The Ultimate Beginner's Guide To Healthy Fats
Being “healthy” isn’t just about eating more fruits and veggies. It’s about being completely conscious of what you are putting your body and eating only the right kinds of foods – the foods that your body needs to function properly. One of the things your body needs is good, healthy fats.
Contrary to what most people believe, eating fat does not actually make you fat. It just so happens that many foods with a high fat content are filled with tons of carbs and sugar; those make you fat.
*(Ever since the start of the “low-fat diet” and fat content regulations, obesity rates have actually been rising in the U.S)*
As long as you are eating the right fats, you have nothing to worry about. If you’re wondering what those types of fats are and how they can help you achieve your health goals, keep on reading!
Types of Fats
There are three main types of fats: Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated, and Saturated. The difference between the three has to do with their chemical structure, but it’s not necessary to understand that in order to know what to eat. Here’s what you need to know:
Saturated Fats
This type of fat is found in most meat, animal products, and coconut oil. It has been given a negative reputation in the media through false claims and skewed data. This type of fat is the most stable when consumed or used in cooking. (You want to load up on this stuff) Paleo approved
mono-unsaturated Fats
This type of fat is found in olive oil and is less stable than saturated fats when heated, but it is still regarded as generally healthy by most people. Paleo approved
poly-unsaturated Fats
For the most part, no bueno. There are two types: Omega-6 and Omega-3’s. Although you need both to function properly, the aim is to limit Omega-6 and get more Omega-3’s.
Omega-6 is the type of fat that is found in industrial vegetable oils and processed foods. It is chemically unstable and easily goes rancid. These oils wouldn’t even exist without modern processing techniques; they are essential a completely artificial product. When heated, these oils become oxidized and release free-radicals that cause chronic, long-term inflammation in the body; and we all know that long-term inflammation is a major contributor to modern disease.
Omega-3’s on the other hand, come from sustainable animal sources and are readily available for use by your body. They help to balance out the inflammation caused by a diet with excessive Omega-6 consumption. Recommended Omega-6 to Omega-3 ration between 1:1 and 4:1
Healthy fat (food sources)
In the primal/paleo diet, fat is the major source of calories and energy for the body to use. And consuming good fats will actually help you to get (or stay) thin because they’re a clean-burning fuel source. Rather than getting fuel from carbs, you can efficiently burn your fat cells for energy! Fat from whole foods shouldn’t be avoided: eat the egg yolks, leave the skin on your chicken, and cook with real butter and ghee!
Here are some healthy sources of fat:
| Food | Type of Fat |
| Egg yolks | Saturated and monounsaturated |
| Butter and ghee(clarified butter) | Saturated |
| Coconut oil and other coconut products | Saturated |
| Olive oil | Monounsaturated |
| Avocado | Monounsaturated |
| Red meat | Saturated and Monounsaturated(in roughly equal amounts) |
| Fish and seafood | Omega-3’s |
Fats To avoid
Not all fat is good! Like mentioned previously, you should limit your Omega-6’s and shoot for that 4:1 ratio with Omega-3’s. The following foods are loaded with Omega-6’s and other harmful chemicals, so they should be avoided.
- Industrial Seed Oils: canola, soybean, corn, peanut, and vegetable oils
- Margarine or fake buttery spreads
How much fat should you eat?
Because of devious marketing and advertising strategies, people have been scared away from consuming fats; fat has become demonized. Even for those who understand that eating fat doesn’t make them fat, it’s still scary to think about the idea of loading up on fat.
Related Post: 13 Reasons Why You Aren’t Losing Weight
Don’t worry! It is OK! In fact, it’s better than ok; it’s one of the best things you can do for your body. Not only is fat a super good source of fuel for our cells, but over 60% of our brain is made out of fat (we need to be eating good fat!).
Also, when you start eating a more ancestral diet, you’re cutting out a lot of unhealthy junk, but that junk is where you get most of your calories from… rather than getting those calories from junk you’ve got to get them from fats!
Without getting into calorie counting (which isn’t at all necessary with a healthy lifestyle), here are some guidelines to make sure you’re getting plenty of healthy fats:
- Don’t make any effort to remove fat from whole foods. Leave the skin on your poultry, eat only real full-fat dairy, make your omelets with the whole egg (not just the whites), etc.
- Include a source of good fat with eat meal. Avocado, coconut milk, Bone Broth.
- Cook with coconut oil, ghee, and grass-fed butter
- Make fat bombs and carry them around for snacks
- Find places to add good fat to your meals and snacks. Adding coconut oil to smoothies, having fruit with cashew/almond butter, etc.
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You really can’t get too much fat. And you don’t need to rear consuming excessive amounts of fat from whole food sources because the beauty of fat is that it satiates you quickly. As long as your free yourself from the fear that eating fat makes you fat, your taste buds and hunger will properly guide you and your eating.
Since I’m in college, getting fat from whole food sources is pretty difficult — so I’ve got my dorm room stashed with to-go packets of ghee, extra-virgin olive oil, and coconut oil for whenever I need a boost of fat. I can drizzle it on the food I get from the dining halls, salads, really anything, and I’m at the point where I can just do shots of these olive oil packets plain — because I crave it so much and I love it! That’s kinda weird though, and you definitely don’t need to be doing that! It’s just about finding all the small places where you can add that healthy fat into your diet.
Summing it up
Eating a diet rich in healthy fats from whole foods shouldn’t be feared — it’s how our ancestors ate for thousands of years! But if you’ve been told about the benefits and low-fat nutrition guidelines (like we have been hearing for our whole lives), it can be a little scary to embrace the “demon nutrient”.
Hopefully, this has cleared up some of your questions about which fats are good and bad and why. Once you remove the bad sources of fat and let go of all the ways you’ve been limiting fat in your diet, you’ll probably get enough just from eating like normal. But it never hurts to get a fat bomb in you every once in a while! Remember, our brains are made up of over 60% fat, so if we fill it with man-made, artificial, disease-inducing fats, OR don’t fill it with fat at all, how well do you think our brains are going to work?
Comment what healthy fats you are going to give a try!
If you're interested in going paleo, I wrote a tutorial that will explain everything and help you get started right now. In college? I've got a super detailed guide on how to maintain your diet and find the resources you need to stay healthy ! Have any questions about anything? I'm happy to help!
