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Good day to you all and a good whatever-time-of-day you’re reading this! So today we are going to talk about all things fat. This will likely be a two-part series, because the more I got into this topic, the larger it became, and I realized that for a full understanding we’re going to need to learn about a ton of topics; from the endocrine role of fat tissue in our body, to more practical applications of how its made and which oils and fats to consume in our diets.

So first, fat is a dietary macronutrient along with proteins and carbohydrates. Fat contains 9 kilocalories per gram versus the 4 kilocalories per gram from the other macronutrients. The primary function of the various fat molecules in the body are: a storage form of energy, composing cell membranes, heat regulation by insulating against cold, proper functioning of the brain by insulating neurons (brains cells), cushions and keeps our organs safe, and it plays a vital role in regulating hunger and satiety to keep a ‘set point’ of metabolism.

The amount of fat that we have is largely based on our diet, activity levels, hormones and hormone sensitivity, our epigenetics and lifestyle factors, such as sleep and stress. There are different types of fat in our body: visceral, abdominal, subcutaneous, brown and white fat. These different kinds of fat release different hormones and are more or less metabolically active. 

Now that we’ve got our ‘base’ lets talk about which oils we should eat more of and which we should eat less of. 

Which fats to eat and which to avoid:

Here’s an awesome graphic that explains which fats to eat and avoid from Nutritionist to the L.A. Lakers, Dr. Cate:

1. Oils to avoid all-together: Vegetable oils, soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, sesame oil

These are oils that are extracted from seeds like Soybean, Cottonseed, Sunflower and a few others. They were never available to humans until the 20th century, because we simply didn’t have the technology to extract them. The way these oils are manufactured involves bleaching, deodorizing and the highly toxic solvent hexane. Many of these oils are marketed in ‘healthy’ salad dressings, mayonnaise, butter substitutes and much more.

2. Oils to enjoy:  Unrefined oils and low-PUFA fats and oils

Avocado oil, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, duck fat, Ghee, Lard, Olive oil, peanut oil, tallow, sesame oil, flax seed oil, walnut oil, almond oil, macadamia nut oil.

Also: anything that says cold-pressed and unrefined. IT MUST SAY UNREFINED. 

3. Use these for Cooking:

Almond oil, avocado oil, butter, coconut oil, duck fat, ghee, lard, macadamia nut oil, peanut oil, tallow.

4. DON’T Use these for Cooking:

Flax oil, sesame oil, walnut oil.

5. Limited Use Oils:

Oils that have been refined but because of their fatty acid profile they can handle the process without a significant amount of mutated fatty acids and are therefore less toxic. They do have less minerals and anti-oxidants due to this process. Think of them as empty calories.

6. DON’T use these oils:

Vegetable oils are so toxic in our bodies because they contain a high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). PUFAs are unstable, and break down rapidly when exposed to chemical stress.