Diet Hack: Using Healthy Fats to Lose Weight

For decades now, Americans have been freaking out over fat in their food.

Remember the “Low-Fat” and “Fat-Free” Food Craze in the 90’s?  How about the food pyramid we were all taught in school (that we’d never dream of following now) as part of a healthy lifestyle?  (ok, I’ll admit – I still kind of wish we could have 5-11 servings of bread and pasta a day and have it be considered “healthy.”)  That same pyramid lumped fats and oils into one category and cautioned Americans to consume them sparingly.

The problem is, not all fats are created equal. 

Some fats – like trans fats and hydrogenated oils – are absolute garbage and should be avoided at all costs.  Other fats – like essential fatty acid omega-3 – are required in order to survive.  Yes, darling: we need fat to live.  I know that must be shocking because for decades now, we’ve been told to avoid it if we don’t want to have a heart attack or stroke.

The truth is, healthy fats are required by every cell in your body in order to function properly.

These fats are especially important for your brain, which is made up of 60% fat!  Healthy fats are also vital to a healthy body and losing weight.  Healthy fats increase satiety, meaning that they keep you fuller, longer, maximize metabolism, protect against heart disease, speed nutrients through your body (think of your body like a race track and healthy fats like an oil slick, helping your nutrients get to where they’re going faster!), improve fat-soluble vitamin absorption, keep our skin soft, and give us energy.  In other words, it helps your body do all the things it needs to do in order to stay healthy, including aiding in weight loss.

Still think you should be avoiding fat altogether?  I didn’t think so.

Rather than avoiding fats, which is seriously one of the worst things you can do for your health, you need to be able to distinguish between the different types of fats.  This can get a little confusing since nutrition labels are often a little misleading and tend to overgeneralize fats, lumping them into one category.  Without getting too technical and throwing too much fat food science talk at you, poly- and monounsaturated fat and omega-3 are generally considered types of fats to include in your diet, and can be found typically in fatty fish like salmon, nuts, seeds, certain oils like olive or fish, and avocados.  Saturated fats and lauric acid should be approached with more caution, because they can be either good or bad depending on the source.  Healthy forms of saturated fat can be found in healthy foods like coconut.  And trans fats should be straight up avoided at all costs.  Too much bad fat can result in poor circulation, high blood pressure, heart disease or stroke, poor digestion, excess inflammation and toxicity, and can inhibit the body from performing the functions that good fats would provide.

When it comes to eating healthy fats, it’s also generally better to select unprocessed fats in their natural state, like nuts, seeds, fish, and avocados.  Processed fats, like the ones you find in chips, fried foods, and some sweets should generally be avoided.  When people talk about fat making you fat, it’s usually because those people are consuming way too much of these processed trans fats.

Still confused about where to start?  Here’s a list of foods containing healthy fats to get you started:

• Avocados

• Coconut and Coconut Oil

• Dark Chocolate

• Whole Eggs (That’s right.  Say goodbye to those egg-white-only omelets!)

• Fatty Fish (Wild Salmon or Tuna)

• Nuts and Nut Butters

• Chia and Flax Seeds

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Grass-Fed Beef

• Duck

• Spirulina

• Bacon (Yes, bacon.  Not turkey, but PORK.  Just make sure not to go overboard.)

Can fat make you fat?  Well, yes.  If you eat way too much or your fat is coming from bad fat sources, which is typically why people struggle with weight in their higher fat diets.  Knowing the difference between good and bad fats and getting the proper amount of healthy fats will improve your nutrition and overall health, but just like with anything else, healthy fats should be consumed in moderation.  No more than 25% of your daily calories should come from healthy fats.  When eaten in the right amounts, you’ll be shocked at just how much fat doesn’t make you fat at all!