The Skinny on Dietary Fats!

The benefits of healthy fats are numerous: Good fats are a wonderful source of long-burning fuel for your body, particularly the heart. When you're asleep, your body will burn its own fat for fuel. Your brain is mostly fat; it keeps your thinking clear. Fats help regulate healthy hormone levels. Fats keep you in a good mood and help stave off depression. Fats keep you feeling full after a meal and absorb nutrients from food. Fat makes your skin glow. Fats help you sleep better. Fats are not the enemy. Fats will not make you fat!  

​Which are the healthy fats to cook with?  

Organic and cold-pressed are best.

The healthy fats, which are the most stable (least prone to oxidation) and can be used in high heat cooking are:

• Coconut Oil (Tropical Traditions is awesome!)
• Butter
• Ghee
• Cocoa butter
• Tallow/suet (beef fat)
• Palm oil 
• Lard/bacon fat (pork fat) 
• Duck fat

For low heat cooking enjoy:

• Avocado oil
• Macadamia nut oil
• Olive oil
• Peanut oil
• Rice Bran Oil

​Avoid these fats/oils completely:

• Safflower oil
• Sesame seed oil
• Canola/Rapeseed oil
• Sunflower oil
• Vegetable shortening
• Corn oil 
• Soybean oil 
• Walnut oil
• Grapeseed oil

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PRINT: The Guide to Choosing Fats & Oils

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​Additional Healthy Sources of Dietary Fat:

• Avocados are my personal favorite.  
• Nuts and seeds are additional great sources of fat.  
• Fatty fish like wild-caught salmon and sardines are wonderful, too. 
• Egg yolks from pasture-raised chickens are a lovely source of healthy fat. 
• Organic, raw, full-fat dairy is awesome, if you tolerate dairy. 
• Fish oil supplements like cod liver oil & krill oil (watch out for added unhealthy oils) 
• There is no need to avoid fats from grass-fed animals, which is rich in heart healthy Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). 

Remember in all things, food especially, quality is key! ​

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​What makes a fat healthy or unhealthy?

According to Chris Kresser, L.Ac., what matters is the balance of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fats. (The fats to avoid above contain mostly Omega 6 fats.) 

Too many Omega 6 fats cause oxidation, which causes inflammation, which causes disease.  (That's why anti-oxidants are good for you.)
(Read my post about Inflammation.)
(Read my post about anti-oxidants.)

The standard American diet (which is loaded with refined foods, inflammatory fats, and fast foods) is extremely high in Omega 6 fats and doesn't contain nearly enough Omega 3 fats; some estimates put the ratio at 30:1 or even 40:1, and that's not good!  Our bodies do need both types, and a ratio of 3:1 (Omega 6 : Omega 3) is ideal.   ​

In addition, the unhealthy oils contain a high proportion of PUFAs (poly unsaturated fatty acids), which are prone to rancidity and oxidation when exposed to heat. The healthy fats, on the other hand are much more stable and less likely to oxidize when heated. 

What should you do?  Read labels!  Omega 6 fats are in many processed foods.  Ask when you go to a restaurant. They usually use canola or soybean oil--YUCK!!!  If you have any unhealthy fats in your pantry, throw them away. Avoid all the pro-inflammatory fats (these are the one's that cause heart disease because they cause oxidization) and enjoy the healthy ones.  

Supplements:

To further improve your ratio of Omega 3:6 fats, supplementing with a high quality fish oil is a good way to get in more anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fats.

• The top of the line is Rosita Extra-Virgin Cod Liver Oil, a rich source of vitamins A, D, and Omega fats. It is Norwegian cod liver oil that is fresh, raw & handcrafted from wild livers using a very rare ancient extraction technique which uses nature to separate the oil from its liver. No chemicals, solvents and mechanical devices are ever used during the extraction process. The oil is completely unrefined and produced under the total absence of heat, a process that protects its nutritional value.

• For a fish oil pill, Radiant Life Pure Krill Oil capsules are the way to go. They are a lovely source of omega-3s in the form of EPA and DHA, as well as vitamins A, D and a host of antioxidants.  Unlike the fatty acids found in other fish oils, the omega-3s in Radiant Life Krill Oil are present in a bioavailable phospholipid form, which allows them to be easily absorbed by the body and highly effective at nourishing the cells. 

Many low-quality fish oils contain other added or adulterated oils, like soybean oil (an Omega 6 oil!)  Throw those out!!!​

​Recipes:

For a great treat using coconut oil, see my Au Natural Nutrition recipe for chocolate Crunch Cups. You'll love 'em!  

Have you seen my recipe for making ghee (clarified butter)?
It's a wonderful high-heat fat.  It's like delicious, rich, concentrated butter with the dairy/milk proteins taken out, for those that are dairy-free, like me.  -Jenny

​Sources:

Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle, By Diane Sanfilippo

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, By Sally Fallon, Mary Enig

Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss
By Mark Hyman

The Definitive Guide to Oils By Mark Sisson
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