Jack Sprat and his Mrs. Got It All Wrong

Fats are perhaps the most misunderstood of the macronutrients. Just like Raymond, Everybody Loves Carbs. And Proteins are the Prom Kings and Queens of Lean Central. But Fat, what's up with that? Fat is funny. It's globby and gooey and chubby and chewy, greasy and bad for you.

NOT.
Fat is really good for you! It helps in the very human processes of things like emotional regulation, the smart connecting of synapses in the brain, and the formation of breast milk. Fat in the diet is often overlooked as essential, but indeed, it is. You can't live in the long term without some Essential Fatty Acids, and often people can benefit from more fat than you might be giving yourself in what you think is your healthy diet. Again, individual bodies have their own preferences and needs to help them decide how to burn, store and use fat. So this is not personalized information. But overall, it's safe to say you should have healthy fats each day--plant sources are super, plus nuts and some seeds, also dairy and animal fats are quite helpful in various diets.

Fish oil is a great fat--it's the presence of those cool Omega fats we hear so much about that give this fat is good reputation. And what about eggs (and what about cholesterol)? Well, we're learning more and more that in the average diet without extenuating health factors, the fat and cholesterol in egg yolks is not such a grave concern for either weight gain, blood serum cholesterol or heart/artery problems. Turns out they were kinda wrong on that one. Almost all the vitamins are in the yolk along with the fat that transports them, so don't count out eggs if you like them. They are good food.

Pick One Thing: The Fats Track

So here's the skinny (heh!). Heed these few main warnings about fats in your diet:

~ Don't eat a lot of junk food and fast food and processed food with fats and refined carbs combined (donuts, drive-throughs and the likes, those fats have a lot of Omega 6s and we don't need more of that kind in our diets).
~ Don't eat a lot of foods that are high-heat fried in vegetable oils like sunflower and safflower and canola (or just don't eat a lot of fried foods to make it simpler). Avoid trans fats in this way, too.
~ Don't eat too much, period. Fats are very calorie dense, more than twice the amount per gram than that of protein or carbohydrate. So they add up fast. If your fats occur naturally in your foods (as in the egg example above or the avocado example below) and are moderated as occasional condiments (like mayo with tuna which has those Omega 3 fatty acids that are also very good for you), you'll be on the right track.

All this talk about my favorite food group (FAT...yes! Cheese is a favorite sub-group, as is butter, mayonaisse, and a host of other yummy creamy time fats...) has inspired me to write a poem.

Let Us Have a Chat About Fat

Butter your buns and pull up a chair
while I tell you the tail of long shiny hair, and
how brains grow, how skin glows,
how nutrients fly
through your bloodstream
to your body's cells
in two blinks of an eye...
How your enzymes ride on fat waves
and bring joy to your being,
delivering hormones that make babies,
and storing energy for the freeing.
Yes you love it, and you need it--
there's a reason for all that--
Your body is mammalian:
it thrives upon fat.
Oh, fatty acids
Oh, Omega 3s
Oh, unsaturated oils;
bless you olives,
salmon, tuna,
avocados...we are loyals.

Now, I know that poetic treatment leaves a little art to be desired, but it's still a more positive and sensible approach that the ole' Jack Sprat nursery rhyme.
Jack Sprat could eat no fat
his wife could eat no lean
and so betwixt them both
they licked the platter clean...

Terrible advice, there! Always eat some of both; never make the mistake of eliminating an entire nutritional ingredient list. You can have your four and twenty blackbirds, and your curds and whey, and be a pumpkin eater too.