I encourage all my patients to eat more fat. I do believe it is the most important macronutrient. Fats are vital for our health.
The next question is "what does the mean?" "what are healthy fats?" So let us do this I am going to show you the different fats and what makes fat a "bad" fat and what are good "fats".
We have sources of fat we get fat from plants such as avocados, nuts, coconut oil, and seeds. We have fat from animal sources cheese, meat, butter, raw milk/milk, and fish. Each type of fat has different lengths of fat chain. You have your Omegas 3-6-7-9. They all need to be balanced to help you with inflammation and they all do different things for the body and come from different sources.
Omega 3's usually most think of fish, but there is also other seafood that contains Omega 3's, flax is another popular one. Fish and other seafood such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines have EPA and DHA which both benefit the body supporting brain and mood, many worry about the mercury you can get fish oil. If your taking it in a supplement find a company that tests for mercury or get it from the smaller fish which have less mercury. With flax it gives you omega 3 as ALA you need enzymes to convert and it is just not as efficient converting into the Omega 3.
Omega 6's come from out plant foods such as nuts, seeds, and oils. Some of these plant oils however when converted to oil they have been converted with a high heat which damages the oil and hydrogenates it. This is what trans fat is and the body does not like these oils. So as oil don't use sunflower, safflower, canola, cottonseed, corn, or soy. The better ones to go to would be poppy seed, grape seed, and walnut in the omega 6's as oils, otherwise, you do non-processed forms of the seeds and nuts.
Omega 7's these fats tend to be abundant in antioxidants. Seabuckthorn, macadamia nuts, whale blubber, butter, lard, and baker's yeast. The Omega 7's come from a mix of nuts and animal-based, they tend to be more common in foods we eat.
Omega 9's tend to come from fruit, nuts, and oils. Your body can create omega 9's from other fats as it is needed. Omega 9's impacts the nervous system and can play a role in cholesterol.
These are an explanation of the length of changes but you also break fats into saturated fats which are what some deem to be bad fats, unsaturated fats which branch into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Then we have trans-fats which are made up of hydrogenated oils margarine, shortening, and plant oils used for deep frying.
When it comes to supplementing and introducing people to fats we tend to go towards Omega 3's due to 6-7-9 are in your typical diet and an abundance of them. Most usually lack quality Omega 3's. It is important to balance your different types of fats, except for trans-fat and deep-fried foods. "Good" fats help support brain, nerve, joint, and healthy hormones. They help you with a healthy weight and energy. You need good stomach acidity, liver function, gallbladder function, and enzymes to digest them.
Your body uses your fats to store toxins, protect vital organs, create hormones, support your brain, to deliver nutrients. Without putting good quality fats into the body our brains break down, or joints lose lubrication, our skin and hair become dry. The body can not also clear the toxins in the fats without getting good quality fats in. The more toxic you become the more fat needs to store, to keep the toxins from vital organs. It will also not have what it needs to balance hormones and feed the body. The quality of fat around each of your cells can tell us how healthy you are or not. Fat plays a large role in many processes in the body.