Good Fats for Optimal Health!

Fats are very healthy for you, as long as you choose healthy fats to indulge in and are mindful of how much you are eating. Fats are the core fuel for our energy reserves, keeping us feeling stable for long periods of times and minimizing spikes in blood sugar. Fats provide us with the material needed to make all of our hormones in our bodies as well. This is why we tend to crave them when we have hormone imbalances.

Fats are found in several different kinds of foods. Healthy fats are typically found in nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, coconut, wild salmon and other wild caught fish, and in oils (olive, coconut, grapeseed, flax, hemp, avocado, and several others).  It is healthy to have fat at each meal to sustain us and lower potential blood sugar spikes from carbohydrates consumed at the same meal.

Fat is beneficial for many things in our bodies, such as:

• Hair, skin and nails
• Hormone production and balance
• Adrenal gland function and stress handling
• Healthy cholesterol production

Omega 3 fatty acids are specifically good for:

• Reduction of depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenia, etc.
• Short and long term memory
• Reduction of inflammation and pain
• To improve cardiovascular health and reduce cardiovascular risk
• To improve brain function

Although eating fats throughout the day is considered healthy, some individuals have a difficult time digesting fats. If you don’t tolerate fatty foods well or have had your gall bladder removed, consider taking a digestive enzyme with bile salts in it when you consume foods that have fat in them. If you would be interested in specific recommendation to improve fat digestion and fat soluble nutrients, feel free to reach out to me. I would be happy to help.

For more information on choosing healthy food sources of fat, come to my WellnesSeries Class this month and feel free to read additional blogs that I have posted on food for health.