The outline on fat: Is it good or bad?

The answer is, as it is most of the time, ‘it depends’. There are different kinds of fat, with different effects on your health and body composition. Over the years there have been a lot of misconceptions about fat so here’s a quick update of where it’s currently at:

- Saturated fat is usually described as bad. However, this is not true. The saturated fat found in coconut for example, is very good for you. You don’t want to over consume saturated fat for sure, but it’s not the poison we once thought it to be.

- Trans fat however definitely is poison. It’s found in processed foods like French fries, cookies, crackers, margarines, doughnuts, baked goods and snacks. DO NOT eat trans fat, period. It destroys your heart & blood vessels and leads to all kinds of chronic inflammatory diseases.

- Monounsaturated fat is good and healthy. It’s found in olive oil and nuts. If most of your fat intake comes from these sources, up to 40% of your calorie intake can come from fat, without any negative effects on health whatsoever.

- Polyunsaturated fat comes in two forms: omega 3 and omega 6. There are some health benefits to omega 6, but the typical western diet contains way too much omega 6 and not enough omega 3, which has so many health benefits entire books have been written about them. Omega 3’s can be found in flaxseed oil, fatty fish like salmon and fish oil.

To get away from the theory and give you some practical advice: Eat plenty of olive oil, nuts, fish, fish- oil, flaxseed oil and coconut. Eat a moderate amount of saturated fat from meat and chicken. Avoid processed omega 6-rich oils like sunflower oil, soybean oil and corn oil and NEVER eat trans fat-laden processed foods like cookies, crackers, French fries, fried snacks etc.