Why You Should Stop Fearing Fat—and Start Eating It for Better Health

Fall is here, and I’m trying to fit in every last mountain bike ride before the cold and snow shut down the trails. My friend and I headed out for a late afternoon ride, underestimating how long the route would take. Halfway through the long loop, we realized the sun was setting—and we didn’t have headlamps. There was no shortcut back to the trailhead, so we had to finish the loop in the dark. By the time we started descending the mountain, I could barely see the trail—just the faint outline beside a steep drop. Thankfully, I’d ridden it many times and trusted (or hoped!) there were no surprises. We made it back safely, but it was a good reminder: always pack headlamps, just in case you get caught in the dark.

Which brings me to the topic at hand: don’t get caught in the dark about saturated fats! 

A client recently asked me a question I’ve heard countless times: “Aren’t saturated fats bad for your heart?”

It’s a fair question—especially after decades of being told that eating fat clogs arteries and leads to heart disease. But here’s the truth… that story is far more complicated than we’ve been led to believe.

The “Low-Fat” Myth That Made Us Sicker

Since 1980, the US Dietary Guidelines have recommended eating less fat to lose weight and prevent heart disease. As a result of this advice from the government, the food industry exploded with highly processed foods claiming to be “healthy” with a “low-fat” label, but instead were filled with sugar and refined carbohydrates. 

It turns out, not only was this advice from the US Dietary Guidelines wrong, but it is actually harming us by eliminating the fats our bodies need to function properly and overloading our bodies with sugar and other harmful chemicals. Since 1980, type 2 diabetes has gone up 700%, obesity is on the rise, with 1 out of 3 Americans being obese(versus 1 out of 7 in 1960), and 1 out of 10 kids is either pre-diabetic or diabetic. 

The Real Culprit Behind Heart Disease (Hint: It’s Not Saturated Fat)

Let’s be clear: the saturated fats you eat DO NOT raise the saturated fats in your blood. Instead, it’s the refined carbohydrates and sugar in your diet that prompt your liver to produce the saturated fats found in your bloodstream—and those elevated levels are what contribute to heart disease.

There are different kinds of fats: MUFAs (monounsaturated fats) found in olive oil, avocados, nuts, fish, dairy, lard, and meats; and PUFAs (polyunsaturated fats) found in soybean, canola, safflower, sunflower, and flax oils, as well as fish, walnuts, and seeds. Some of these PUFAs, like vegetable oils (like soybean, canola, safflower, and sunflower) are highly processed and form harmful free radicals when heated—making them poor choices for a healthy diet.

Two types of PUFAs are essential, meaning your body can’t make them and must get them from food: omega-3s (anti-inflammatory) and omega-6s (inflammatory). Health issues arise when omega-6 far outweighs omega-3. Unfortunately, the Standard American Diet (the SAD diet) is overloaded with omega-6s from refined vegetable oils, which—especially when heated—can drive inflammation and increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and dementia.

You Can’t Change Your Genes, But You Can Change How They Behave

One important fact to understand is that food is information—it directly influences how your genes are expressed. So don’t assume you’re doomed to heart disease or high cholesterol just because it runs in your family. Your diet and environment play a powerful role in determining your actual risk. By eating plenty of healthy fats, focusing on non-starchy vegetables, avoiding sugar and refined carbs, exercising regularly, limiting exposure to environmental toxins, and managing stress, you can significantly lower your risk of heart disease and other chronic health problems.

Why Your Body (and Brain) Thrive on Healthy Fats

When you eat the right types of healthy saturated fats, found in fish, nuts, dairy, coconut butter, coconut oil, pasture-raised meats, and seeds, they support your body in countless ways. These fats are essential for:

• Strengthening your immune function

• Fighting cancer

• Required to make hormones

• Improve lung function

• Reduce inflammation

• Providing certain essential vitamins and minerals from animal sources.

Your brain especially relies on these healthy fats! It’s largely made up of saturated and omega-3 fats, which are crucial for renewing and regenerating nerve cells and keeping your mind sharp

The Importance Of Cholesterol And How It Improves Your Health

Before we discuss how saturated fats affect your blood cholesterol levels, it’s important to understand what cholesterol is and how it improves your health. Cholesterol is a fatty substance produced by the liver that is necessary for thousands of functions, including but not limited to:

• Build cell membranes

• Cover the nerve sheath and much of the brain

• Key building block for hormone production

• Lower levels→ increased risk of death

• Higher levels help increase life span

What You Should Aim for in a Healthy Cholesterol Profile

When evaluating your cholesterol blood levels to determine your heart health, looking at total cholesterol and LDL levels is not as important as looking at the following ratios:

• Levels of HDL to LDL(there are two types of LDL: large, light and fluffy(harmless) and small, dense and dangerous LDL: you want the former). 

• HDL- ideally greater than 60mg/dl.

• Tryglyceride levels- ideally less than 100mg/dl

• Ratio of Triglycerides to HDL-ideally less than 1:1 or 2:1

• Ratio of Total cholesterol to HDL- less than 3:1

What fats do you want to avoid?

As I mentioned above, vegetable oils are processed and, when exposed to high heat, can cause damage to your tissues, leading to all sorts of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and dementia. 

Trans fats(also known as hydrogenated fats) are another type of fat you should avoid. They are mostly man-made and in 2013 were ruled to be “not safe to eat” by the FDA, but are unfortunately still found in products on store shelves today! These fats are found in shortening, margarine, fried foods, and commercially baked products. 

What are the healthy fats you want to load up on?

I hope by now I have convinced you that eating the right type of saturated fats in addition to a low sugar, no refined carbohydrates, non-starchy vegetables will not harm you, but in fact improve your overall health. So what type of fats should you include in your diet? These include olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, organic or pasture-raised meats(not conventionally raised meats), eggs, and fish low in toxins, mercury, and high in Omega-3s (salmon, mackerel, herring, anchovies, and sardines). 

Do saturated Fats and cholesterol in Meats cause heart disease?

The type of saturated fats in the blood that cause heart disease does not come from meat. They are produced in the liver when you eat sugar and carbohydrates. In the absence of these(sugar and refined carbohydrates), there is no consistent evidence that eating saturated fat from meat raises blood cholesterol. Instead, there is plenty of evidence that eating meat improves cholesterol levels in the absence of sugar and refined carbohydrates.

Summary

For decades, we’ve been told to fear fat—but that advice has led to more harm than good. When the U.S. Dietary Guidelines urged Americans to eat less fat, the food industry replaced it with sugar and refined carbs, fueling today’s epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The truth is, healthy fats are essential—they support hormone balance, immune strength, brain health, and even longevity. It’s sugar, refined carbohydrates, and processed vegetable oils, not the consumption of healthy saturated fat, that drive inflammation and chronic disease. 

Your genes aren’t your destiny—your daily choices are. By eating whole foods rich in healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts, and pasture-raised meats—while cutting out sugar, refined carbs, and processed oils—you can lower inflammation, improve cholesterol ratios, and protect your heart, brain, and overall health.