April 14, 2025 • 18 mins
Fat isn't the villain it's often made out to be - it's absolutely essential for your health. Registered Dietitian Leonela Lacampos dives deep into this misunderstood macronutrient, debunking myths and providing science-backed insights on why we need fat and how to choose the right kinds.
Discover the critical differences between unsaturated, saturated, and trans fats, and learn which foods provide the most beneficial fats for brain health, hormone production, and energy regulation. Did you know that approximately 60% of your brain is made of fat? Or that certain vitamins can only be absorbed when consumed with fats? These surprising facts highlight why fat restriction can actually undermine your health goals.
Beyond the science, this episode delivers practical strategies for incorporating healthy fats into your daily meals. Find out how to read nutrition labels to spot hidden trans fats, which cooking oils work best for different temperatures, and simple ways to upgrade your snacks and breakfasts with nutritious fat sources. Leonela shares her professional 3-2-1 method for building balanced plates that include appropriate portions of all macronutrients, including fats. Whether you're managing cholesterol levels, working on weight goals, or simply trying to eat more nutritiously, these actionable tips will help you make confident, informed choices about the fats you consume.
Share this episode with someone who's still afraid of fats, and follow Leonela on Instagram at nutrition_with_leonela for more evidence-based nutrition insights that cut through the noise of diet culture and food trends.
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com
My YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SqBP44jMNYSzlcJjOKJdg
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, hey, welcome back to another episode in the
Simple Nutrition InsightsPodcast.
I am your host, luni Lacampos,registered Dietitian, and today
we are diving into a topic thatoften gets a bad rap Fats.
Yes, fat, or fat, is amacronutrient and, yes, we
absolutely need it.
(00:21):
So let's break down the science, bust a few myths and, most
importantly, walk away withpractical tips to feel confident
about fats on your plate.
Fats is one of the threemacronutrients alongside protein
and carbohydrates.
It's the most energy dense,giving us nine calories per gram
compared to four from proteinand carbs.
If you haven't had the chanceto listen to, I want to say my
(00:46):
last two episodes maybe the lastthree, because there was one in
the middle, but I've doneproteins and carbohydrates myths
and practical tips.
So if you haven't had a chanceto listen to those episodes, go
back and take a listen.
I also provided really usefulhandouts that you can use to
(01:08):
help you make healthierdecisions or choose the best
protein sources for yourcarbohydrates as well, so check
it out.
But we need fat for brainhealth.
About 60% of our brain is madeof fat.
Hormone production, especiallykey for women's health and
(01:29):
metabolism.
Um, more specifically, as we gointo menopause, perimenopause,
we.
We need um our healthy fatsright for for that, hormone
production, balancing andregulation nutrient absorption.
Vitamins a, d, e and k areconsidered our fat soluble
(01:49):
vitamins, which they need fat tobe absorbed and also for cell
structure and energy storage.
So, despite what diet culturemay have taught us, fat is not
the enemy, just likecarbohydrates are not the enemy.
It's so interesting thatthere's.
You know, we go throughdifferent trends and different
(02:11):
phases, and I see this a lot inmy practice, right, when I talk
to clients and they ask me aboutyou know, carbohydrates are bad
for you.
You should not have fruit X, y,z or fats are bad for you if
you're trying to lose weight,and it is my job, right, as a
registered dietitian, todismissify these myths, right,
(02:33):
and this misinformation, becauseI also had clients tell me you
know, there's so muchinformation out there and I
don't even know what's right andwhat's wrong or what's true and
what is not, because,thankfully, right, we have the
internet and we can researchdifferent topics, but sometimes
(02:55):
the information out there is notaccurate, right?
Or if you're getting yourinformation from someone that
has no credentials at all, it'sso important to be worried about
that right, because they canhave their own opinions, so they
can say, oh, these avocados arebad for you, right, because
(03:17):
they have so much fat Totallyincorrect, right.
And so we have to be reallycautious as to where we get our
information from and also tomake sure they don't have their
own agendas and their own biasesabout it.
So, research-based information.
So let's break down fats intothree main categories.
We have our unsaturated fats,the heart-healthy kind, which is
(03:39):
found in avocados, olive oil,nuts, seeds and fatty fish, like
salmon, sardines, tuna,no-transcript.
Now, saturated fats are dividedinto polyunsaturated,
monounsaturated fats.
We are not going to go into thechemistry about it, but, again,
(04:01):
these are found in your plantsources as well as your fatty
fish.
They help increase your goodcholesterol, which is your HDL,
and they help to lower your badcholesterol, which is your LDL,
right.
So these are fats that we wantto add into our meals.
They also help with satiety,right, because they're more
(04:24):
calorie dense.
They're not going to bedigested as fast versus our
carbohydrates, which, you know,if we combine them.
It's going to help not to havethese sugar spikes right, or
these sugar roller coasters, andit's also going to help us help
not to have these sugar spikes,right, these sugar roller
coasters.
And it's also going to help usto not have like these cravings,
right, if we, again, if we'remaking this balanced meal.
So, if you want to have toast,have toast with avocado, right,
(04:48):
some slices of avocado.
Now, I want to pinpoint herethat, because they are, even
though they're healthy fatsright, we have to be mindful
of're healthy fats, right, wehave to be mindful of their
calorie dense.
Right, they are calorie dense,so they're twice as much of they
have twice as much calories asproteins and carbohydrates, so
we can also just not have likeoverabundance of it, right,
(05:10):
because you heard that they arehealthy and we should have a
good amount of them, but we haveto still be mindful of that.
If this is something thatyou're conserving right, in
terms of, like, maintaining yourbody weight, right, or possibly
losing weight you have toconsider that, if you're wanting
to gain weight, this isactually a great way to increase
(05:32):
your calories without adding anexcessive amount of volume,
because, again, they're caloriedense.
So, if we're trying to gainweight which you might think
that for some people that aretrying to gain weight is so easy
, but it is not it could also beas difficult as losing weight,
right, for many reasons.
So sometimes adding some ofthese healthy fats into our
(05:52):
meals, a little bit of extra,can help us with our weight gain
goals.
Then we have our saturated fats.
They're not inherently bad, butmoderation is key, right?
Saturated fats are found inbutter, cheese, coconut oil, red
meat.
So too much saturated fat canraise LDL, right, our bad
(06:14):
cholesterol.
And so oftentimes when I haveclients that come to me and they
say, okay, my doctor told methat I have high cholesterol, we
focus on reducing our saturatedfats.
Right, our saturated fats,again, are going to come from
our animal sources, but there'salso two plant sources that can
also contribute to saturated fatif we're having an excess
(06:37):
amount, and that's coconut oiland palm tree oil, or palm tree.
Or too much coconut itself,right, coconut water is fine
because it doesn't have the fatin it, and so oftentimes people
think, oh, I'm just going to usetons of coconut oil everywhere.
Right, cook with it, add it towhatever, and that can still
(06:58):
contribute to your badcholesterol.
So we have to also be cautiousabout that.
So if you have high cholesterolor high LDL, right, look into
where your saturated fats arecoming from.
Oftentimes it's going to be in,like butter, butter cheese,
like if it's whole milk cheeseor whole milk dairy products,
(07:20):
right, just making those thoselittle changes to fat free or
one percent will uh help.
Or uh choosing on your your uhliquid, a room temperature oils,
right, avocado, um, if you'recooking, or grapeseed if you're
cooking or grapeseed if you'recooking.
Olive oil if you want todrizzle it on something or make
(07:41):
salad dressings, because thesmoking point is a lot higher
for avocado and grapeseed oil sothey're not going to burn as
fast, right, which is what wewant.
We don't want to burn our oilsbecause that we're not going to
get into it, right, but it's nothealthy for us when we're
burning our oils.
And you're able to find, ifyou're buying foods that have a
(08:03):
food label, right, packagedprocessed foods, look at your
nutrition facts label.
It will tell you their fats andthen it's going to have
saturated fats.
Sometimes it will label it willhave your polyunsaturated, your
monounsaturated, remember, ifit says unsaturated, that is a
healthy fat.
If it's a saturated fat, thatcan contribute to if too much is
(08:28):
consumed, can contribute toincreased LDL.
So look at those numbers, right.
Then you're going to have thepercentages and I've done an
episode on how to read anutrition facts label.
So that was last year.
I might do another one thisyear.
So take a look at that right,if you're not sure how to read a
nutrition facts label, becauseit can be really helpful right.
(08:52):
So again, if we're trying tolower our cholesterol, look into
where your saturated fats arecoming from and try to make some
changes there to help you.
The next one is trans fats.
So trans fats are more.
They're solid room temperature.
(09:12):
They haven't chemicallymodified right by the food
industry.
There's also some found inanimal meats, but the concern is
more so when it's used in inproducts and packaged foods,
baked products because it hasbeen shown to increase your bad
cholesterol, your ldl anddecrease your hdl.
(09:33):
Again, you find them in somebaked goods, processed snacks,
fried foods.
You won't see it on thenutrition facts label because
the FDA, food and DrugAdministration, told the food
industry that they needed tolower the amount of trans fats
(09:53):
they were using because of theimpact on heart health, and so
it's not that it has zero, right, you will see that on the
Nutrition Facts label that itsays zero trans fat, but because
the suggestion is to have lessthan 0.5 grams or less per
serving.
And so if it has that amountwhich is always going to right
(10:15):
Because it essentially is aregulation you won't see it on
the nutrition facts label butyou will see it on the
ingredients list.
So if on the ingredients listyou see partially hydrogenated
oils or fully hydrogenated oils,essentially that is a trans fat
right.
So not only look at thenutrition facts label, that is a
(10:36):
trans fat right.
So not only look at thenutrition facts label, look at
the ingredients list to see ifthere is partially or fully
hydrogenated oils, because again, that is a trans fat and
although it might not have asignificant amount per serving,
if you eat that consistentlyright, or if you eat multiple
products that have this transfat, it is going to add up, it
is going to increase your LDLand decrease your HDL right.
(10:57):
So I usually suggest and Ioftentimes don't say avoid right
or don't add but if there'sheart problems, heart disease,
history of stroke or heartattacks or chronically elevated
LDL right or chronicallyelevated LDL right or high
(11:21):
cholesterol, then we focus on,for a period of time, avoiding
right, not having anything thathas trans fats and reducing
saturated fats significantly tolower that risk right of having
a heart attack or a stroke.
So, again, trans fats, look forpartially or fully hydrogenated
oils.
Specifically, if you're buyingmore baked goods, right, more
processed snacks, more friedfoods, look into that
(11:42):
specifically.
Now someone asked me and this ismore so because there is a
trend, right as always, abouttallow and replacing all the
seed oils or whatever withtallow.
It's not that it's going tomake the food healthier, right.
Still, tallow is, you know, ananimal fat.
It's still going to havesaturated fat, it's still going
(12:04):
to have cholesterol.
It is solid at room temperature, so it can last longer, but it
doesn't mean that it isessentially healthier, right.
So it can still contribute toincrease your LDL and increase
your bad cholesterol, right.
So we cannot just go andreplace all our oils and just
use them.
You know, freely, because wehear this trend, right, because
(12:26):
we hear this influence, they'resaying that it's better and
whatever and whatever.
So you still have to becautious, right, because still
can contribute to badcholesterol, increase your LDL,
possibly decrease your HDL.
So, again, be really cautiousabout these things that you hear
or read on the internet orsocial media.
It's better to consult with aregistered dietitian to learn
(12:49):
more about that and learn.
Okay, what's going to work bestfor me?
Right?
Because, again, thesesuggestions are general
recommendations.
It's not that it's going towork best for me, right, because
, again, these suggestions aregeneral recommendations.
It's not that it's going to bespecifically individualized for
you, right, it's just for themasses, so keep that in mind as
well.
Okay, here's how you caninclude fat in balance in a
(13:09):
balanced and intentional way.
Build your play.
Use, seeing my 3-2-1 method Atleast three ounces of protein
with every single meal, two cupsof vegetables and one serving
of carbohydrates right, and addyour healthy fats, like a
tablespoon of olive oil on yourveggies or a few slices of
avocado, to add those healthyfats and add those benefits
(13:30):
right to your plate.
Upgrade, upgrade your snacks,right?
So, instead of you know, snacksthat have, maybe that are more
processed or more packaged, useapple slices with almond butter
or Greek yogurt with chia seedsand walnut tummins and raw
veggies.
Or, if you want to add somecrackers, right, whole grain
crackers.
(13:51):
Ideally, they don't have any ofthese partially hydrogenated
oils, ideally that they don'thave any of these partially
hydrogenated oils.
Look at the ingredients listand you can still add them and
they can still be part of ofyour day-to-day right of your
meals.
We can cook smarter, right?
So if we had using differentoils, right, as I mentioned,
(14:13):
using avocado oil for cooking,because it does have a higher
smoking point, so it's not goingto be burning as fast versus
you were to use olive oil tocook, right, use olive oil for
dressings, as I mentioned,marinades and things like that
to flavor, to add some flavor toyour food or to add it to your
(14:34):
vegetables.
That is a wonderful idea and wealso don't need to use a lot,
right I?
I like visuals and so if youlook at your thumb, right,
that's about a tablespoon.
So if you use a tablespoon ofoil whatever the oil that you're
using that's about 200 calories, right?
So, so it can definitely add up.
(14:56):
So I oftentimes say if youreally need to use oil, buy this
spray, right?
So just to coat your pan orwhatever you're using to cook,
and so the food doesn't stick,right, and you can still cook
your meals.
Or you can even also spray iton your vegetables, right, to
add some flavor, maybe saute orstir fry or whatever you want to
(15:17):
make, and you're using a lotless oil, right?
If that is the case, don't fearfats at breakfast.
Again, they can help withsatiety.
They can help with stayingsatiated for a longer period of
time, right, specifically in themornings when we're going to be
so busy.
It can keep us from havingcravings later on in the evening
(15:40):
, or just keeping our hungermore stable or our acetate more
stable.
So add flaxseed, groundflaxseed or chia seeds to your
oatmeal, to your smoothies, toyour yogurt, pretty much to
anything.
Cook your eggs with olive oil,right again, if they're going to
be cooked at a lowertemperature, or avocado oil, if
you're going to cook them for alonger period of time.
(16:02):
Top your toast with avocado ornut butter.
You can even add hemp seeds toyour avocado toast or to your
nut butter toast, and that's oneother way to add a little bit
of protein, some fiber and somehealthy fats.
Quick questions here that Ioften get asked Isn't fat bad
(16:24):
for weight loss?
Actually, incorporating healthyfats can support weight loss by
keeping you full and satiatedlonger.
The key is, again, portion andquality right, not restricting
it Again, as I mentioned at thebeginning.
Again, portion and qualityright, not restricting it Again,
as I mentioned at the beginning, we still need fats, right, our
healthy fats, because they arepart of a macronutrient, so we
(16:44):
do need them, right.
We need them for hormonalbalancing, we need them to be
able to absorb our fat-solublevitamins A, d, e and K.
We need them for satiety, right, and so we still need them.
So don't just avoid them andlike eliminate them completely.
Okay, my friends, lots of thingsto consider, lots of things
(17:08):
that I talked about in a shortperiod of time, but I wanted to
do our last macronutrients.
I think I'll be doing one onmicronutrients, which are your
vitamins and minerals.
I do have a friend, a dieticiancolleague, that she did a
presentation on all yourvitamins, so I think I'm going
(17:31):
to have her join me to do thesenext episodes and talk about all
the vitamins, but for now, Iwant you to remember right that
fat is essential, delicious andpart of a balanced nutrition
plan.
When we choose the right kinds,it supports our hormones, brain
(17:53):
, heart and energy levels.
So let's move away from thefear and start making confident,
informed choices.
If you found this episodehelpful, please share it with a
friend and leave a review, anddon't forget to follow me on
instagram at nutritionunderscore, with underscore
leonela.
And until next time, keepfueling your body with intention
(18:14):
and joy.
All right, my friend, take care, talk to you soon, bye.
Bye for now.
Hey, hey, welcome back to another episode in the
Simple Nutrition InsightsPodcast.
I am your host, luni Lacampos,registered Dietitian, and today
we are diving into a topic thatoften gets a bad rap Fats.
Yes, fat, or fat, is amacronutrient and, yes, we
absolutely need it.
(00:21):
So let's break down the science, bust a few myths and, most
importantly, walk away withpractical tips to feel confident
about fats on your plate.
Fats is one of the threemacronutrients alongside protein
and carbohydrates.
It's the most energy dense,giving us nine calories per gram
compared to four from proteinand carbs.
If you haven't had the chanceto listen to, I want to say my
(00:46):
last two episodes maybe the lastthree, because there was one in
the middle, but I've doneproteins and carbohydrates myths
and practical tips.
So if you haven't had a chanceto listen to those episodes, go
back and take a listen.
I also provided really usefulhandouts that you can use to
(01:08):
help you make healthierdecisions or choose the best
protein sources for yourcarbohydrates as well, so check
it out.
But we need fat for brainhealth.
About 60% of our brain is madeof fat.
Hormone production, especiallykey for women's health and
(01:29):
metabolism.
Um, more specifically, as we gointo menopause, perimenopause,
we.
We need um our healthy fatsright for for that, hormone
production, balancing andregulation nutrient absorption.
Vitamins a, d, e and k areconsidered our fat soluble
(01:49):
vitamins, which they need fat tobe absorbed and also for cell
structure and energy storage.
So, despite what diet culturemay have taught us, fat is not
the enemy, just likecarbohydrates are not the enemy.
It's so interesting thatthere's.
You know, we go throughdifferent trends and different
(02:11):
phases, and I see this a lot inmy practice, right, when I talk
to clients and they ask me aboutyou know, carbohydrates are bad
for you.
You should not have fruit X, y,z or fats are bad for you if
you're trying to lose weight,and it is my job, right, as a
registered dietitian, todismissify these myths, right,
(02:33):
and this misinformation, becauseI also had clients tell me you
know, there's so muchinformation out there and I
don't even know what's right andwhat's wrong or what's true and
what is not, because,thankfully, right, we have the
internet and we can researchdifferent topics, but sometimes
(02:55):
the information out there is notaccurate, right?
Or if you're getting yourinformation from someone that
has no credentials at all, it'sso important to be worried about
that right, because they canhave their own opinions, so they
can say, oh, these avocados arebad for you, right, because
(03:17):
they have so much fat Totallyincorrect, right.
And so we have to be reallycautious as to where we get our
information from and also tomake sure they don't have their
own agendas and their own biasesabout it.
So, research-based information.
So let's break down fats intothree main categories.
We have our unsaturated fats,the heart-healthy kind, which is
(03:39):
found in avocados, olive oil,nuts, seeds and fatty fish, like
salmon, sardines, tuna,no-transcript.
Now, saturated fats are dividedinto polyunsaturated,
monounsaturated fats.
We are not going to go into thechemistry about it, but, again,
(04:01):
these are found in your plantsources as well as your fatty
fish.
They help increase your goodcholesterol, which is your HDL,
and they help to lower your badcholesterol, which is your LDL,
right.
So these are fats that we wantto add into our meals.
They also help with satiety,right, because they're more
(04:24):
calorie dense.
They're not going to bedigested as fast versus our
carbohydrates, which, you know,if we combine them.
It's going to help not to havethese sugar spikes right, or
these sugar roller coasters, andit's also going to help us help
not to have these sugar spikes,right, these sugar roller
coasters.
And it's also going to help usto not have like these cravings,
right, if we, again, if we'remaking this balanced meal.
So, if you want to have toast,have toast with avocado, right,
(04:48):
some slices of avocado.
Now, I want to pinpoint herethat, because they are, even
though they're healthy fatsright, we have to be mindful
of're healthy fats, right, wehave to be mindful of their
calorie dense.
Right, they are calorie dense,so they're twice as much of they
have twice as much calories asproteins and carbohydrates, so
we can also just not have likeoverabundance of it, right,
(05:10):
because you heard that they arehealthy and we should have a
good amount of them, but we haveto still be mindful of that.
If this is something thatyou're conserving right, in
terms of, like, maintaining yourbody weight, right, or possibly
losing weight you have toconsider that, if you're wanting
to gain weight, this isactually a great way to increase
(05:32):
your calories without adding anexcessive amount of volume,
because, again, they're caloriedense.
So, if we're trying to gainweight which you might think
that for some people that aretrying to gain weight is so easy
, but it is not it could also beas difficult as losing weight,
right, for many reasons.
So sometimes adding some ofthese healthy fats into our
(05:52):
meals, a little bit of extra,can help us with our weight gain
goals.
Then we have our saturated fats.
They're not inherently bad, butmoderation is key, right?
Saturated fats are found inbutter, cheese, coconut oil, red
meat.
So too much saturated fat canraise LDL, right, our bad
(06:14):
cholesterol.
And so oftentimes when I haveclients that come to me and they
say, okay, my doctor told methat I have high cholesterol, we
focus on reducing our saturatedfats.
Right, our saturated fats,again, are going to come from
our animal sources, but there'salso two plant sources that can
also contribute to saturated fatif we're having an excess
(06:37):
amount, and that's coconut oiland palm tree oil, or palm tree.
Or too much coconut itself,right, coconut water is fine
because it doesn't have the fatin it, and so oftentimes people
think, oh, I'm just going to usetons of coconut oil everywhere.
Right, cook with it, add it towhatever, and that can still
(06:58):
contribute to your badcholesterol.
So we have to also be cautiousabout that.
So if you have high cholesterolor high LDL, right, look into
where your saturated fats arecoming from.
Oftentimes it's going to be in,like butter, butter cheese,
like if it's whole milk cheeseor whole milk dairy products,
(07:20):
right, just making those thoselittle changes to fat free or
one percent will uh help.
Or uh choosing on your your uhliquid, a room temperature oils,
right, avocado, um, if you'recooking, or grapeseed if you're
cooking or grapeseed if you'recooking.
Olive oil if you want todrizzle it on something or make
(07:41):
salad dressings, because thesmoking point is a lot higher
for avocado and grapeseed oil sothey're not going to burn as
fast, right, which is what wewant.
We don't want to burn our oilsbecause that we're not going to
get into it, right, but it's nothealthy for us when we're
burning our oils.
And you're able to find, ifyou're buying foods that have a
(08:03):
food label, right, packagedprocessed foods, look at your
nutrition facts label.
It will tell you their fats andthen it's going to have
saturated fats.
Sometimes it will label it willhave your polyunsaturated, your
monounsaturated, remember, ifit says unsaturated, that is a
healthy fat.
If it's a saturated fat, thatcan contribute to if too much is
(08:28):
consumed, can contribute toincreased LDL.
So look at those numbers, right.
Then you're going to have thepercentages and I've done an
episode on how to read anutrition facts label.
So that was last year.
I might do another one thisyear.
So take a look at that right,if you're not sure how to read a
nutrition facts label, becauseit can be really helpful right.
(08:52):
So again, if we're trying tolower our cholesterol, look into
where your saturated fats arecoming from and try to make some
changes there to help you.
The next one is trans fats.
So trans fats are more.
They're solid room temperature.
(09:12):
They haven't chemicallymodified right by the food
industry.
There's also some found inanimal meats, but the concern is
more so when it's used in inproducts and packaged foods,
baked products because it hasbeen shown to increase your bad
cholesterol, your ldl anddecrease your hdl.
(09:33):
Again, you find them in somebaked goods, processed snacks,
fried foods.
You won't see it on thenutrition facts label because
the FDA, food and DrugAdministration, told the food
industry that they needed tolower the amount of trans fats
(09:53):
they were using because of theimpact on heart health, and so
it's not that it has zero, right, you will see that on the
Nutrition Facts label that itsays zero trans fat, but because
the suggestion is to have lessthan 0.5 grams or less per
serving.
And so if it has that amountwhich is always going to right
(10:15):
Because it essentially is aregulation you won't see it on
the nutrition facts label butyou will see it on the
ingredients list.
So if on the ingredients listyou see partially hydrogenated
oils or fully hydrogenated oils,essentially that is a trans fat
right.
So not only look at thenutrition facts label, that is a
(10:36):
trans fat right.
So not only look at thenutrition facts label, look at
the ingredients list to see ifthere is partially or fully
hydrogenated oils, because again, that is a trans fat and
although it might not have asignificant amount per serving,
if you eat that consistentlyright, or if you eat multiple
products that have this transfat, it is going to add up, it
is going to increase your LDLand decrease your HDL right.
(10:57):
So I usually suggest and Ioftentimes don't say avoid right
or don't add but if there'sheart problems, heart disease,
history of stroke or heartattacks or chronically elevated
LDL right or chronicallyelevated LDL right or high
(11:21):
cholesterol, then we focus on,for a period of time, avoiding
right, not having anything thathas trans fats and reducing
saturated fats significantly tolower that risk right of having
a heart attack or a stroke.
So, again, trans fats, look forpartially or fully hydrogenated
oils.
Specifically, if you're buyingmore baked goods, right, more
processed snacks, more friedfoods, look into that
(11:42):
specifically.
Now someone asked me and this ismore so because there is a
trend, right as always, abouttallow and replacing all the
seed oils or whatever withtallow.
It's not that it's going tomake the food healthier, right.
Still, tallow is, you know, ananimal fat.
It's still going to havesaturated fat, it's still going
(12:04):
to have cholesterol.
It is solid at room temperature, so it can last longer, but it
doesn't mean that it isessentially healthier, right.
So it can still contribute toincrease your LDL and increase
your bad cholesterol, right.
So we cannot just go andreplace all our oils and just
use them.
You know, freely, because wehear this trend, right, because
(12:26):
we hear this influence, they'resaying that it's better and
whatever and whatever.
So you still have to becautious, right, because still
can contribute to badcholesterol, increase your LDL,
possibly decrease your HDL.
So, again, be really cautiousabout these things that you hear
or read on the internet orsocial media.
It's better to consult with aregistered dietitian to learn
(12:49):
more about that and learn.
Okay, what's going to work bestfor me?
Right?
Because, again, thesesuggestions are general
recommendations.
It's not that it's going towork best for me, right, because
, again, these suggestions aregeneral recommendations.
It's not that it's going to bespecifically individualized for
you, right, it's just for themasses, so keep that in mind as
well.
Okay, here's how you caninclude fat in balance in a
(13:09):
balanced and intentional way.
Build your play.
Use, seeing my 3-2-1 method Atleast three ounces of protein
with every single meal, two cupsof vegetables and one serving
of carbohydrates right, and addyour healthy fats, like a
tablespoon of olive oil on yourveggies or a few slices of
avocado, to add those healthyfats and add those benefits
(13:30):
right to your plate.
Upgrade, upgrade your snacks,right?
So, instead of you know, snacksthat have, maybe that are more
processed or more packaged, useapple slices with almond butter
or Greek yogurt with chia seedsand walnut tummins and raw
veggies.
Or, if you want to add somecrackers, right, whole grain
crackers.
(13:51):
Ideally, they don't have any ofthese partially hydrogenated
oils, ideally that they don'thave any of these partially
hydrogenated oils.
Look at the ingredients listand you can still add them and
they can still be part of ofyour day-to-day right of your
meals.
We can cook smarter, right?
So if we had using differentoils, right, as I mentioned,
(14:13):
using avocado oil for cooking,because it does have a higher
smoking point, so it's not goingto be burning as fast versus
you were to use olive oil tocook, right, use olive oil for
dressings, as I mentioned,marinades and things like that
to flavor, to add some flavor toyour food or to add it to your
(14:34):
vegetables.
That is a wonderful idea and wealso don't need to use a lot,
right I?
I like visuals and so if youlook at your thumb, right,
that's about a tablespoon.
So if you use a tablespoon ofoil whatever the oil that you're
using that's about 200 calories, right?
So, so it can definitely add up.
(14:56):
So I oftentimes say if youreally need to use oil, buy this
spray, right?
So just to coat your pan orwhatever you're using to cook,
and so the food doesn't stick,right, and you can still cook
your meals.
Or you can even also spray iton your vegetables, right, to
add some flavor, maybe saute orstir fry or whatever you want to
(15:17):
make, and you're using a lotless oil, right?
If that is the case, don't fearfats at breakfast.
Again, they can help withsatiety.
They can help with stayingsatiated for a longer period of
time, right, specifically in themornings when we're going to be
so busy.
It can keep us from havingcravings later on in the evening
(15:40):
, or just keeping our hungermore stable or our acetate more
stable.
So add flaxseed, groundflaxseed or chia seeds to your
oatmeal, to your smoothies, toyour yogurt, pretty much to
anything.
Cook your eggs with olive oil,right again, if they're going to
be cooked at a lowertemperature, or avocado oil, if
you're going to cook them for alonger period of time.
(16:02):
Top your toast with avocado ornut butter.
You can even add hemp seeds toyour avocado toast or to your
nut butter toast, and that's oneother way to add a little bit
of protein, some fiber and somehealthy fats.
Quick questions here that Ioften get asked Isn't fat bad
(16:24):
for weight loss?
Actually, incorporating healthyfats can support weight loss by
keeping you full and satiatedlonger.
The key is, again, portion andquality right, not restricting
it Again, as I mentioned at thebeginning.
Again, portion and qualityright, not restricting it Again,
as I mentioned at the beginning, we still need fats, right, our
healthy fats, because they arepart of a macronutrient, so we
(16:44):
do need them, right.
We need them for hormonalbalancing, we need them to be
able to absorb our fat-solublevitamins A, d, e and K.
We need them for satiety, right, and so we still need them.
So don't just avoid them andlike eliminate them completely.
Okay, my friends, lots of thingsto consider, lots of things
(17:08):
that I talked about in a shortperiod of time, but I wanted to
do our last macronutrients.
I think I'll be doing one onmicronutrients, which are your
vitamins and minerals.
I do have a friend, a dieticiancolleague, that she did a
presentation on all yourvitamins, so I think I'm going
(17:31):
to have her join me to do thesenext episodes and talk about all
the vitamins, but for now, Iwant you to remember right that
fat is essential, delicious andpart of a balanced nutrition
plan.
When we choose the right kinds,it supports our hormones, brain
(17:53):
, heart and energy levels.
So let's move away from thefear and start making confident,
informed choices.
If you found this episodehelpful, please share it with a
friend and leave a review, anddon't forget to follow me on
instagram at nutritionunderscore, with underscore
leonela.
And until next time, keepfueling your body with intention
(18:14):
and joy.
All right, my friend, take care, talk to you soon, bye.
Bye for now.
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