Let’s start with a simple question: are all fats bad for you?
The simplest answer here is: no. Like most food groups, there are a variety of types of fats and some are good for you and some are bad for you.
Many of us hear the word “fat” and immediately tense up. We have been conditioned through the constant exposure to “diet culture” to view fats as the enemy and actively avoid them. This is a misconception; a wrong and harmful one.
Here’s another question for you: is olive oil healthy? There has been a lot of media discussing all of the health benefits of olive oil for all parts of our bodies.
Haircare influencers often speak of all the rich antioxidants that it can provide when used as a hair mask and skincare influencers on TikTok make DIY exfoliating scrubs using olive oil as a base for this same reason. But isn’t olive oil a fat? How can it be both good for us and also a fat if all fats are bad?
The truth is, our society has gotten so consumed by the misconception that all fats are bad. This is simply untrue. Take olive oil for example. Humans have been using olive oil for cooking as well as skin- and haircare for centuries.
So while there are definitely fats that are bad for us, there are also fats that truly provide much-needed nutrients and antioxidants to our bodies to maintain a state of good health.
What Are Healthy Fats?
This question is actually relatively simple to answer. Good fats include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Saturated fats, on the other hand, are the fats we want to limit. These fats are shown to increase cholesterol which can increase the risk of heart disease.
For an easy way to distinguish the good fats from the bad ones, think of good fats as the ones that are liquid at room temperature and bad fats as the ones that are solid at room temperature.
Why Do You Need Fat In Your Diet?
Fat is an essential part of maintaining a healthy diet as humans. This being said, there are some kinds of fats that are good and some that are not. The key to maintaining good health is knowing which fats to choose to incorporate into your diet.
So, why do you need fat in your body? What does fat do for us?
Fats are actually essential for both giving our bodies energy as well as helping our bodies to absorb the nutrients in the food we consume throughout the day. Incorporating unsaturated fats into your diet not only helps with our bodies’ nutrient intake and energy levels but has also been shown to lower the risk of heart disease. This is in direct contrast with saturated fats which can increase the risk of heart disease.
What Are Examples of Healthy Fats?
Other than consuming oils and fats directly, what can you add to your diet to enjoy healthy lipids?
1. Fish
Fish is not only a great source of high-quality protein but also naturally contains high concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids, iodine, vitamin D, as well as many other vitamins and nutrients. Also, it is delicious and easy to prepare!
2. Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds make great snacks that are filling because of their high protein and fat content. While definitely a more nutritious snack than a bag of chips, make sure to stick to only a small handful per serving. Because they are easy to snack on, we can often eat too many of them which will undermine the health benefits that we are eating them for.
3. Avocados
Avocados have been renowned as a “health food” for the past few decades, and rightly so. They are good sources of vitamins A and E, fiber, and mono- and polyunsaturated fats.
4. Olive Oil
As we mentioned above, olive oil has been used by humans for centuries as both a consumable as well as a skincare product. This oil not only contains large amounts of antioxidants, but it is also rich in those monounsaturated fats that we labeled earlier as healthy fats.
Because our Essential Tincture uses high-quality olive oil as its carrier, not only does it become a great source of all the good fats that our bodies need, but it combines that with all of the natural benefits of the CBD to promote a natural and healthy state for our bodies to be in.
As is the case for all things, everything is good in moderation. All of the things listed above are great aides to our body’s health, but that doesn’t mean that we go overboard on them.
Let’s take our tincture as an example. While this oil uses only the two natural and powerful ingredients of CBD oil and olive oil, we recommend always beginning with 1 dropper full (1 mL) and slowly titrating up until you have found the proper dose for you. Starting low and finding the proper amount will allow you to truly get benefits of CBD without causing any over-splash that, in reality, does not help your body.
We hope that this has helped you start overcoming that fear of the f-word (we mean fats!) and gotten you excited for incorporating some of these healthy fats into your diet to keep your body happy and healthy!