Get Me Fat

Ask yourself right now, do you fear fat? If you do, I hope by the end of this article you’ll crave them.

Some of us may be familiar with the “low fat” craze that occurred in the nutrition industry from 1980s into early millennium.

Fun fact, low fat usually means added sugar. Sugar has less calories per gram so it seems to have less calories, but as a result we eat more. So, it’s not necessarily fewer calories.

This  shifted a great deal over the last 10-20 years. A thing called Healthy Fats came around.

What makes a fat healthy? Let’s say something is healthier or less healthy based on the amount it can benefit you.

Let’s start with why we need fats and why they are considered essential. (Essential = we must consume it for regular body maintenance because our body cannot create fats on its own). Interestingly enough our body can make carbohydrates, but we cannot make fats.

Healthy fats should come with essential nutrients for our body. Fats are very important in energy and hormone production, brain cell tissue, and providing fat soluble vitamins. Fat soluble means, it moves better though fat, vs. water soluble move better in water. Thus, if you take a fat soluble vitamin (A, D, E, K) without any source of fat, the odds of absorption drastically lower. 

Take eggs for example. Egg is a very unique and incredible food. Look at these fun facts:

·       The protein has the highest bioavailability (meaning being absorbed into the body),

·       It has the essential amino acids (that build protein in your body)

·       The energy compliments the protein content almost perfectly around 35/65% Protein vs. Energy, (ideal balance)

·       And it comes with a ton of key micro nutrients (Vitamin A, D, E, B6, B12, Choline, Selenium and Riboflavin)

Then there is an extra benefit called satiety. This is meal satisfaction or feeling of fullness. I had a client I was working with who switched from eating 2 eggs on a wrap to eating just 4 whole eggs, and she said “So full, I couldn’t believe it.”

Guess what actually happened to the calories when compared……Reduced. From my estimation she was eating 30-40 less calories but felt drastically more full.

Have you ever tried to eat double your normal egg amount? Try it and watch how your body screams “I’m full!”

When you look at a lot of food guides and recommended allowances around saturated fats, it is encouraged to limit them to less than 10% of your total energy intake. This is where I differ. If you are balancing out your total energy, and having sufficient protein, I believe we can handle these fats just fine.

We have been eating animals for over 10,000 years, and why would we be unable to metabolically handle them if we’ve consumed them that much? The data that RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) looks at is data from years of those who eat Saturated fats, are quite likely over consuming a lot of other processed foods, and thus it correlated to chronic conditions (e.g. heart disease and stroke).

This is an unhealthy user bias that drives a great deal of the recommendations and is a huge problem in what we truly know about food through research.

Outside of the saturated fat debate, and unhealthy user bias, most experts will agree that the more naturally occurring fats coming from fruits give us great energy.

Some excellent sources of these healthy fats are: Avocados, Avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil as these are more naturally occurring in foods and are minimally processed.

Avocado is a great example of a food coming with more benefits as it comes with Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, Potassium, and Fiber.

What is an unhealthy fat? Well, hypothetically processed and manufactured fats could less beneficial.

Note that they are less beneficial. Not poison.

Trans fats are a good example of an unhealthy fat because trans fats are the result of when food is put through a chemical process to make it preserve better for food manufacturing. This is most commonly used in deep fried foods, so we can see low benefit to this type of fat. In general, consider healthy fat is closer to the source and comes with more nutrients.

Industrial seed oils are another debate. Major ones to consider are:

·       Canola Oil

·       Sunflower Seed Oil

·       Grapeseed Oil

·       Soybean Oil

The major debate with these is like trans fats, in that they are used to create ultra-processed foods. When they are added to things are create extremely high palatability, they also corelate with poor health outcomes. If you have a highly palatable food, the satiety cues as I had mentioned from eggs, and naturally occurring fats, have now disappeared.

Some also argue that the way these oils are metabolized could also cause metabolism issues within the body, but these claims are not yet fully supported by research.

Let’s keep it simple here to determine what we can trust. Closer to the source, the better. More nutrients it comes with, the better. And the more satisfied I feel with minimize risk of over consuming it, the better.

I will say that when I increased my saturated fat intake through animal based sources, I have never felt more satisfied by food while being able to control my appetite better.

I am not a full keto advocate, but I fully respect the keto lifestyle because it is legitimately the most satisfying diet. You will not crave any food. Ask someone that’s more than 3-4 weeks into a keto diet, and ask them how their energy levels are, and how much they crave food.

My guess is they will say “Great.” And “Never.” Because fat is so effective at nourishing and controlling appetite. 

Ironically, when I introduce the most fat into my diet is when I developed one of the best physiques I’ve ever had (that didn’t have a lot of fat).

Do you still fear fats?