I choose to eat and feed my family a nutritious diet that is rich in healthy fats so that our bodies, brains and minds can function at optimum levels. I incorporate and cook with beneficial dietary fats from sources like virgin coconut oil; ethically raised, free-range, grass-fed animals; wild caught sustainable fish; and avocados.
Sadly, healthy fats have been so wrongly demonised over the last several decades and our health has suffered tremendously. Don't confuse your fats – trans-fats are indeed toxic, so do yourself a favour and get rid of rancid vegetable and seed oils like canola, corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean and sunflower oils and choose to cook with healthy virgin coconut oil instead.
I have never been afraid of eating healthy saturated fats, as I've always been well aware of the fact that consuming brains and bone marrow was a crucial part of our evolutionary process. Fortunately, the latest reputable scientific evidence proves beyond doubt that healthy fats are crucial for all our major bodily functions and the message is gradually spreading. But unfortunately, too many people still equate the idea of consuming fat to "being fat", when in actual fact, obesity has almost nothing to do with dietary fat consumption and is much more to do with our chronic addiction to wheat, gluten, starchy carbs and sugar.
Healthy fats are indeed the preferred fuel of the human metabolism. In fact, according to Dr Mary Enig, a former lipid bench chemist of more than 50 years, 18-carbon stearic acid (a saturated fat) is actually the preferred fuel for the human heart. It makes perfect sense, given that fat is the most consistently reliable form of fuel. The brain, too, prefers ketones over glucose and functions much more efficiently when utilising this form of fuel.
That said, saturated fat is not necessarily more important than other types of natural fat for overall human health and optimal functioning. The importance is not in the absolute amount of any one particular type of natural fat, but instead an overall balance of fats and essential fatty acids for fuelling the vast variety of human physiological processes. And quality of sourcing – organic, pastured, non-rancid – in preparation is also vital for health and ethical reasons.
Cook with love, heart, laughter and healthy fats.