Understanding the difference between the fats you eat is a key skill. It helps your body run smoothly, ensures you get essential nutrients, and makes managing your "Fat Servings" in the app much more effective.
Why Does Your Body Need Fat?
First, let's be clear: fat is not the enemy. It is an essential nutrient that your body absolutely needs to survive. It plays several critical roles:
It's your body's long-term energy reserve.
It's required to absorb key vitamins (Vitamins A, D, E, and K).
It's a building block for your cells and hormones.
Cutting fat out completely is not a healthy or sustainable long-term strategy. The key is to choose the right kind.
The Good Guys: Unsaturated Fats
Think of "Good Fats" as the high-quality "maintenance crew" for your body. They help keep your systems running smoothly, especially your heart and blood vessels. These fats are essential and great for your health.
Where to find them: Olive oil, rice bran oil, avocados, nuts (like almonds and walnuts), and fatty fish (like salmon and mackerel).
The Fats to Limit: Saturated & Trans Fats
Think of these "other" fats as grease clogging a drain. If you have too much, they can build up in your blood vessels and lead to health problems. We should limit these.
Saturated Fat: Found in animal fats (like pork fat, chicken skin), butter, coconut milk, and palm oil.
Trans Fat: Found in margarine, shortening, and some processed baked goods. (Luckily, most artificial trans fats are now banned, but it's always good to check labels for "partially hydrogenated oil").
How to Add Good Fats to Your Meals
Choosing good fats is easy. Try these simple swaps:
As a Replacement: Use olive oil or rice bran oil for cooking instead of animal fat or palm oil.
As an Addition: Add 2 tablespoons of diced avocado to your salad, or a tablespoon of nuts to your oatmeal. In the app, this counts as 1 Fat Serving.
As a Snack: A small handful of almonds (about 6) or peanuts (about 10) also counts as 1 Fat Serving. Nut milks (like almond or pistachio) can count as 0.5-1 Fat Serving, but always check the label, as some have added sugar (which adds a Carb Serving!).
The most important takeaway is this: the goal is not to cut fat, but to choose and replace it.
By swapping unhealthy fats for healthier ones in the right portions, you'll not only be supporting your heart health but also find it much easier to manage your "Calorie Goal" in a sustainable way.