UPDATE: I believe that you can eat fat and more fat as long as you are eating good, healthy fat. For us this means soaked, raw seeds and nuts, coconut oil, olive oil and animal fat like butter, lard and tallow from quality sources that feed their animals what animals are supposed to eat.
If you are just getting started on a real food journey, here are some tips that I found helpful.
Sources of Omega 3 Fats:
Chia Seeds - very high in Omega 3
Flax seeds - very high in Omega 3
Walnuts
Seafood - small amounts of Omega 3
Winter squash-small amounts of Omega 3
All other fats make up the omega 6 category.
Other healthy fats to incorporate into your diet:
Nuts/seeds
Olive oil
Avocados
Coconut oil - Always buy epeller pressed virgin oil. Sometimes coconut oil gets a bad rap but most studies were conducted on hydrogenated coconut oil, not the same creature. Coconut oil is almost entirely saturated fat (what we’ve always known as the bad fat) however, while most fats are composed of long chain triglycerides, coconut oil is composed mainly of medium chain triglycerides which are to more easily digested, absorbed, and put to use nourishing the body. Unlike other fats, they put little strain on the digestive system. This is another fat that, if it is cold pressed, virgin oil, is in the same state as it was created. I love coconut oil for baking.
Fats we avoid:
Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils – this would be shortening and margarine products
These fats are, again, chemically altered. Trans fats are artificially produced fats that are very unhealthy. Food manufactures use (partially) hydrogenated oils because it increases the shelf life of their products. This means less spoilage, less loss and therefore more profit.
Vegetable Oils - See my "Links I Like" for a description of how these fats are produced. Ugh!
Ways to Cut the Bad Fats in Our Diets:
Cookies: Most often I use coconut oil in cookies. It seems oilier to me and works just as well with half as much. For a recipe calling for 1 cup of butter or shortening I would use 1/2 c. of coconut oil.
Cream soups/white sauces: I've recently begun using cauliflower as a base for white sauces and soups. It makes amazingly creamy soups without flour or fat. There are recipes for an alfredo sauce, creamy potato soup. You can also use it to make a rich, creamy clam chowder.
French Fries: Wash and cut potatoes into strips. Rub coconut oil or lard on your hands and coat each fry as you place them in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can sprinkle them with herbs or seasoning before baking. They aren't really crisp fries but they are hearty, steak fry like and our kids love them with some fry sauce.
You can also toss cut potatoes with an egg white for more crisp fries. We like either of these equally well. I bake at 350' for 30-50 minutes, check for doneness. It will depend on thickness of fries and your oven.
Corn tortillas: We've always loved these fried in oil for tacos, but we recently learned you can fry them at high heat without oil and they are just as yummy but no grease drips down your elbow when you eat them and they are much healthier for you.
Condensed Soups: These are loaded with fat and I'm still not sure why. I just make my own condensed soup from this recipe. Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup Recipe
Commercially bred meats: I’ll use beef as an example. Cow’s bodies are designed to eat grass. (hence the 2 stomachs) When they eat grass the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats in their meat is 3:1 (bad dietary fat to good dietary fat). This is the recommended ratio for us to eat. Grass is hard to feed to cow’s in mass production, so producers looked to other feed sources. Corn is cheap, cows will eat it and they grow faster when fed corn. Voila, a new feed source that has become a staple in the diets of commercially raised beef. The ratio of fats in this meat is 20 to 1 bad fat to good fat.
Because of what commercial animals are fed meat has become a large source of the wrong fats in our diets. Wild game or grass and non-gmo fed animals will provide your body with correct fat ratios.
It isn't necessary to remove fat from our diets, but to pay better attention to what types of fats we are consuming. Fats are really needed in the body for hormone production, brain development, and for the assimilation of fat soluble vitamins K, A, D and E. So don't skimp on the good fats!
If you are just getting started on a real food journey, here are some tips that I found helpful.
Sources of Omega 3 Fats:
Chia Seeds - very high in Omega 3
Flax seeds - very high in Omega 3
Walnuts
Seafood - small amounts of Omega 3
Winter squash-small amounts of Omega 3
All other fats make up the omega 6 category.
Other healthy fats to incorporate into your diet:
Nuts/seeds
Olive oil
Avocados
Coconut oil - Always buy epeller pressed virgin oil. Sometimes coconut oil gets a bad rap but most studies were conducted on hydrogenated coconut oil, not the same creature. Coconut oil is almost entirely saturated fat (what we’ve always known as the bad fat) however, while most fats are composed of long chain triglycerides, coconut oil is composed mainly of medium chain triglycerides which are to more easily digested, absorbed, and put to use nourishing the body. Unlike other fats, they put little strain on the digestive system. This is another fat that, if it is cold pressed, virgin oil, is in the same state as it was created. I love coconut oil for baking.
Fats we avoid:
Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils – this would be shortening and margarine products
These fats are, again, chemically altered. Trans fats are artificially produced fats that are very unhealthy. Food manufactures use (partially) hydrogenated oils because it increases the shelf life of their products. This means less spoilage, less loss and therefore more profit.
Vegetable Oils - See my "Links I Like" for a description of how these fats are produced. Ugh!
Ways to Cut the Bad Fats in Our Diets:
Cookies: Most often I use coconut oil in cookies. It seems oilier to me and works just as well with half as much. For a recipe calling for 1 cup of butter or shortening I would use 1/2 c. of coconut oil.
Cream soups/white sauces: I've recently begun using cauliflower as a base for white sauces and soups. It makes amazingly creamy soups without flour or fat. There are recipes for an alfredo sauce, creamy potato soup. You can also use it to make a rich, creamy clam chowder.
French Fries: Wash and cut potatoes into strips. Rub coconut oil or lard on your hands and coat each fry as you place them in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can sprinkle them with herbs or seasoning before baking. They aren't really crisp fries but they are hearty, steak fry like and our kids love them with some fry sauce.
You can also toss cut potatoes with an egg white for more crisp fries. We like either of these equally well. I bake at 350' for 30-50 minutes, check for doneness. It will depend on thickness of fries and your oven.
Corn tortillas: We've always loved these fried in oil for tacos, but we recently learned you can fry them at high heat without oil and they are just as yummy but no grease drips down your elbow when you eat them and they are much healthier for you.
Condensed Soups: These are loaded with fat and I'm still not sure why. I just make my own condensed soup from this recipe. Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup Recipe
Commercially bred meats: I’ll use beef as an example. Cow’s bodies are designed to eat grass. (hence the 2 stomachs) When they eat grass the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats in their meat is 3:1 (bad dietary fat to good dietary fat). This is the recommended ratio for us to eat. Grass is hard to feed to cow’s in mass production, so producers looked to other feed sources. Corn is cheap, cows will eat it and they grow faster when fed corn. Voila, a new feed source that has become a staple in the diets of commercially raised beef. The ratio of fats in this meat is 20 to 1 bad fat to good fat.
Because of what commercial animals are fed meat has become a large source of the wrong fats in our diets. Wild game or grass and non-gmo fed animals will provide your body with correct fat ratios.
It isn't necessary to remove fat from our diets, but to pay better attention to what types of fats we are consuming. Fats are really needed in the body for hormone production, brain development, and for the assimilation of fat soluble vitamins K, A, D and E. So don't skimp on the good fats!
