It’s pretty common for people to ask, “How do I cut the fat from my diet?” It’s far more unusual to ask, “How do I get more good fat into my diet?” Nonetheless, the latter question is the smarter one to ask

Since being pregnant I’ve been very conscious of the amount of fats I’ve been consuming. With 7 grams of fats passing through my placenta each day, if I’m not receiving at least that from my diet my body is likely to take it from the place its found in abundance – my brain. Pretty scary aye. Think of how many instances of postnatal depression might have been prevented due to inadequate Omega 3 intake.

Unfortunately there are more misconceptions running around about “good” fat and “bad” fat than you can imagine. First eggs were bad, then they were good. First butter was terrible, now margarine is. In short, how much fat we should eat—and which kinds—is the subject of constant debate. But understanding the key role that fats play in our health is an important part of good nutrition.

In our GenHealth Nutrition course, the lesson on fats is one of my favorite topics to deliver to my clients. I’ve put together a few ‘Fat Facts’ along with my top 10 ways to get more fats in your diet.

Fat Facts

Fat comes in three basic categories—saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated. There’s also a fourth kind of fat known as trans-fat, which is rarely found in nature, but abundant in processed foods.

Conventional wisdom tells us to dump all saturated and trans-fats and load up on vegetable oils, omega-3s, and olive oil. However, even though saturated fat has a terrible reputation, it’s not nearly as bad as everyone thinks. It’s actually kind of neutral. A paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently questioned the demonisation of saturated fat, and in 2010 a major meta-analysis published in the same journal showed that saturated fat consumption had exactly zero correlation with either coronary heart disease, stroke, or healthy cell membranes. While no one is saying you should eat lard out of the jar, the most recent evidence does indicate that we’ve probably been a little too hasty to remove every bit of saturated fat from our diets. The real trick is to consume healthy saturated fat from natural, whole-food sources such as eggs and coconut.

On the other hand, the conventional wisdom is right on trans-fats—at least the man-made kind. They should be eliminated from your diet and avoided like the plague. They’re found in virtually all packaged foods, cakes, crackers, and most margarines. If you see the words “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” in the ingredients, you’re looking at a product that contains trans-fats, even if—thanks to a complicated legal loophole—the label says “zero trans-fats.”

The exception to the zero tolerance rule for trans-fats is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is made naturally in the bodies of grass-fed cows, and it actually has anticancer and anti-obesity properties.

Conventional wisdom is also right about monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fats. The best-known source of monounsaturated fat is olive oil, but it’s also found in nuts and avocados. There are three distinct omega-3 fats, two of which (EPA and DHA) are found primarily in cold-water fish such as wild salmon, while the third kind (ALA) is found in plant sources such as flax, hemp, and chia seeds.

Where we’ve gone wrong with fats is in the over use of vegetable oils, and here’s why. Vegetable oils such as corn, safflower, and canola are loaded with omega-6s. These oils are used in virtually every processed and packaged food on the shelves. During the saturated fat purge, restaurants switched from lard and tallow to “healthier” vegetable oils, and they now use these oils almost exclusively for cooking. This really is a problem.

You see, omega-3s are the “parent” molecule for anti-inflammatory hormones in the body called prostaglandin series 1 and series 3. Omega-6s on the other hand, are the parent molecules for inflammatory hormones called prostaglandin series 2. You actually need a balance of both types for optimal health. The best ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 consumption is 1:1 but 3:1 is probably more realistic to achieve. The typical western diet, however, has a ratio of about 16:1. That means we’re “over funding” our body’s inflammation army and “under funding” its anti-inflammatory one.

So while it’s great to get more omega-3s in your diet, to get the full benefit, you’ll also need to cut back on omega-6s. The goal should be to move your diet as close to the ideal ratio of 1:1 as possible.

Remember: It’s not that omega-6s are bad, it’s that we consume too many of them. So watch your intake of the usual suspects such as corn oil, rice bran oil, canola oil, and soybean oil, and follow the 10 recommendations below to get more healthy fats.

1. Sprinkle flax meal on everything. Ground flaxseed is an ideal way to get more omega 3’s. Just sprinkle some on cooked veggies, a tossed salad, add to any smoothie or over your homemade breakfast cereal, mix it in your peanut butter What could be easier? It’s best to buy whole flaxseeds and grind your own in order to preserve the healthy fats. To get the maximum nutrition, it’s important to grind your own whole flax seed. Buying it already ground is fine, but ground flax seed must be kept refrigerated to keep the oils from becoming rancid. It’s cheaper to buy it whole, and easier to ensure freshness over a longer period of time. Using a blender or an old coffee grinder to grind a few servings at a time is easy enough.
2. Use flaxseed oil. Flaxseed oil is an excellent source of omega-3s: Just 1 teaspoon contains about 2.5 grams, equivalent to more than twice the amount most people get through their diets. Just like flaxmeal it is susceptible to going rancid so it must be refrigerated. Include it in your salad dressings along with your extra virgin olive oil, add it to your smoothies or include in homemade pesto. Just go easy on the amount you use as it’s not the most pleasant tasting oil.
3. Eat fish. But beware. When it comes to your health, we recommend wild caught fish, and here’s why: Farm raised fish generally have the same level of omega-3 fatty acids as wild fish, but farm raised fish don’t have lots of room to swim and are prone to disease, they are often given antibiotics as well as commercial dyes to give them a healthy color. Even the feed they are given may have toxins that are passed onto you. So eat only wild caught fish. But what about mercury poisoning? It is a concern, but there are ways to mitigate this risk. Avoid eating swordfish, shark and king mackerel altogether. And limit your intake of white tuna (also known as albacore). Shellfish can also be full of toxins because they are scavengers and feed on industrial deposits, sewage, and the waste of other fish, filtering it through their bodies. Avoid clams, lobsters, oysters, shrimp and scallops if you want to avoid excess toxins from shellfish. If you want a rule to follow consider the wisdom handed down by God to the Hebrew nation. Only eat creatures from the water that have fins and scales.
4. Eat and drink chia seeds. Seriously these little seeds are so amazing. Loaded with Omega 3 and so easy to include in your day. Have them in a smoothie, sprinkle on your cereal, soak them in some water and mix with crushed berries to make your own chia berry jam, mix with any fruit tea and drink em.
5. Take fish oil supplements. With all the choices available, there’s good reason GenHealth only recommends pharmaceutical grade fish oil and strongly recommends not purchasing from a chemist or health shop. There must be a manufacturing guarantee that the Omega oils come in purified capsules and liquids (so there’s no worry of contaminants such as mercury) and offer high absorbability. A good test for contaminants in fish oil capsules is to place a bunch in the freezer as oil does not freeze. Also algae, and flaxseed oil versions are ideal for vegetarians.
6. Have more walnuts. Walnuts have more omega-3 than any other nut. Compared to walnuts no other nut even comes close, with just a trace of the fatty acid. Slight amounts can be found in brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts and peanuts. Walnuts also offer other health protective benefits. In a study published in the August 2009 issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, subjects that added walnuts to their 2000 calorie per day diet experienced weight loss, as well as a drop in blood sugar levels. Along with omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts contain ellagic acid.
7. Use extra virgin olive oil only. There are two great things about olive oil: the monounsaturated fat and the olive phenols. Phenols are delicate plant compounds that have extraordinary health benefits. Unfortunately, these compounds can easily be destroyed during processing. Extra virgin olive oil, however, is pressed without the use of harsh chemicals or high heat, so the phenols are preserved.
8. Use real butter on your veggies. Despite what you may have heard, butter is anything but a “bad” fat. Most of the fat found in butter is actually monounsaturated—also found in olive oil and nuts— and even the part that is saturated is no big deal. In this country we are blessed to have the majority of our dairy cows pasture fed. However factory farms are on the rise. Try to find organic butter so you don’t have to worry about residues from the antibiotics, steroids, and hormones found in factory-farmed cows. My favorite way to use it: Make a huge plate of steamed or stir-fried veggies and flavor them with melted butter and your favorite seasonings.
9. Try coconut oil. This superfood used to be out of favor for its saturated fat content, but now even mainstream experts endorse it. Coconut oil contains fatty acids that are both antiviral and antimicrobial, making it great for the immune system. The fats in coconut oil are known as medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which tend to be burned for energy. Coconut oil is also one of the best oils for high heat cooking such as stir-frying. Try mixing it with butter or olive oil when making your scrambled eggs. You can also add a spoonful to a smoothie—just be aware that it adds an extra 100 calories.
10. What have we missed? Please share with us your top good fat sources and how you use them.

If you need help achieving your own health and nutrition goals take our body type quiz to determine which glandular weakness may be slowing down your results. 

Yours in Health

Tarryn Thompson