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Home » 7 Reasons Why You Should Eat More Fat

7 Reasons Why You Should Eat More Fat

by Adrienne 12 Comments Published July 25, 2014 Updated: Sep 04, 2020

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What are healthy fats? Think a Low Fat Diet is Healthy? Think Again! Here are 7 Reasons Why You Should add More Healthy Fats in your diet. LCHF

Think lard is "Ick" and a high fat diet is unhealthy?

Have you seen the Time magazine cover that was recently circulating on the web? You know, the one that says "Eat Butter." Some people's minds were TOTALLY blown by that concept.

Some were thinking, "What in the world is going on? I thought fat was bad?!?!"

Or they were thinking, "I thought if you were eating fat you should eat something like margarine because butter is made from... animal fat and is full of... cholesterol and... saturated fat....and EVERYONE knows that those are bad for you, right?!?!

But Time is now telling me otherwise!?!?

Eek! What's going on? Has the world turned upside down?"

Obviously, I wasn't surprised by the message that fat really is good that we saw on the cover of Time.

No, I discovered that several years ago. But I was surprised somewhat that mainstream media had finally picked up on the message. For years mainstream media has used the Framingham study to scare us into being fearful of fat and cholesterol.

But now, things appear to be changing.

Or at least TIME has picked up on and is sharing the truth.

The Myth: Low-Fat = Healthy

Once upon a time, I totally bought into the low fat myth. I actually lived on low-fat, low-calorie, high-sugar, nutrient-deficient food in college and LOST weight. Yes, most people gain the freshmen 15, but I lost weight. But I wasn't healthy.

I lived on pasta with a sprinkling of parmesan, iceberg lettuce with fat-free italian dressing (yuck! what was I thinking?!), Fruit Loops (yes, the kid cereal), Sprite, and fat free microwave popcorn (ewww...). My years in college were fraught with colds, flus, sinus infections, pneumonia, mono, fatigue, and on and on.

Maybe I didn't gain weight, but I was on the road to disaster.

My diet set me up for a multitude of problems that I'm still dealing with today - fatigue, weight gain, and hypothyroidism.

Not only was I eating a nutrient poor diet, but my diet lacked essential fatty acids and I ate WAY too much sugar. That sugar caused serious inflammation and set me up for serious health issues.

What we need to realize is that most of the time, low-fat doesn't equal healthy. Most low-fat foods (unless they're things like fruits and vegetables) are filled with chemicals and sugar - inflammatory inducing components that set your body up for disease.

Healthy Fats = Health!

Not only is most low-fat filled with nasties, but fat is actually GOOD for you. For quite some time, I've been a big proponent of REAL fats (you can see my list of good fats / bad fats). You know, fats that are found in nature and not manufactured in a laboratory.

We need to focus on real fats. Fats like butter that are still pretty much made the way they were thousands of years ago. Agitate cream until it turns to butter. Easy peasy. The same is true for other power-house fats like coconut oil and lard - they haven't changed.

Lard, yup, lard. You can read more about why lard is a super-food here.

Did you know that not only is butter better for you than margarine, but real fats like butter are vitally important to your health. Back in my low-fat days, I was terrified of fat and did whatever I could to cut the fat, but my health paid the price for that.

7 Reasons Why You Should Eat Fat

1. Brain Health

Fat is vital for brain function.The raw material your brain needs to function is fat. That's because fat is what your brain is primarily made up of!

In fact, as afraid as we are of cholesterol, it functions as a brain antioxidant!!!  Our bodies make vitamin D from cholesterol and vitamin D is a crucial player in preserving brain function.

2. Vitamin Absorption

Fat is necessary for proper absorption of some vitamins, like A, D, E and K. Yes, there really IS a reason to drizzle butter over your veggies and put full-fat salad dressings on your salads besides just the taste! (Source)

3. Lung Health

Your lungs require saturated fat for proper function.  Our lungs are coated with surfactant, which is necessary for lung function, and it is made up of saturated fat.

As we have eaten fewer saturated fats, there has been an increase in allergic diseases like eczema, asthma and allergic rhinitis. (Source)

4. Liver Health

Saturated fat is necessary for proper liver function and helps to protect your liver from toxins and alcohol.

Saturated fat actually encourages the liver cells to dump their fat cells, which helps the liver to function more effectively.  And since the liver is CRUCIAL to your overall health, it's important to keep it working optimally.

(Source)

5. Weight control

Fat can help you shed excess body fat. 

Dietary fats are one of the most stable forms of energy. They'll satiate you and stabilize your blood sugar levels, leading to your most likely being able to shed those extra pounds. There are more reasons why eating low fat doesn't work, and you can read about them here.

6. Taste (not really a health issue, but it's important!)

Fat makes your food taste good.  Have you noticed that low fat foods typically have a TON of sugar and artificial ingredients added to them?  That's because fat adds flavor to your food.

Remove the fat and you need to add "stuff" to make it taste good.

And typically that "stuff" isn't good for you.

7.  Balanced Hormones

Your whole hormonal system depends on fat for good functioning.  Eat low fat and you put yourself at risk for hormonal imbalance.

Fats are the building blocks of many critical substances in the body, including prostaglandins, which are hormone-like substances that regulate many of the body’s functions. Fats regulate the production of sex hormones, which would help to explain why some teenage girls who are too lean experience delayed puberty or loss of their menstrual cycle (amenorrhea).(Source)

Fascinating, eh?

Want to know more? Read more here to learn how fat benefits your body.

What do you think about these reasons to eat more fat? Does this change your thinking on fat consumption?

Luke-Trisha-150x150Trisha Gilkerson is a homeschooling mom to four crazy boys. She blogs with her awesome hubby Luke at Intoxicated on Life where they talk about faith, homeschooling, and health. They’ve authored the Write Through the Bible curriculum and family Bible Studies and have recently released their first healthy living book – Weeding Out Wheat: A Simple Faith Based Guide. They love connecting with their readers, so be sure to follow them on their blog, Facebook,Twitter, and Pinterest.

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About Adrienne

Adrienne Urban is the Founder and Owner of Whole New Mom. She has a background in research, journalism, insurance, employee benefits, financial markets, frugal living, and nutrition. Seeking a better life for herself and her family, she uses research and consults with many physicians and other practitioners to find solutions to the variety of issues they have dealt with including life-threatening food allergies and thyroid and adrenal concerns. WholeNewMom.com is the result of her experiences and knowledge gained throughout the process. Posts are reviewed and verified by the Whole New Mom team.

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  1. Healthy

    August 01, 2014 at 8:41 am

    Thanks for the info. I have started incorporating more good fat into my diet, but sometimes I worry about the amount I can eat in a day.

    What would you recommend is the maximum amount of fat per day.

    I use coconut oil, Avocado, almond nuts, brazil nut, walnut, cashew nut, butter, cheese and olives on a daily basis. How much of these should I be eating in a day.

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Adrienne

      August 01, 2014 at 9:36 am

      I have no idea. If you watch the Cereal Killer move he was eating a TON!!!

      Reply
  2. Rachel @ Grok Grub

    July 31, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    Good to know that one of my favorite activities is backed by science! 😉

    Reply
    • Adrienne

      August 01, 2014 at 9:37 am

      Ha!!

      Reply
  3. Sylvie | Gourmande in the Kitchen

    July 31, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    It's hard to shake the shackles of the low-fat era isn't it? I hope that it will soon be a thing of the past and we can focus more on food quality.

    Reply
    • Adrienne

      July 31, 2014 at 5:25 pm

      I stayed in it tooo long, Sylvie!

      Reply
  4. ashley

    July 31, 2014 at 8:06 am

    this was really informative, thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  5. Emily

    July 30, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    Right on! I love how eating more healthy fats has not only improved my health (in particularly my skin!) but made my food taste incredibly BETTER. A life without fat is no life for me.

    Reply
  6. Tina from Oh Snap! Let's Eat!

    July 29, 2014 at 11:49 pm

    Awesome post! A lot of people think all fats = bad and it's just not true!

    Reply
  7. aakanksha soni

    July 27, 2014 at 9:50 am

    Hey Trisha,
    Great article indeed. People who are health conscious, but do not like to ear butter, or any fat, this article will be an eye opener for them. Thanks for sharing an useful and interesting article with us.

    Reply
  8. MPaula

    July 25, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    I read (it might have been my local newspaper) recently that some people cannot absorb fatty acids. Without the satiety given by fat, these people overeat. They get fat and can't lose weight. Have you heard anything about this?

    Reply
    • Adrienne

      July 25, 2014 at 4:21 pm

      Interesting. I haven't, but maybe Trisha has. Do you have a name of the paper? Maybe we can find something else about that.

      Reply
Please note: these comments do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of Whole New Mom.

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Welcome! I'm Adrienne, and I'm here to show you that Healthy Living Doesn't Have to Be Hard! Here, you'll find basically everything you need to make healthy living doable--healthy & easy flexible recipes, tips for clean beauty and a natural home, essential oils, beginner gardening tips, and more. Learn more about me here.

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