Does eating too much fat matter, specifically for midlife fat loss and your best midlife health?
Yes, in some respects it does matter depending on the type of fat you’re eating.
Not all fats are equal.
Not all saturated fats are bad.
Not all unsaturated fats are good.
When you hear about the latest new article telling you to stay away from high fat, or to eat more fat,
These statements tend to be general.
They’re not telling you exactly what fats to eat and what fats to stay away from to help you achieve midlife fat loss, feel your healthiest and stave off disease.
So, today we’re going to take a look at the REAL science backed research, so you can make an informed decision as to whether you need to cut back on fat, increase your fat, or keep it exactly where it’s at.
And, before we get into the research, I want to give you the exact advice I give clients and participants in my programs when we analyze their nutrition to maximize their results.
If you feel healthy, if your blood panels look good, and if you’re on track with your midlife fat loss goals, then really, that’s all that matters, and you can skip this video because you’re already doing pretty gosh darn great!
For those that need a little more help, you’re not feeling healthy, you’re not losing weight or maybe recently you’ve been diagnosed with a health condition, we’re going to dive into 3 major areas you could potentially be affected by too much of the wrong types of fats,
And, if you’re not sure what too much or too little fat means, you can download my FREE Macro Guide that walks you through EXACTLY how much fat, protein and carbs you’ll need to become STRONG, ENERGIZED and Slim over 50 (Click here)
The 3 Areas where you can be affected most by too much fat or too much of certain fats are:
- Breast Cancer
- Heart Disease
- Fat Loss
Breast Cancer:
The older you are when you reach menopause, the longer your body has been exposed to estrogen.
While estrogen has many protective benefits, such as a decreased risk of heart disease, and Osteoporosis, lifetime exposure increases your risk of breast cancer.
So much so, that that combined studies of over 400,000 women found for every year older a woman was at menopause, her breast cancer risk increased by about 3%.
High levels of circulating estrogen are also found in fat tissue. So, if you’re going through menopause, and you’ve gained fat, you’re at a higher risk for breast cancer.
It is the exposure to this circulating estrogen that potentially increases your risk breast cancer.
Studies Show that High Fat Diets Increase the Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal women, But There Are 2 Types of Fat More Likely to Increase Your Risk
If you have a high fat diet consisting of unsaturated fats, (specifically Polyunsaturated fats and MonoUnsaturated fats), and low in Saturated fats, you may believe you’re protected from the findings that high fat diets lead to breast cancer,
But, it really depends on the type of unsaturated and saturated fat you eat.
If You Have a High Fat Diet Made Up Of:
- Saturated, dairy fats, such as cottage cheese, or yogurt.
- Polyunsaturated Omega 3 Fatty acids such as flax seeds, walnuts and chia seeds
- Monounsaturated Vegetable fat such as olive oil, or avocado oil
Yet High Fat Diets Made Up of:
- Saturated Fat from red meats (and maybe eggs)
- High ratios of Omega 6 Polyunsaturated fats, such as sunflower oil or corn oil, and pumpkin seeds (note: you still need some Omega 6, but “some” does not mean “high”)
These fats may increase your risk of of breast cancer.
While, of course you always need to ask your doctors advice, and get tested for both genetic predispositions for breast cancer, as well as your specific health risks,
If I see a client that has a clean bill of health, and a higher fat content than recommended, but their fat is coming from dairy, nuts, seeds, olive oil and avocados, then I don’t necessarily recommend they reduce their fat content. In fact, this type of higher fat content has many health benefits, and may reduce their risks of breast cancer.
This advice is not for someone that has or had breast cancer at one point in time! If that’s you, then evidence tends to support low fat diets may increase your lifespan.
Heart Disease:
As estrogen drops, we lose it’s heart protective benefits, plaque may build up in arteries, and the risk for heart disease increases.
Studies Still Show that High Saturated Fats Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease, But there Are a Few Surprises!
You probably already know that eating a high saturated fat diet may increase bad cholesterol known as LDL (low density lipoproteins) and decrease healthy cholesterol known as HDL (high density lipoproteins).
It’s true. The overall consensus still suggests you avoid a diet high in saturated fats. Yet, course, the type of saturated fats you eat matters.
Butter and Heart Disease
I want to start with the topic of butter, because in recent years there has been quite a debate about whether butter is bad due to its high level of saturated fats, or whether it’s good for you. The overall research, still supports that it’s better to swap this saturated fat with unsaturated, mono and polyunsaturated fats.A little might not hurt you, if it doesn’t specifically affect your blood panels, but it’s still not as heart healthy as the unsaturated fats.
Here’s where things get interesting, while a high fat Saturated diet consisting of butter, red meat, and fried foods is unequivocally bad for you heart,
Cheese and Heart Disease:
More research is demonstrating that cheese may actually have heart protective benefits.
One study was conducted on a population with a high cheese consumption, France, found that high levels of cheese consumption, lowered cholesterol. This is believed to be because the cheese fed a healthy gut microbiome, which then produced a cholesterol lowering compound known as butyrate.
What about everyone’s favourite saturated fat: Coconut oil
While the jury is still out, I still recommend you do not eat a high fat coconut oil diet.
Too many huge meta analysis studies (these are studies that pool all of the information of many studies to come to an overall conclusion).
So, Are all Unsaturated Fats Good for You?
You may have heard that this type of oil needs to be cut out of your diet and replaced with omega 3 fatty acids in order to achieve your best heart health.
The truth is, you need some omega 6’s for heart protective benefits, such as lowering LDL cholesterol and boosting HDL cholesterol,
but the problem is in our world filled with refined food, omega 6 fats are often overused and the ratio of omega 6’s has well surprised a healthy level.
The ratio of omega 6’s to omega 3’s matters has become unbalanced which then puts you at risk for heart disease instead of preventing heart disease.
So, you don’t actually want a high fat diet of only omega 6’s and you don’t want a high fat diet of only.
What is the healthy ratio? On average, for every 4 grams of omega 6 you eat, you’ll want 1 gram of omega 3 BUT, since we get all of the omega 6 we need from everyday products, focus on eating more omega 3’s instead.
So, let me recap:
If You Have a High Fat Diet Made Up Of:
- Saturated Fats from cheese and yogurt
- A Healthy OMega 6 to Omega 3 ratio (eat lots of omega 3’s from Salmon, fish, flax seeds, seaweed, you’ll get enough Omega 6’s in your food products)
- Monounsaturated fats such as olive oil and avocado oil
These fats and fat ratios have heart protective benefits, just remember to keep your omega 6 to omega 3 ratio in check.
Yet High Fat Diets Made Up of:
- Saturated Fats Such as red meats, butter, fried foods
- Vegetable Saturated Fats such as Coconut oil (I’m sorry)!
- To Many Omega 6 Fatty acids
If is see clients with a high level of these types of fats, I suggest they cut back.
Midlife Fat Loss:
I think we can all agree that midlife fat loss is hard.
With hormone shifts, certain foods we could once eat now affect our weight and waistline much more easily.
With fat coming in at 9 calories per gram, it becomes one of the valuable macronutrients to keep in check to help for fat loss.
Certain fats can simultaneously help reduce body weight, and reduce our risk of insulin resistance, while other fats may be less satiating, so you eat more or sooner.
Studies Show that MODERATE FAT INTAKE, NOT High Fat Diets May Help with Fat Loss:
Just so you know exactly what percentage of a diet consists of moderate fat, it’s 25%-35% of your total calories.
In some instances it can be as high as 40% of your total calories, but I wouldn’t recommend more.
To get a good idea of where to start within this range, download my FREE Macro Guide that walks you through EXACTLY how much fat, protein and carbs you’ll need to become STRONG, ENERGIZED and Slim over 50 (Click here)
The number one type of fat you’ll want to consume for midlife fat loss is Monounsaturated fats (the kind in your olive oil, and in avocados). This type of fat increases fat burn and reduces belly fat more than any other type of fat. As an added benefit, it improves insulin sensitivity.
This is where things may feel confusing. You want a moderate fat intake, mostly from monounsaturated fats, but protein is not only essential, but a must to enhance midlife fat loss.
So, you may be wondering:
If I Get My Protein from Meat, Won’t I Increase Saturated Fats too Much?
You do risk increasing your saturated fat by high amounts with specific types of meats.
This is why it’s a must to shop for lean meats such as lean cuts of poultry, as well as seafood such as salmon, Cod and Sole.
While lean meats may have half the amount of saturated fats to their fattier counterparts, seafood is high in unsaturated Omega 3 fats that will enhance your health while helping you to shed the fat.
It’s a win win all around.
To recap:
- If You Have a High Fat Switch it to Moderate Instead
- MonoUnsaturated fats such as olive oil and avocado oil have the most filling affect, as well as fat burn potential (especially around the tummy)
- While Monounsaturated fats are best for midlife fat loss, use seafood to reduce saturated fat content, while enhancing your health with omega 3 fats.
So, if Optimal Health and Midlife Fat Loss Combined is your End Goal, Does Eating Too Much Fat Matter?
For fat loss, yes, absolutely it does and the highest percentage you’ll want to consume is about 40% of your total energy intake,
But, if you’re still losing fat on a higher fat diet, then it’s time to look at where your fat is coming from to know whether your fat loss is also promoting your best health.
When I see clients or participants in my programs that have a fat percent above 40% , but they are still losing weight, I take a deep dive into where their fat is coming from
If their fat comes from:
- A healthy ratio of omega 6 to omega 3’s such as flax seeds, walnuts and chia seeds, nuts seeds and seafood
- Cheese products, or yogurts,
- Monounsaturated fats such as olive oil and avocado oil
I know they’re health can thrive as they continue to lose fat. And I don’t necessarily recommend they reduce their fat.
On the other hand, if their fat content is high, a I see high amounts of :
- Red Meat
- Coconut oil
- Omega 6 Polyunsaturated fats, such as sunflower oil or corn oil, and pumpkin seeds (note: you still need some Omega 6, but “some” does not mean “high”)
Then I suggest for their overall health, they reduce their total fat content, or at least swap those unhealthy fats for the healthy ones instead.
So, the big question is where is the majority of your fat coming from?
If you’re not sure, I suggest you start logging your food for at least 7 days so you can get an idea.
Once you’ve logged for a week, do a quick analysis of where your fat is coming from. Then you’ll know if you’re achieving fat loss AND optimal health!