Fat Is Not The Enemy!
My recipes, and indeed my regular meals, are full of healthy fats. I am convinced that my body feels so much better from it.
And science backs me up!
It’s hard to shake old ideas about food.
I have touched on this before, with harmful myths that stick around, like the idea that MSG is bad for you and something we only eat when we have a Chinese takeaway. Well, though a lot of us are now a lot more educated on nutrition - and the attitude towards fat is changing, it seems we are almost not entirely believing it, and still being a bit hesitant about consuming food with a high fat percentage in it.
The problem is that decades back, after the second world war, more information started to come out about harmful fats. And there are harmful fats, absolutely! Saturated fats, found in meat and dairy (though both of these hold plenty of nutritional value, so don’t panic!), is the type that can clog your arteries. And that is definitely not good.
However, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are really good for you! Good fat is a wonderful source of energy, and helps your body absorb vitamins and nutrients from your food. Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats have been shown to prevent heart disease and stroke, and may play a part in preventing things like rheumatoid arthritis and even cancer.
Trans fats is terrible for you. They are made when hydrogen is added to healthy unsaturated fats to solidify them - these have been deemed so unhealthy that you should not be finding them in food you buy anymore, but do keep an eye out on the nutrition chart.
What happened when the “war on fat” was raging, was that people started compensating for the lack of fat in their diet with carby food instead, not to mention tons of sugar. You still see it happening today - low fat alternatives exist for so many products (especially dairy products), but if you read the ingredients you will find that what they take away in fat, they have made up for in sugar. Which one do you want to start the day with? I know what my answer is! I never buy low fat anything. It’s less tasty and genuinely less healthy - and I will argue it will not help you lose weight.
Now, I will address this: fat does of course equal calories. Yes, absolutely. So if you are trying to lose weight, that is totally fine. Of course you need to be aware of what you are eating that might add a lot of calories to your daily intake. I am not a weight loss expert and I talk very little about this topic for exactly that reason, but I will point out two things here: Don’t miss out on nutrition for your body just because you are trying to slim down. You still deserve nutrients and to eat good things that can prevent disease. Secondly, eating healthy food with a relatively high fat intake will stop you snacking, because you genuinely feel full. Just make conscious choices, keep portion control in mind, and you will be able to get through the day eating the good things that will make you feel great! And if you are exercising and generally leading a healthy, active life, you are going to need that wonderful energy so that you don’t crash in the afternoon and just want to lie down and snack.
Now I will of course list some of the greatest, healthiest (and incidentally lots of my favourite flavours!) sources of good fats:
Avocados (try my 1-7 Ingredient Guacamole!)
Nuts: walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashew, hazelnut (try my Super Energy Nut Balls!)
Seeds: flaxseed, chia seeds, poppy seeds
Fish: salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, herring
Tofu
Oysters
Brussel sprouts
Dark chocolate
Oil: olive oil, canola oil, coconut oil
Coconuts
Full fat yoghurt
Was any of this new to you? What are your feelings around fatty foods? Do you have any favourite healthy, high fat snacks that help you stay full? Share your thoughts in the comments or on Instagram and tag me @TheFromScratchBody and use the hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!
