Our body needs certain amounts of healthy fats from our diet for proper hormone function, to aid memory, and for the absorption of certain nutrients. Aside from adding flavor into our daily meal, including healthy fats into our diet can also help slow down the digestion of carbohydrates (thereby reducing those blood sugar peaks) and creates a sense of fullness.
All sorts of healthy foods that happen to contain fat have now returned to the “superfood” scene.
Check out below some of the high-fat foods that are actually healthy.
Fatty Fish
Fatty fish is one of the few animal products that are healthy. They are high in quality proteins, heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, and other beneficial nutrients. This includes mackerel sardines, salmon, trout, and herring.
Studies revealed that consumption of fish tends to be much healthier as it was associated with a lower risk of heart disease, depression, dementia, and other common diseases. Fatty fish may also help improve inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.
Nuts
Nuts are tasty, popular, and convenient food. They are among the healthiest foods we can eat. Numerous studies showed that there are many health benefits we can obtain from eating them. Present in nuts is healthful fats, protein, fiber, minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols that can help us lower our risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes.
Individuals who consume nuts regularly are less likely to become overweight, obese or gain weight in the longer term, according to a 5-year study that was published in the European Journal of Nutrition.
Experts recommend eating a variety of unsalted nuts to take advantage of their various benefits. There are approximately 19 grams in Brazil nuts, 14 g of fat in 1 oz of almonds, and18.5 grams in walnuts.
Avocados
One 201 gram (g) avocado contains approximately 29 grams (g) of fat (but is primarily monounsaturated fat) and 322 calories. It is loaded with a monounsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid, which is believed to be the reason behind its several health benefits. A medium avocado also contains approximately 40% of our daily fiber needs, is a good source of lutein – an antioxidant that can help protect our vision- and is naturally sodium- and cholesterol-free.
We can use avocado in salads or replace less healthy saturated fats, such as mayonnaise and butter.
Remember that avocados are high in calories, therefore, stick to no more than 1/4 an avocado at a time. We can have 1/5 of a medium avocado to replace the mayo on our sandwich, the sour cream on our baked potato or the butter on our toast.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
EVOO is one of the world’s healthiest oils. It is extracted from the olive fruit without the use of any heat or chemicals thus ensuring that it retains all the nutrients and antioxidants from the olive fruit. It is loaded with monounsaturated fats that are good for heart health as well as vitamin K, vitamin E, and potent antioxidants which have been linked with a lower risk of heart disease and death in people with a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
We can use olive oil in dressings and while cooking. Just 1 tablespoon of olive oil contains about 120 calories and 14 grams of fat.
