In our healthy living series, we have looked at ditching the soda, shaking the sugar, cutting out processed food and watching our portion sizes.

This month, we are going to talk about eating healthy fats for a healthy body.

Healthy fats? Aren’t all fats bad for you? No.

Common Myths about Fats

Back in the 1960’s, there was a study published that showed fats to be bad for your health. I’m not going to go into the details, but if you want them you can read more here.

After that study, we all went low fat crazy! Companies tried to cut the fat out of everything. Consumers thought that it was healthier not to eat fat, so they tried to cut it out of their diets.

That is where we got frankenfoods such as margarine, diet soda and low fat ice cream (among millions of other low fat products).

After riding the low fat wave for 4 decades, we realized that we aren’t any healthier on a low fat diet. In fact, the average person weighs more and is more unhealthy now than their 60’s counterpart.

Why Do We Need Fat in Our Diet?

Not all fats are bad. Trans Fats (made in a laboratory) are very unhealthy. This includes some margarine, crackers, frozen pizzas, microwave popcorn to name a few. You can find more information about trans fat here.

Both saturated fats (like butter, animal fat and coconut oil) and unsaturated fats (fish oil, seeds and nuts) are needed in a healthy diet.

10 Healthy Fats to Add to Your Diet:

1. Butter
2. Coconut Oil
3. Olives and Olive Oil
4. Nuts and Nut Butters
5. Avocado
6. Omega 3’s (salmon, fish oil, walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseed)
7. Grass Fed Beef
8. Whole Eggs
9. Dark Chocolate (atleast 70% cocoa)
10. Full Fat Milk and Cheese

How to Add Healthy Fats to Your Plate:

• Cook with Olive Oil instead of Vegetable or Canola Oil.
• Trade margarine for real butter.
• Use a tablespoon of coconut oil or flaxseed in your morning smoothie.
• Eat whole eggs for breakfast instead of egg whites.
• Trade regular milk chocolate for dark chocolate when you need something sweet.
• Use full fat milk and cheese instead of the low fat options. You can also make ice cream and yogurt with full fat milk.
• A great afternoon snack is sliced apples and almond butter. It is a great combination!
• Replace your regular ground beef or steak with grass fed beef.

Healthy fats are crucial to a healthy diet. You can find healthy fats in many whole foods. “The right kinds of fats help increase satiety, maximize your metabolism, protect against heart disease, speed nutrients through your body, and improve your fat-soluble vitamin uptake ( Eat this, not that).” So don’t think you need to bypass fat to be healthy- it’s actually the opposite!

So this month, think about adding one or two of the healthy fats on this list to your diet. You might just find you feel better and more full than with their low fat alternatives.

What is your favorite healthy fat? Please let us know in the comments below. Thanks!

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