18 Healthy Fats To Eat For A Healthier Well Being

People all around the globe have this common notion that eating fats is only bad for one’s health. What we fail to realize is the fact that the healthy fats to eat are actually beneficial for the overall growth and development of the body.

If you are trying to impose a healthy lifestyle for yourself and cut down the unwanted pounds of fats from your body, it is best to stick to the consumption of healthy fats which are actually quite beneficial for your overall health.

In this article, we are going to be discussing about the benefits of adding fat to your diet and discuss about the various fatty healthy foods that you possibly weren’t even aware of.

What Does Fatty Food Mean?

When it does come to describing fatty food, the definition is quite easy. Healthy fatty foods are mainly the ones which are loaded with medium chain fatty acids and other forms of healthy fats which add to the muscle mass and help in growth and development, rather than making you gain weight or increasing the cholesterol levels in the body.

1. Fatty Foods that are Healthy

Owing to the fact that majority of the people have wrong notion thinking that eating fatty foods are responsible in making you gain weight, it is time to change that notion.

For the most part, it is the unhealthy fats that end up inducing weight gain while the healthy fats do contribute to providing your body with the necessary nutrition that it requires.

Some of the best healthy fats to eat include:

1. Avocados

Aside from its taste, avocado is different in terms of its nutrient content as well. Unlike the majority of the other fruits, avocados are loaded with healthy fats instead of carbohydrates.

If studies are to be believed, 77% of the composition of avocados is fat (R) which makes it one of the highest fat containing food, even more than what we get in animal meat.

The best part of the available fats in the avocados is the fact that they are mainly comprised of monosaturated fatty acids (R) like oleic acid which is actually healthy for the body.

Apart from the available fats, avocados are also loaded with essential fibers and even potassium which is quite beneficial for the overall functioning of the body.

2. Walnuts

The brain like nuts are actually considered as one of the best fatty foods healthy for your overall body. Unlike avocados, their main composition includes omega-3 fatty acids, especially the alpha linoleic acid, a compound mainly traced from the plants.

This is considered as one of the best healthy fats to eat mainly because they are tied with better blood vessel functioning (R) and even prevent the risks of heart attacks (R) and strokes.

3. Butter

How often have you heard people say that butter and ghee are actually bad for you? The cheap variants of the butter or ghee like margarine and oil spreads might be bad but the actual farm churned butter is one of the best fatty healthy foods.

Owing to the fact that they are loaded with not just omega-3 fatty acids but omega-6 fatty acids as well, they are very essential for the overall functionality of the body and helps boost the overall metabolism of the body as well.

4. Cheese

Cheese is yet another one of the best foods to consume if you want to experience the benefits of fats in our body.

Not only are they loaded with healthy fats, they are also quite filled with good amount of calcium, Vitamin B12 and even phosphorus (R) for that matter.

Consuming even just a slice of cheese is quite beneficial for the body when it comes to filling up for the essential nutrients that the body needs.

Apart from the necessary levels of fats and other essential nutrients, cheese is also loaded with proteins which make it an ideal meal option for you to look into.

5. Olives

Olives are yet another amazing source of healthy fats that one can gorge on. If you are someone who likes the taste of olives, even consuming half a cup of olive gives your body 7 gms of healthy fats.

The olives predominantly contain healthy monosaturated fats which are actually quite healthy for the body. It is also loaded with a phytonutrient known as hydroxytyrosol which has beneficial impacts in cancer prevention.

Apart from being a good storehouse of fats, olives are also amazing for people who struggle with steady inflammation and consistent allergies and such. The only thing to be aware of is the fact that olives are rich in sodium which is why it is best to stick to restricted portions rather than going berserk.

6. Coconut Oil

Irrespective of whether or not you like using oil in your cooking or not, using coconut oil is actually an amazing way to go about with the day.

The presence of medium chain fatty acids in the coconut oil is actually quite beneficial in getting a quick boost to the overall health and also for the overall skin and hair too.

These fatty acid chains are often considered as one of the best owing to the fact that they are easily digested by the body and are actually quite beneficial for boosting not just the brain function but helps improve memory too.

The combination of anti-inflammatory (R) and antioxidant (R) properties of the coconut oil further helps in boosting the heart health.

7. Dark Chocolate

Irrespective of the fact that dark chocolate is an acquired taste, there’s no doubt that it does taste amazing and bonus, it is actually good for the health.

It is loaded with 65% calories (R) but the best part of this is the fact that the fats are actually healthy fats to eat. Apart from that, it also does contain 11% fiber and 50% RDA of iron.

Not just that, the high level of antioxidants (R) in the dark chocolate further make it an amazing food for consumption if you want to combat the excessive free radical damage in the body.

8. Ground Flaxseed

Flaxseeds are yet another of the healthy fats to eat that actually does boost your overall body function. While the healthy fats in the flaxseed are found in the form ofomega-3 fatty acids, even just a tablespoon or two of these are enough to get everything in order.

Just one cup of ground flaxseed consists of 48 gms of fat which is pretty amazing. Flaxseeds are also loaded with other essential nutrients which are key to the overall body functions as well.

The plant nutrients, lignans as well as the antioxidants (R) in the ground flaxseed further help the body gain all the necessary nutrition it needs to get rid of the unwanted ailments.

9. Fatty Fishes

While the smell of the fish might be enough to push you off, the benefits of fatty fishes are too good to be missed out on.

Loaded with beneficial heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids, fatty fishes like salmon, mackerel etc. should be part of your daily diet. The fatty fishes are also good sources of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) (R).

If consumption of fatty fishes is something that is not part of your daily diet, it is better to opt for alternative options and stick to fish oil for getting the partial benefits of the same.

10. Whole Eggs

While the prior notions have disregarded eggs as a possible source of fatty healthy foods, new studies have changed those notions. Eggs do contain around 71% of the daily calorie requirement and 62% of the calories from the eggs come from the fats.

It is common to think that the high fat content could very well affect the overall cholesterol levels in the body but studies (R) have found that the same doesn’t impact the cholesterol levels.

Eggs, on the brighter side, are loaded with vitamins and minerals which are quite beneficial for the overall functioning of the body. It is also loaded with health fats to eat which helps boost overall body functions.

11. Tofu

Yet other amazing fatty healthy foods include Tofu. The curdled soy protein is quite beneficial in boosting your overall dietary protein requirements without influencing the body functions negatively.

Tofu might not necessarily be high in fats but the amount we get from a single serving of tofu is quite more than enough to suffice our daily requirements.

Apart from that, Tofu (R) is also loaded with plant based proteins which is quite beneficial for the overall growth requirements of the body. It is also low in sodium and helps cater to the daily calcium requirements of our body, all in one.

12. Nuts (and seeds too)

Nuts and seeds make up for one of the best benefits of adding fat to your diet. Not only are they inexpensive but is an amazing way to add healthy fats to your diet, irrespective of what kind of diet you stick to.

Consumption of nuts is believed to help bring down the levels of the LDL percentage in the blood stream. This, in turn, helps prevent any kind of arterial blockage which further contributes to aiding in bettering your overall heart health.

Not just that, the intake of nuts and seeds are also believed to boost the overall brain activity (R) and even inflict better impacts in boosting one’s mental health, especially for someone suffering from depression.

13. Chia Seeds

While we did mention seeds in the previous category, it was mandatory to include Chia seeds as a separate heading because of the kind of health benefits it imposes.

Chia seeds are not necessarily the fatty healthy foods but in terms of nutritional quotient, it has been found that one ounce of chia seeds do contain around 9 grams of fats which is pretty amazing.

Apart from the healthy source of fats, chia seeds are also loaded with fibers which are quite beneficial in getting your metabolism and digestion into gear. 80% of the chia seeds are composed of the healthy fats. They also have beneficial impacts in improving conditions related to hypertension and any kind of inflammation (R) (R) in the body.

14. Edamame

Edamame is often an underrated healthy fat that not many people tend to include in their daily diet.

Irrespective of the kind of taste, edamame are actually loaded with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (R) which are quite beneficial for uplifiting the functions of the major organs in the body.

The best thing about these is the fact that they are quite versatile, you can eat them raw, boiled, mashed, any form that suits your boat.

15. MCT Oil

MCT Oil does stand for medium chain triglycerides (MCT) which is loaded with quite a diverse amount of health benefits. They are beneficial for impacting the overall liver functions.

Majority of the people tend to stick to adding a teaspoon or so of the MCT oil in their morning coffee to get that jumpstart to their overall metabolism.

Alternatively, one can even add MCT Oil to their salad dressings to not just add to the healthy requirements of the body but also make yourself feel fuller (R).

16. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If you are here wondering why extra virgin olive oil is a must add to your diet, it is because of the advantages of fatty foods that it imposes.

Not only does it have essential healthy fats, it is also loaded with Vitamin E, Vitamin K and essential antioxidants which have beneficial impacts on the body and to reduce the rate of free radical damage in the body.

The antioxidants are believed to not just fight off inflammation but also help in ensuring to prevent the available LDL particles (R) (R) in the body.

17. Grass fed Beef

It is often a very common myth when people think that the steaks contain high levels of unhealthy fats. That is not actually the case.

If you wish to adhere to healthy fats to eat, make sure to choose the organic grass feed beef which is quite lean. Around 3 ounce serving of grass fed beef contains around 5 gms of fat, 2 gms of saturated fats which is not a lot. They are also loaded with omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids (R) (R) which is quite beneficial for the body.

Apart from all this, lean organic beef is also loaded with protein, iron as well as zinc which is quite beneficial in inducing better impacts on your overall health.

18. Full Fat Dairy

Next on the list of the amazing benefits of fats in our body can be added in with the full fat dairy. If you have no issues with digesting dairy, switch to full fat dairy for all the essential benefits of adding fat to your diet.

Yoghurt and such are quite beneficial for boosting the gut microbiome. They are quite beneficial in boosting your overall digestion process and get rid of the problems causing issues with the overall food processing in the body.

Benefits of Fatty Foods

When it comes to discussing about the varying benefits of adding fat to your diet, the possibilities are actually diverse.

In this section, we are going to delve into amazing benefits of fats in our body and why eating fats is actually good for you (well, the healthier ones at least).

1. Induces Muscular Development

Our body composition is dependent on the kind of diet we adhere to. Including healthy fats in the diet does help in contributing to the proper growth and development of the muscles. Consuming healthy fats trigger the process of lipolysis and even turn off the sites that are responsible for the storage of fats.

It induces muscle gain which is amazing for people to are consuming fatty foods to gain weight. Not just that, it also helps induce better hormone balance which in turn reduces inflammation.

2. Boosts reproductive health

One of the most important benefits of adding fat to your diet is the fact that it is quite beneficial for boosting your overall reproductive health.

It inadvertently boosts the gene signaling which is quite beneficial in regulating the hormonal balance in the body which is key to proper reproductive functioning in the body.

Even a conducted study has found that the reduction of fats consumption and increase in the carbohydrate consumption often leads to decreased levels of testosterone in the body along with a 12% decrease in the androgen levels.

3. Better Brain Activity

Next on the list of advantages of fatty foods is the fact that it has better impacts in boosting one’s brain activity. The main reason why consumption of healthy fats is beneficial for the brain is because our brain is primarily composed of essential fatty acids itself.

Adequate amount of healthy fats to eat helps boost the overall levels of brain activity in the body. It is also associated with the lowered impacts of depression.

4. Stronger Bones

Majority of the fatty healthy foods are loaded with not just fats but good levels of calcium as well which has beneficial impacts on the bones.

Not just that, fats also play a crucial role in contributing to the calcium metabolism the presence of Vitamin K2 and Vitamin D play quite an important role in building bone and preventing risks of osteoporosis.

The ideal ratio of the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is also quite beneficial for the body.

5. Reduce Risks of Cancer

The consumption of the good fat do have influential impacts on your overall body by inducing optimization of the macronutrient consumption which is aimed at decreasing the levels of inflammation in the body which inadvertently contributes to lowered cancer risks.

Even a conducted study in 2013 found the impacts of consumption of high saturated fatty acids with the lowered risks of cancer in people.

6. Lowered risks of heart disease

Yet another one of the advantages of fatty foods is the fact that they decrease the risks of heart disease in the body.

Healthy fats in the body help in lowering the presence of LDL in the body while boosting the presence of HDL all at the same time.

Limiting the carbohydrate intake and improving the intake of healthy fats actually do contribute to the lowered risks of heart disease.

7. Better Immune System

Apart from everything, some of the amazing fats in the body can induce better immune response. Healthy fat items like coconut oil and even butter have beneficial presence of antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal properties which are quite beneficial in getting rid of infection and such.

The fatty healthy foods are also associated with better skin and hair health owing to the presence of essential fatty acids in them.

When it comes to the healthy fats to eat, the decision is quite tough to make. If you are here wondering what fats are good fats and won’t end up changing the physiological functions of the body, we have some of the best sources listed out for you. Make sure to make healthier choices when it comes to the consumption of the fats.