Is a Diet That Contains Fat Healthy?

By on September 16, 2017 in Nutrition with 0 Comments

Having had a weight problem all my life I’m always on the lookout for a solution to controlling my weight that would suit me. It seems like the one question that everyone has is, “is diet fat healthy”?

When I was handed a book by my daughter recently that she had been given to read, I was intrigued to see that it was all about not worrying about having fat in my diet.

Growing up on a dairy farm, there was a plentiful supply of fresh milk, cream, eggs, homemade butter, home-cured meats, our own pork, chickens, and beef.  All slaughtered by my very hard-working father.

 

healthy fat diet

You grow up eating what you are served

So I had grown used to a rich diet, not to mention that my mother was a very good cook and we dined well on the fat of the land.

However, as I grew older the diet demons reared their ugly head. I wasn’t a slim person by any means, however, I was healthy.

But as dieting became a fashionable thing to do over the years, everyone seemed to get on the bandwagon and produce diets books that were “guaranteed” to help you lose so much weight in a short space of time.

Get off the diet path

So I too got on the bandwagon and tried several diets, some more expensive than others, but as I’m not a very patient person when it comes to trying to lose those extra kilos’, I failed at every attempt.

 So after reading this book and researching some of the information that it contained, I came to the conclusion that the information in this book was simply what my lifestyle was like, diet-wise when I was growing up. While I will never be a “Twiggy figure” I do want to be slimmer and healthy.

So I started to change my diet back to the type of foods that I had during my childhood. I am happy to report that I am having a reasonable amount of success with my weight loss and higher energy levels in the short time I have been allowing more fat into my diet.

Over the years health experts have told us that fat in our diet makes us fat, and causes heart disease and stroke. About 30 years ago we were all advised to reduce our intake of fatty foods from 40% to 30% and to swap saturated fats for margarine and polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

It is important to remember, however, that health recommendations come from organizations that are paid big money to promote their so called “advice”.

Eat fat never gain weight

Some facts that most people aren’t aware of are that: You can eat as much fat as you want and never gain weight: You can eat as much saturated fats as you want and never gain weight: Saturated fats consumption does not cause heart disease.

There have been many studies showing that the consumption of saturated fats actually protects us from heart disease. : Saturated fat does not affect our blood cholesterol levels: High levels of cholesterol do not put us at high risk for heart disease.

In fact, more than half the people with heart disease don’t have high cholesterol.

In addition, low cholesterol is linked to depression, cancer, and serious illness. Cholesterol is essential for healthy cell function, brain function, and many other vital processes.

Cholesterol is not a deadly poison

Research shows that cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of mammals.

Your body produces three to four times more cholesterol than you eat.  This production increases when you eat only small amounts of cholesterol and decreases when you eat large amounts.

It seems that most heart patients haven’t eaten more saturated fats than other people.  And that stroke patients have eaten less. High cholesterol is not a risk factor for women.

There are many cholesterol-lowering drugs on the market.  It seems that they are dangerous to your health and may shorten your life.

 I have a friend who is on a pretty high dose of the cholesterol-lowering drug.  He maintains that his memory is badly affected by this drug.  But he is not keen to go off it, as he is worried he will have a heart attack!

Plant-based diets can work

There are some who believe that we evolved to eat only plants and no animal products.  They believe that a vegan diet is appropriate according to human evolution. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors have been studied extensively and found to be in excellent health.

When you really think about them, they didn’t have any modern conveniences like fridges to keep their food.  So they only caught what they needed at the time and as they probably had to catch whatever they ate, they also gained plenty of exercise in the process of chasing down their food.

The fat content in their diet was between 28% to 58% scientists have discovered. As they usually only killed the fattest animals and ate the fattest pieces.  Their diet on the whole contained a lot of fat and very little carbohydrate was consumed.

In fact, around 22-40 %, as opposed to the modern western diet of more than 50% of calorie carbohydrates, was consumed.

So fats are essential to good health. Quality natural fats like butter, coconut oil, animal fat, and Omega-3 fats are essential for various reasons. Healthy cell function is dependent on fat.

Our cell membranes are full of saturated fat.  So when we don’t consume enough fat, the cell walls become soft and lose their integrity.

My opinion on butter

In my opinion, butter is better to use, of course, I am a little biased due to my upbringing. I fry some things in butter and don’t skimp on the use of it with vegetables and on bread. It is a great source of vitamin k2 which helps the body absorb minerals.  It also boosts the immune system by helping it absorb nutrients.

Coconut oil is also another healthy fat that is excellent to use in cooking. It may be an acquired taste for some but if you are able to use it for cooking.  Then your cardiovascular system will love you for it. Also, it can be used therapeutically for many different conditions with outstanding results.

It assists with weight loss and helps burn excess body fat.

What’s the wash-up

For a sample of a typical diet using fats.  For breakfast try scrambled egg fried in butter with maybe a fried tomato.  Then for lunch, a piece of chicken with salad in a wrap. Dessert may be a banana muffin with butter, and for dinner roast pork with crackling and vegetables.

I have tried this way of eating and am happy to report I have more energy.  With a side benefit of losing weight as well. As I have only been trying this way of eating for a short time.  I am unable to say if this will be a permanent solution for me.  However, all indications point to it being the solution I have been looking for, for years.

I never feel hungry and that dreaded time around 4 pm is no longer an issue for me.

Yes, diet fat can be healthy.

So I think a sensible diet that contains fat and is well controlled is reasonably healthy.  Provided it is the saturated fat or “good fats” as the experts like to call it.

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About Health Ninja

Jack Rourke is the Health Ninja.

A truly average person who has worked his butt off to be awesome fit and healthy. Well maybe just the best version of himself.

With a little effort, the average person can achieve better than average results.

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