The Skinny on Fats

Dietary fats are important for maintaining good overall health. Fat helps give your body energy, protects your organs, supports cell growth and brain function, and helps your body absorb vital nutrients such as Vitamins A, E, and K. Fat also adds flavor to food and makes us feel full.

There are two basic kinds of fat: saturated and unsaturated. There is also a third kind, trans fats, but they are so harmful to health that they have been all but eliminated from U.S. foods.

Saturated. This is the so-called “bad” fat. It’s mainly found in animal products like beef, pork, and high-fat dairy foods, like butter and cheese. Saturated fats are also found in tropical oils such as coconut or palm. These fats tend to be solid at room temperature, for example butter and lard.

Unsaturated. This is the healthy kind, and there are two types: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated fats are found in avocados and peanut butter; nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, and pecans; and seeds, such as pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds. It is also in plant oils, such as olive, peanut, safflower, sesame, and canola oils.

Polyunsaturated fats include omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fats are found in plant-based oils like soybean, corn, and safflower oils. Omega-3 fats include walnuts, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, and fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, tuna, whitefish and trout.

The main health issue with dietary fats is how they affect cholesterol levels. Consuming high amounts of saturated fat may increase LDL (bad) cholesterol, which can form plaque in the arteries and increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Unsaturated fats may help raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels. HDL picks up excess LDL in the blood and moves it to the liver, where it is broken down and removed.

Research has found that it’s not enough just to eat more healthy fats. You also have to cut out unhealthy saturated fat. A study from Harvard researchers in the March 2018 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that consuming monounsaturated fats, especially from nuts and olive oil, can lower risk of heart disease — especially if the healthy fat replaces saturated fat and refined carbs such as high sugar foods or foods made with white flour. The benefit from consuming monounsaturated fats may be negated if a person continues to consume too much saturated fat.

Another benefit of eating more “good” fat and less “bad” fat is that this can keep the brain healthy. Studies have found a strong association between people who follow the MIND diet and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The MIND diet advocates eating more of 10 certain foods and less of five others. Among the good ones are healthy-fat foods like nuts, fatty fish, and olive oil, while the bad ones — butter, cheese, red meat, pastries, and fried and fast foods — contain high amounts of saturated fat.

The most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans have moved away from suggesting a specific amount of fat per day. However, it is recommended to keep saturated fat intake to less than 10% of daily total calories. For example, if 2,000 calories are eaten in one day, a limit of 200 calories or 22 grams of saturated fat is recommended, which is the equivalent of two tablespoons of butter. A Culver’s single patty butter burger with no cheese and no mayo contains seven grams.

Be careful when choosing manufactured low-fat food items since reducing the amount of fat in something often changes the way it tastes. To offset that, it’s common for food manufacturers to add more sugar and refined carbs into low-fat foods to make them taste better. Also, if the original food was made with a healthy fat, a low-fat version may save on calories but not have any other health benefits.

Include healthy fats throughout the day. For example, use olive oil when cooking, spread peanut butter on toast instead of butter, have nuts for a snack, or perhaps add sliced avocado to a salad and enjoy the benefits.