A cohort study by Harvard University , a study on which I have already expressed myself in another article, and which was conducted on a sample of over one hundred thousand people monitored year after year, had found an association between fats in diet and health risk reduction.

I will start from this study to make you a list of food resources of good fats that can improve our health, provided however that two things occur:
– that from eating more fats we do not get to eat too many: fats for an adult woman must not exceed 70 grams in a 2000 calorie diet; for men a little more, since the average diet for an adult man reaches 2500 calories. Eating too much fat over the long term can worsen our metabolism.

GOOD FATS, WHAT ARE THEY?
So if we take note of these two things, what we can do is not add the good fats to our diet, but replace them in part with the fats we already eat. In particular:
– linoleic acid:  it is an essential polyunsaturated omega6 acid and we can find it in oil and wheat germ, in rapeseed and sunflower oil. A tablespoon a day of a linoleic acid-rich oil such as wheat germ oil (or a handful of walnuts) helps prevent cardiovascular ailments. Alternatively we can take it in the form of supplements, for example as CLA.
– omega 3 and in particular linolenic acid:not all omega3s are born equal, and in particular the essential fatty acid among omega3s is alpha linolenic acid, found in linseed oil and walnuts. If those who make a vegetarian or vegan diet should in fact integrate these foods in the diet, those who make an omnivorous diet can also eat more fish, not farmed, or fish products that are not farmed such as crustaceans and molluscs. To these sources you can add the omega3s that derive from meat and eggs and milk products, as long as they are: from local and non-industrial breeding, in the case of meat and milk with grazing animals, which therefore feed on grass . That said, a tablespoon of flaxseed also helps.
– monounsaturated fatty acids:After making sure that the two essential polyunsaturated foods are present in our diet every day thanks to a handful of nuts, a little wheat germ and a tablespoon of flaxseed oil, let’s move on to monounsaturated fats. A tablespoon a day of extra virgin olive oil or avocado for raw dressings are perfect. Otherwise a handful of olives. I remind you that cocoa and almonds are also a good source of MUFAs.
– medium-chain fatty acids:they are saturated fatty acids, have anti-inflammatory properties, stimulate thermogenesis and support a good metabolism, as well as support the digestive and immune systems. We find them in coconut oil, butter and dairy products to a lesser extent (pay attention to the quality of these: see the part on omega3), which should therefore be eaten whole and not skimmed.

GOOD FATS VS BAD FATS

What to exclude? Other forms of polyunsaturated fats are not necessary, and in some cases they are proto-inflammatory; same thing for long-chain saturated fats, which must make up a small part of our fat intake.

So let’s limit peanuts and nuts in general to a handful of walnuts or almonds; we avoid eating products rich in sesame or vegetable fats such as sunflower and soy, but also palm; we avoid too fatty sources of red meat, I am not saying not to eat the liver which is indeed rich in nutrients, but to remove the visible fat of the meat where possible, and above all to choose quality meat, from grass-fed animals.

We reduce the consumption of poultry and pork and of the fatty parts of the same animals , rich in harmful polyunsaturates, because these animals are unfortunately stuffed with flours and mashed cereals or fattened with oils. Eating chicken skin is bad but also eating chicken too often. Same thing for farmed fish, which is at ridiculous prices but is not as good as fresh fish.

If butter and eggs are not to be demonized, lard is, and so is margarine, albeit for different reasons. Finally, eating more vegetables allows us to have a good healthy polyunsaturated profile without adding additional fats.