24/07/2024
Fats have been villianized by diet culture (think low fat/no fat lifestyle of the 70's and 80's).
But fats are essential to our health. We need fats for brain health, hormone production, to absorb vitamins, protect our internal organs, and much more.
Fats have higher calories per gram that protein and carbs, which should be taken into account when planning your meal. Meaning you need less fats for the same amount of energy.
Fats provide flavour to food, if you remove the natural fats, something else will be needed to provide the flavour eg. Sugar and artificial flavours.
Not all fats are created equal, more research is showing that animal fats are not the culprit as we were previously led to believe.
I prefer to consume naturally occurring fats and that are minimally processed:
- Animal fats
- Butter and ghee
- Avos and nuts
- Extra virgin olive oil
Fats to avoid would be ultra processed fats:
- seeds oils
- trans fats