For decades, Eating more fat was inaccurately portrayed as the enemy of healthy eating. Supermarkets stocked low fat options at every turn, and diet plans advised people to avoid fat whenever possible. Fast forward to today and you’ll notice that thinking has changed considerably. Now, experts understand that healthy fats help support good health, balanced eating patterns, and overall wellbeing.
“Eat More Fats” Dose Not Mean – Eat What You Love?
When eating experts say Eat more fat, they aren’t advocating you eat as much bacon as possible. Healthy eating patterns still prioritize nutrient dense foods, portion control, and balance. But that doesn’t mean fat needs to be avoided or severely restricted.
Instead, eating more fat means recognizing how healthy fat contributes to nutrition. Keeping healthy fats out of your diet can create disadvantages, whereas including them can promote balance and satiety.
Healthy Fat Has Important Roles in the Body
Fat plays several roles in supporting normal function of the body. It provides energy, supports cell structure, and plays a role in numerous other functions that occur every day.
Because of how fat benefits the body, going too long without healthy fat can make it difficult to maintain optimal nutrition. This is one reason why diets restricting all fats are no longer recommended.
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Vitamins A, D, E, and K Are Fat Soluble Vitamins
Fat helps your body absorb certain vitamins. Consuming very low fat diets can impact your body’ ability to utilize these vitamins when eating foods that contain them.
Adding Fat to Meals Can Help You Enjoy Them More
Another reason Eat more fat has become a popular concept is because fat can enhance how meals make you feel. Many foods that are high in healthy fat can help you feel more satisfied after eating.
If you feel more satisfied after meals, you’re less likely to feel deprived or start searching for snacks soon after mealtime.
Healthy Eat Fat Isn’t Limited to Just One Type of Food
Don’t worry- eating more fat doesn’t mean you have to eat only one type of food. Many nutritious foods contain healthy fat, including nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, and fatty fish like salmon.
These foods contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients in addition to fat.
It’s Official: Healthy Fats Are No Longer the Villain
Key Takeaways:
- Healthy fats are an essential part of a balanced diet.
- Not all fats affect the body in the same way.
- The quality and source of dietary fat matter.
- Whole-food sources of fat provide additional nutritional benefits.
Rather than focusing on eliminating fat, modern nutrition emphasizes choosing high-quality sources such as nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, and fatty fish. The conversation has shifted from “eat less fat” to “eat better fat,” highlighting the importance of food quality and overall dietary balance.
Just Because It’ Low Fat, Doesn’t Mean It’ Healthy
When diet trends advised people to eat low fat diets, food manufacturers scrambled to create low fat versions of popular foods. Many of these foods substituted fat with other ingredients while maintaining a taste and texture similar to the original version.
Learned consumers have come to understand that just because something is low in fat doesn’t mean it’ healthier.
Fat Can Help Fuel Active Lifestyles
If you have an active lifestyle or a physically demanding job, you’ll need to consume enough calories to keep your energy up. Healthy fat provides energy that can help fuel your day.
Whether you’re a hardcore athlete or just someone who enjoys staying active, eating fat can still be beneficial.
Eating Fat Doesn’t Mean You’ll Automatically Gain Weight
Although many assume eating more fat leads to weight gain, this is largely untrue. Your weight is affected by diet, exercise, sleep hygiene, genetics, and more. When trying to manage weight or promote weight loss, overall diet and portion control are key.
The idea that eating fat makes you fat is overly simplistic and doesn’t take into account how complex the human body really is.
Many Diets Have Included Fat Since the Beginning of Time
Eat what you love, and you’ll never have to diet again.
Many diets throughout history included natural sources of fat. Just because fat is restricted on popular diets today, doesn’t mean it should be avoided completely.
Think About How People Used to Eat
Thinking about how our ancestors ate can help put today’s diet trends into perspective. Fat has been part of a nutritious diet for a long time.
Avoiding Healthy Fat Because you think It Isn’t Nutritious
The problem with many low fat diet options is they attempt to remove fat from foods that don’t contain many nutrients to begin with. When you focus on eating whole foods and nutritious diet patterns, you’ll find it easier to consume healthy fats without consuming too many calories.
Quality over quantity has been an important concept to remember with fat. Focus on eating healthy food sources that include fat rather than loading up on processed snacks just because they’ low fat.
Restrictive Diets Are Hard to Follow
Trying to cut an entire food group or nutrient out of your diet can be depressing and restrictive. If you never allow yourself to eat your favorite high fat foods, you’ll probably find it difficult to stick with a healthy eating plan long term.
Moderation and intuitive eating have become popular because they allow people to eat more flexibly.
So Finally – Should You Eat More Fat?
For decades, dietary fat was blamed for weight gain and poor health. Today, research shows that healthy fats from foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and fatty fish play an important role in supporting hormone production, brain function, heart health, and satiety. The goal isn’t to eat unlimited fat—it’s to replace unhealthy processed fats with nutrient-rich sources and include them as part of a balanced diet.
