex hormone production. The body is not able to produce certain sex hormones like progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone without cholesterol. One of the ways the body makes cholesterol is by consuming enough fat. While many people are afraid of high cholesterol, low cholesterol can also cause a hormone imbalance.
What about Saturated Fat and Trans Fat?
The biggest nutrition debate is whether or not saturated fat is good or bad for overall health. The flaw in past nutrition research on saturated fats and human health is largely due to the error between saturated fats and trans fats. This dilemma started back in the 1960’s when a physiologist, Ancel Keys declared that saturated fats were the leading cause of health problems across the country. This was around the same time that vegetable oils were being distributed across the country and labeled as a “healthier option” to butter or lard. Many of those original studied were done with subjects who consumed a lot of hidden trans fats in foods that replaced many of the fats their ancestors used. Two large reviews and meta-analyses (this and this) involving more than 600,000 participants have also failed to show any reduction in cardiovascular events, or death, by replacing saturated fats with vegetable oils. There was an increase in cardiovascular events due to trans-fats not saturated fats.
Saturated fats, in moderate amounts, does not seem to pose a large threat in human health as was once believed. It is now well established that higher intake of trans fats from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils is associated with increased risk of CVD and should be minimized as much as possible.
Ways To Include More Fats In Your Diet
Make avocado toast
Eat fish 1-3x per week
Add 2 tbsp ground flaxseed to a smoothie or oatmeal
Make chia pudding for a breakfast or snack
Add nut butter to oatmeal or as a yogurt topping
Make a healthy trail mix (nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips)
Add Primal Kitchen Foods or Chosen Foods avocado oil based dressings to your salads
Sauté or bake veggies with olive oil or avocado oil
Make homemade guacamole for taco night!
Make almond butter/ peanut butter banana tortilla roll-ups
Drizzle olive oil on any meal!
Don’t ditch the egg yolks! (full of B vitamins, choline, cholesterol, vitamin K2)
Snack on protein bars with naturally occurring fats (G2G Bars, Perfect Bars, RX bars, etc.)
The Takeaway
While dietary fats contain more kcal per gram, they should not be feared. Fats also do not make you gain weight (a caloric surplus of any macronutrient can cause weight gain). Instead of filling up or avoiding these healthful fats with diet products that probably contain more artificial ingredients, add more fats in your diet and you will start to notice a difference in how you feel! Eating a variety of different types of fats is better than avoiding fats completely.
Besides, it makes food taste great! Could you imagine a PB & J without the peanut butter? Your bagel without cream cheese? Or no avocados to make guacamole? A tragedy for sure…
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5001225/#B11
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124105270000144
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3773051/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16713753/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25387216/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2921725/
