Back in the 80s somebody somewhere decided that removing as much fat from your diet as possible was a great idea to lose weight! I mean seriously it’s a no brainer! At 9 calories per gram, over twice the calorie content of either carbs or proteins, fat was one nutritional indulgence too far and boy were you going to pay for it.

Terms like artery clogging saturated fat became de rigour so much so that one could not say saturated fat without adding artery clogging in the same sentence….EVER…..

Weight loss groups followed by instructing their patrons to remove all that pesky fat if they wished to arrive in Body Nirvana – that ever evasive destination populated by Hollywood Starlets and Thinspo Icons.

What the calorie counting nincompoops forgot to consider was that food my dear friends is always so much more than calories. Can you imagine applying for a job and handing in a CV that only detailed your weight? Can you imagine having an online dating profile where you only gave your weight as the sole information about you? Totally nuts right? That’s exactly what the diet dictocrats have done with fat. They have reduced it to a caloric value that negates the immense importance of this macronutrient to over overall health.

Have you ever heard the expressions “The Fat of the Land” or “The Cream of the Crop”? Somewhere in our collective subconscious there is a memory of the inherent value of this much maligned macronutrient.

So why are fats so valuable and why should you reconsider kicking them to the curb?

1: Fats and Brain health:

Your Brain is about 60% fat. A diet high in fat will optimise its function. In the book “Grain Brain” David Perlmutter, MD outlines (backed with research) that the Brain functions optimally on cholesterol and saturated fat. He cites research from the Mayo clinic showing 44% reduction in the risk of developing dementia by having a high fat diet.

2. Reduced risk of Depression.

Many studies have linked low fat diets with an increased risk of depression. It’s thought that low fat diets interfere with serotonin production (the neurotransmitter of happiness). Fish oils have also been shown to alleviate depression. The Father of the low fat movement Nathan Pritikin ended up committing suicide.

3. Saturated fats have many benefits.

• We need Saturated Fat in order to incorporate calcium into our bones. Could a rise in osteoporosis be down to our fat phobia?
• 50% of our cell membrane is made out of saturated fat as it provides the necessary stiffness to give the cell structure.
• Many saturated fats have anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties. Caprylic Acid found in coconut oil is one example.
• Saturated fats can help you burn fat and reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.

In one study mice fed Butyric Acid ( the short chain saturated fatty acid found in butter) prevented the development of insulin resistance, increased the oxidation of fats, had increased thermogenesis ( a marker of improved metabolism), had increased mitochondrial ( the energy production unit of a cell) function and biogenesis AND they reduced their overall body fat! (Zhanguo Gao et al,” Butyrate Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Increases Energy Expenditure in Mice” Journal of the American Diabetes Association, April 2009.

• People who include saturated fat in their diets have higher levels of Testosterone. So if you are a gym bunny or rat you will build muscle way easier. If you enjoy having a sex drive keep adding that saturated fat to your diet! I was at a nutritional convention in Las Vegas about 2 years ago and one of the presenters gave a talk on how the Puritans , a religious movement of the 16^th and 17^th centuries, kept their intake of animal fats down for fear of having “impure thoughts”!!!
• Saturated fats do not cause heart disease. A Meta-Analysis published in the American Journal of Clinical nutrition in 2010 which traced 350,000 people over a 14 year time span showed no link between saturated fat and heart disease. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract

4. Fats provide us with Essential and Conditionally Essential Fatty acids.

If you are eating a low fat diet you may be unwittingly depriving yourself of some essential and conditionally essential fatty acids. If you eat fatty fish like Salmon, Mackerel and Sardines then you will be supplying yourself with EPA and DHA. These fatty acids perform a vast array of functions from fighting inflammation to thinning the blood to optimising cell membrane health. Together with GLA (a conditionally essential fatty acid) found in evening primrose oil these fatty acids regulate prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are messenger molecules that have many functions in the body ranging from controlling cell growth, to regulating other hormones to sensitising spinal neurons to pain.

5. Fats supply the Fat Soluble Vitamins A, D, E and K.

Vitamin K is actually a group of fat soluble vitamins the most important being K1 and K2. K1 is found in green leafy vegetables and helps with clotting. K2 is found in Butter, Egg Yolks and Organ meats and is very important to strengthen the bones and keep arteries clear. If you are avoiding the foods I mentioned you could be on the fast track to osteoporosis and arteriosclerosis.

Many persons are deficient in Vitamin D and the foods richest in it are all fatty foods. It is only in recent years that its massive importance has unfolded.

Vitamin A is essential to the correct functioning of vitamin D. Dr Weston A Price who studied the diets of native peoples discovered that their diets had ten times the amount of vitamin A as the Standard American Diet. These people were all disease free. This vitamin is only present in animal fats and is necessary for the assimilation of minerals.

Vitamin E is not one standalone nutrient but a group of 8 fat soluble compounds called Tocopherols and Tocotrienols. It is a powerful antioxidant. Sources include nuts, sunflower seeds and avocados- all fatty foods.

As you can see Fats are not the pariah they have been made out to be but a source of healing and nourishment for your body that goes way beyond their capacity to supply energy. However if you would like to reduce your sex drive, have dry flaky skin, be depressed and crave sugar all day long by all means stick to your egg white omelettes , your skim milk and your dry chicken breast. If your Body had a choice what would it choose?