The good, the bad and the ugly – what exactly is a healthy fat?
This weeks episode we are going to talk about all types of fats. Some people find it scary and have a misconception that fats are bad. Lets look at the science behind it.
Fats do good things!
Many people count calories within their diet. Because fats carry a larger amount of calories, most people avoid them. Remember, our bodies need balanced nutrition and fats are part of this. Fats help our hormones, which can affect lots of things including our mood and how we sleep. Healthy fats help our bodies to work properly, including our joints. It also helps messages to travel around our bodies. Cholesterol is often seen as bad but we need that too, it helps build our DNA.
3 Main Types of Fats
There are 3 different types of fats:
Unsaturated Fats
These are the best fats to have and you should be including plenty of these good fats in your diet. These fats are naturally liquid at room temperature, for example olive oil. Nuts and seeds are also great sources of these fats, as are oily fish such as salmon and mackerel. “diets” normally limit these fats because of the calorie content but as long as they are eaten in moderation, they are really good for you. They help your skin, they help to keep you full and they give you many nutritional benefits.
Saturated Fats
Limit how much you eat. These are the fats to be most mindful of. They are most commonly found in animal related products and are usually solid at room temperature. These include whole milk, butter and cheese, and fats in meat. They do form part of a healthy diet, but you really want to only consume in moderation.
Trans Fats
Avoid – These fats have been changed or transformed. Our bodies do not recognise these fats and does not know how to process them correctly. For example, butter is solid at room temperature but margarine is spreadable, meaning that its cell structure has been altered, and often it’s had additional products (possibly chemicals) added to it. These foods are not natural and do not provide any benefit to our bodies.
In summary, do not be afraid of fats. They have a lot of benefits for you and your diet. Just be mindful of the types you consume.
Want to know more about ways to work with me?
There are many ways that you can work with me to balance your hormones and improve your health and wellbeing.
On Facebook the Fab Female Nutrition Club is a wonderful FREE community where I offer lots of support and advice on female health and wellbeing. I also love to cook and create recipes and I’ll often be seen in the group cooking live and sharing all the wonderful health benefits of the ingredients used.
My Fab Female Nutrition Membership sits alongside the free club, but offers you lots of resources and group coaching with me. The hub has the full recipe book that is constantly being updated, the 5 elements of health containing resources and guides to help support you in your health journey. And 6 group coaching calls a year, plus access to other member benefits such as discounts from group programs.
A few times a year I work with groups of ladies to transform their health and wellbeing. Appropriately called The Transformation Program it can help with many differing issues and we have had hugely impressive results – including up to 100% reduction in symptoms. If you suffer with IBS, fatigue, inflammation, hormonal imbalances or just want to spend some time concentrating on your health and wellbeing they are fabulous value and great fun.
If you feel like you need a more bespoke option, then my 1:1 coaching and testing is for you. We will concentrate on your specific needs creating nutritional protocols that support your health goals. We take a full health history, then tailor testing to help create and refine protocols so that you learn about your body and how to support it. I will be with you every step of the way to guide you and ensure that you realise your true health potential. Find out more here.