The Skinny: is All Fat Bad For You?

When I think of the word ‘fat’ I imagine my dear Aunt Polly who visits from Nebraska sitting on my couch eating a bucket of fried chicken from Popeyes.  It makes sense that eating fat makes us fat; simple logic.  However, most of us don’t understand how our bodies actually work and how to follow proper nutritional guidelines.  The media doesn’t help either – it seems every day a new diet regime comes out.

Fat has turned into a national enemy; the anti-food. 

The problem is, foods with fat in them taste good.  Burgers, fries, pizza, ribs, chocolate, sausages, and fried chicken.  Things that taste good are usually bad for us, aren’t they?  If we want to be healthy we have to eat a stale cardboard-tasting meal void of succulence right?  Wrong!

Why We Need Fat to Live

Fats are good: along with being delicious and filling fats are healthy and essential. Let’s explore the benefits of fats first.

First up, a surprising fact: without fats, we couldn’t survive.  You are probably most familiar with the gut below you which is called adipose tissue.  This is your store of energy that will keep you alive in case you find yourself stranded on an island or a survivor of the apocalypse.  For every day purposes, you probably want to get rid of it.  Subcutaneous fat – the kind below your skin – helps protect our organs when we get hit or accidentally run into a wall and helps keep our body temperature in check.

How Our Bodies Use Fat

We all know that vitamins are healthy.  But did you know that vitamins A, D, E and K are soluble only through fat?  That means without fats, they could not be digested, transported, or absorbed.  Fats also keep our hair and skin vitalized and healthy.  The nice supple sheen your skin has – thank the bacon!  Fats can also keep us alive if we ingest a mild poison or get infected with a low-grade infection.  Our body can dilute the potency of a chemical by storing it in fat instead of other cells so that our organs can work properly.

Many fats are EFA (essential fatty acids) which means our body cannot produce them.  Without eating fats, we would literally die.

The Benefits of Fat

With all the benefits that fats provide us, why have they gotten such a bad rep?  Well, the first reason is that too many fats are in fact bad for us.  Overweight people have higher rates of cancer, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and a host of other problems.  But this doesn’t mean you should eliminate fats completely from your diet.

It’s true that excessive fats are bad for you.  It’s also true that excessive amounts of water can kill you.  The trick in being healthy is to maintain a balanced diet.  Fats are literally an essential part of every person’s diet and should be eaten in moderation.  This doesn’t mean you should indulge in greasy bacon at the breakfast cafe every morning, but you shouldn’t try to avoid fats at all cost.