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Experts used to think that dietary fat — which makes foods like burgers and ice cream and pizza taste flavorful AF — made people physically fat and sick, but not anymore. The only kind of fat that's definitively bad for you is trans fat, according to registered dietitian Abby Langer.Andthe other kinds of fat can be beneficial for general health —and weight management.
Of course you can't just add healthy fats to a crappy diet and expect to lose weight. But "consuming a wide variety of nutritious foods, including fats, helps create satiety and can help prevent overeating," explains neuroscientist Darya Rose, PhD, author of Foodist and the blog Summer Tomato. And that can result in sustainable weight loss.
If you want to control your weight and live your healthiest life, you can get over your fat fears and dig into the fat-rich foods below:
1. Nuts
Although nuts are calorically dense — a serving size is apaltry 18 nuts (lolz) and isabout170 calories —studies show that people who eat more nuts have lower BMIs than people who don't. While this doesn't exactly prove that nuts make you skinny, scientists believe eating nuts may increase the numberof calories you burn at restand keepyou full for so long thatyou end up eating fewer caloriesover all. Another theory: The body can'tdigest some of the fat calories found in certain nutslike almonds, explains Langer. And when food calories exitthe body intact, they're excluded from the whole calories-in-versus-calories-out equation that's often blamed forweight losses and gains.
2. Coconut Oil
Preliminary research shows that simply swallowingcoconut oil can increase your energy metabolism and burn up to 120extracaloriesper day. If your goal is reduce your overallcaloric intake, you'rebetter off cooking withcoconut oil thancutting outfatsaltogether.
3. Avocado
Used in place of conventionalbutter (which is no longer considered the devil, but still packs quite a fewcalories per schmear), avocado delivers aworthwhile mix of healthy fats, fiber, and vitamins that dietitians are rightfully obsessed with.Researchevenshows that overweight people who eat half an avocado at lunch feel greatersatisfaction up to five hours later.
4. Wild Salmon
Full of omega-3fats (which are just about thebest kind of fats you can eat), this fish tastes good because of its fat content.Fat moleculescarry flavor from your plate to your palate, which makesevery bite that much more satisfying. And of course salmon is also a solid source ofprotein, which helps the fish earnan A+ in sustainable energy.
5. Grass-Fed Butter
Grass-fed butter only sounds ~fancy~but you can find it online andat manygrocerystores in a clarified form known as ghee (a certain Kardashian's favorite).Grass-fed butters contain more omega-3 fats than theconventional stuff, a good thing considering omega-3sappears toexpediteweight loss in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet, according to promisingresearchinvolving omega-3 supplements. Every little bit counts!
6. Grass-Fed Beef
Most experts agree that you can lose weight on a reduced calorie diet regardless of whether you stick to diet foods (hi, kale) or indulge infood you actually crave, likeburgers. Grass-fed burgerscontains less fat and fewercalories than meat made from conventionallyraised cows,and serves up more of the good stuff: omega-3 fats.
7. Egg Yolks
Contrary to popular belief, eggs don't appear to raisebad cholesterol ortrigger heart disease,according to recentresearchthat compared the effects oflow- and high-egg diets. Eggs — yolks and all! — actually promote satiety that should (at least in theory) reduce overeating.
8.Hard, Full-Fat Cheeses
Despite the fact that cheeseisoften demonized for being high in fat and calories,science suggests that full-fat, milk-based foodsare undeserving of their rotten reputations.Somestudieseven show that people who cut back on calories while increasing their intake offull-fat dairy lose weight more quickly than people who only cut back oncalories.Again and again, large-scale scientific reviews of existing research suggest that people who includehigh-fat dairy foods in their diets are lesslikely to be overweight andobese.Researchhas even found thatpeople who eat upwardof fiveservings a week have less body fat,lower BMIs, and lower blood pressure thanpeople who steer clear of dairy altogether.While more research is needed to understand exactly why, some theoriessuggestthatdairy'sproteinboostssatiety anditscalciumbinds to fatty acids to reducefat absorption.There's also reason to believe that acertainfatty acid found inagedcheesesandproducedbygut bacteria when you eathigh-fat dairymay speed up the metabolism and promote weight loss.Which is as good an excuse as any to orderpizza with extra parmesanRN.
From:
Elizabeth Narins
Senior fitness and health editor
Elizabeth Narins is a Brooklyn, NY-based writer and a former senior editor at Cosmopolitan.com, where she wrote about fitness, health, and more. Follow her at @ejnarins.
