Everybody loves some fat! They make up some of the most delicious foods we eat such as bacon, avocados, salmon, olives, meat, macadamia nuts, eggs, cheese, almonds and of course chocolate. Then there are the fats that make already tasty foods a little more flavourful like butter, cream, olive oil, coconut oil & macadamia oil.
There are 2 different kinds of fats, they are as follows:
1) “Good” fats include unrefined animal fats, omega 3 fats from fish, a variety of different fats from plants such as avocado, olives, nuts, and tropical oils. They generally to include a higher quantity of saturated or monounsaturated fats, or have a higher omega 3 content.
2) “Bad” fats are vegetable fats such as soy, peanuts, corn, safflower, sunflower, and canola oil which have been refined. They tend to be high in omega-6 fats and are highly vulnerable to oxidation during processing, this makes them reactive and damaging to the body. These fats are known as Polyunsaturated fats.
Generally speaking you are going to get greater benefits from eating good fats when using a high protein limited carbohydrate diet. A rough example of a low carb diet is one that supplies less than 200 grams of carbs per day from whole food plant sources.
For the best fat loss a low-carb diet, means that 50 to 150g a day of carbs is too high, less than 50 grams of carbs a day is ideal for fat loss.
Here are a few reasons why you should be eating fat!
1. Better Body Composition
Eating fat replaces calories which you have previously gotten from carbohydrates which will help you to achieve ideal body composition. Your body requires a decent amount of fat to stay lean for the following reasons:
- Fat makes up the outside layer of all cells in the body. Ideally, this lipid layer will consist of omega-3 fats as this makes the cells more sensitive to insulin. Therefore allowing for a more fiery metabolism and less inflammation. This means that decreasing your carb intake and replacing it with fat, you can improve your insulin sensitivity, reduce inflammation and speed up your metabolism.
- Omega-3 fats help turn on genes that are required to burn fat, whilst also turning off the genes that store fat.
- Omega-3 fats also support thyroid function, which is a hormone closely involved in the regulation of body fat. Low thyroid function is a common reason why people struggle to loose fat.
- Cholesterol (which comes with fat) is used to produce hormones. Eating a greater quantity of fat creates hormonal balance between androgens such as testosterone and estrogen. loosing fat and maintaining a lean physique is way easier when your hormones are balanced.
- Fat fills you up. When paired with a good amount of protein, fat can lead to increased satisfaction from eating, which reduces hunger and cravings.
Bottom Line eating Healthy fats will help you lose fat by speeding up your metabolism, balancing hormones, and eliminating constant cravings.
2. Increased Muscle Mass
Having more good fat in your diet creates muscle gains with training because it supports hormonal balance and speeds up recovery from intense training. A diet higher in Healthy fat coupled with a low-carb diet can stimulate the release of growth hormone, which stops muscle breakdown.
Basically a healthy fat intake leads to greater gains from weight training. This means that you’ll get greater mass gains from training.
3. Easier Fat Loss
It’s well known that eating some fat is necessary if you want to lose fat. It’s a big mistake people make is to go low-fat when fat loss is the goal because people tend to replace natural fats with carbs, and food manufacturers replace fat with sugar which leads to a huge increase in poor nutritional calories which the body struggles to metabolise & stores as fat.
4. Better Reproductive Health
Fat is critical for reproductive health in both men and women because it produces hormones and improves gene signalling which regulates hormonal balance.
Bottom Line a “Good” fat intake allows for higher androgens, better reproductive health, stronger sex drive, better athletic performance, and lower body fat.
5. Increased Brain Function & Mood with Less chance of getting Depression
Your brain is mainly made up of cholesterol and fat, which should mostly consist of essential fatty acids. The exact characteristics of the lipid layer the brain neurons influences electrical properties, which dictate everything from mood to neuromuscular function & cognition.
6. Reduced Risk of Cancer
Eating “Good” fats as part of your diet which optimises macronutrient intake manages glucose and decreases inflammation will reduce the risk of cancer. Studies have shown that, low-fat diets aimed at reducing cancer risk have not been found to have any effect on cancer rates as oppose to normal “Western” diets which are higher in fat.
Bottom Line: Cancer risk is influenced by number of lifestyle factors, however limiting omega-6 oil intake in favour of whole food fats such as olives, avocados, and unprocessed animal fats seems to reduce cancer risk.
7. Better Cholesterol and Reduced Heart Disease Risk
Health authorities have been telling us forever that we need to be “avoiding saturated fat to reduce heart disease risk.”
Bottom Line: Bacon, cheese, meat, eggs, butter, and coconut – saturated fat is delicious and doesn’t cause heart disease. Reduce the risk heart disease and lower your triglycerides through restricting sugar and limiting your carb intake.
So if that hasn’t convinced you to go and eat fat then I don’t know what will!
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