What Are Healthy Fats And Why You Need Them

Did you grow up like I did thinking that fats were bad for you? Have you been avoiding them because you were told that they will make you fat? What if I told you that this is as far from the truth as the starts are from planet earth! What if I told you that fats, that is healthy fats, are not only good for you, but you absolutely need them if you want a healthy brain.

First things first, you need to understand the difference between altered fats and healthy fats. The subject of altered fats can be quite complexe, however for now, what you need to know is that these fats are one of the most toxic foods out there for your brain. Why? Simply because your brain is mostly made out of fats, so it desperately needs HEALTHY fats to remain healthy 🙂 Fats are responsibly for building healhty neurones and healthy neural connections, which allows for speeding processing of information. Altered fats are not healthy because there name says it all, they’ve been altered!

So how do you know if a fat is altered? There are many ways, but for the sake of this blog and to keep it simple, let’s just say for now that if you read on a food label the word ”hydrogenated”, you know to put it back on the shelf. Altered fats are fats that have been altered by heat, oxygen and/or light. Any processed foods with canola, corn or sunflower oils (which are the most common ones), most likely will have altered fats in them because these oils are not meant to be heated, exposed to oxygen or light, that is why they end up altered through the processing journey of the foods and meals that we’ve created with these oils. These oils are very fragile to heat, oxygen and light, so need to be handles with care, which is not the case in processed foods.

So what kind of fats should we be eating? Well nothing less than healthy fats, that is essentially fatty acids Omega 3 & 6. These fats are essential because every cell in our body needs them for optimal health, and because our body doesn’t make them! So we must consume them in the foods we eat if we want a healthy brain! Now this is where it can get confusing because canola, corn and sunflower oils are rich in omega 3 & 6, however since they are largely used in processed foods, they end up altered and hydrogenated as a result. You want to be consuming well stored Omega 3 & 6 because they are so fragile. For this reason, they only true way to ensure this is the case, is to consume whole foods that are rich in these fats.

So where can you find these foods? Try extra virgin olive oil, fatty wild caught fish, nuts and seeds, avocados, or again grounded flaxseeds. These are all great sources of healthy fats that you can rest assured will feed your brain what it needs to stay healthy and energized!

So there it is! No need to avoid fats any longer, as long as they are HEALTHY FATS!

”The most important food rule is only love and consume foods that love you back.”

– Dr.Daniel Amen –