Are you eating enough fat?

Hey everybody. Welcome to my weekly house call. Your chance to ask me your questions. And this week's question is. Dr. Hyman, how do I know if I'm eating enough fat? Well, it's a great question. Doctors and patients and eaters alike all are confused about fat. And unfortunately, they still hold on to all these myths and misinformation that prevents them from taking advantage of of the latest science to lose weight and to get healthy. Now, some of these myths include the idea that fat makes us fat, that fat causes heart disease, that fat causes diabetes, that saturated fat is bad, that vegetable oils are good. I mean, I could go on and on, but I think you know what I'm talking about. None of these beliefs about fat are true. And finally, after decades and decades of the wrong information, we're finally realizing the importance of fat in our diets. Now, earlier this year, I released my book, Eat Fat, Get Thin. And in this book, I combined the latest research with several decades of empirical science, working with patients to prove what I've long discovered, that the right fats can help you become lean, healthy, and more vibrant. You see, fat is one of the body's most basic building blocks. The average person is made up of between 15 to to 30% fat. And that's normal. That's not bad. Yet for decades, we've unfairly demonized dietary fat. And we've diligently followed a low fat diet that almost always equates to a higher sugar and higher refined carb diet that causes insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and lots more. I mean, we were told to eat six to 11 servings of of bread, rice, cereal and pasta. I mean, imagine that 11 servings of bread a day as a healthy diet recommended by our government and science experts and doctors. This is crazy. Now you see, the higher the quality fat, the better your body's going to function because you are what you eat. Literally, the body uses the fat we eat to build our cell membrane walls, to build your brain. You have more than 100 trillion cells in your body and every single one of them should be constructed of the best high quality fat. And when they're made of the wrong fats, your body doesn't work right? So how do you know if your cells are not getting the fats they need, especially the omega 3 fats? Well, guess what? Your body sends clues when it's not getting enough good fats. It's up to you to recognize the warning signs. Now, some of the warning signs that you're not getting the right Fats include dry, itchy skin, scaling or flaking skin, soft, cracked or brittle nails, hard ear wax, tiny bumps on the back of your arms or torso, achy and stiff joints, memory problems, Maybe you have ADD, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, even cancer. See, the most important thing to understand when you start to incorporate more fats in your diet is which ones to eat and which ones to avoid. Most people lump all fats together in a box labeled bad. But the truth is that there are good fats, there are questionable fats, and there are very bad fats. And for so long, our government, the media, scientists, and even doctors were telling us to eat the wrong types of fat. Now, why does the type of fat actually matter? Because building your body from the inside out is just like building a house. You can frame the house with the cheapest wood you can find, or you can invest in quality materials. They're going to be energy efficient and last a long time. You want your body to be built of the right stuff. Now, most processed foods are made with poor quality omega 6 fats and refined processed vegetable oils. Because you know why? They're cheap and they're abundant. Now, fat also makes food taste good and it improves its texture. So take a look at the ingredients of your favorite packaged food. If the list includes oils made from corn or soybean oil or cottonseed oil or safflower oil, then you're getting a subpar fat. When the body puts these cheap fats to work, guess what? Your cell walls and your cell function also isn't so good. That means instead of being flexible and responsive to the communication between cells. Right. The cell walls are stiff and rigid because your cells communicate with each other. And the membranes are like the ears of your cells. And. And when they're made up of the wrong fats, they can't listen. Well, the more rigid the walls, the slower the cell functions and the more vulnerable it is to inflammation and lots of other problems. So to ensure your body has the fats it needs to construct high quality cell walls, you need to eat more omega 3 fats. See, the good thing is when your cell walls are made up of more omega 3 fats, they're more flexible and they allow the cells to respond more quickly and better the messages from other cells. And now secondly, these good fats, they help the body turn out prostaglandins. These are hormones that cool off inflammation, they're anti inflammatory. And the best places to find omega 3 fats include small cold water fish, things like wild salmon, sardines, herring, Mackerel, maybe, stuff you don't always eat, but they're actually really good for you. Also, you can use vegetable sources of omega 3 fats like flax and hemp seed oils, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and even seaweed or sea vegetables. You see, your body is designed to run on high quality fats. Scientists suspect that early humans ate almost equal amounts of omega 6 and omega 3s, or maybe a 2 to 3 to 1 ratio. Hunter, gather. Humans got their omega 6 fats not from refined vegetable oil, but from seeds and nuts. And their omega 3 fats, well, they came from eating wild game and fish and foraging for wild plants. As people began to refine oils from seeds and beans and other things, the ratio of the Omega 6 and Omega 3 became really skewed. We got way more Omega 6 and way less Omega 3s. And as a result of these fats being out of balance in our modern diet, our bodies really are so much more vulnerable to diseases like cancer and heart disease. You know, when we look back historically, when the human diet contained a balanced number of Omega 6 and Omega 3s, there was no heart disease, there was no diabetes, there was very little dementia or any of these kinds of diseases. And it wasn't just because we didn't live as long. It's because our bodies were more balanced. Heart disease is now the number one cause of death in the world. And the more omega 3 fats you eat, the easier your body cools off inflammation. A cool body is a less inflamed body. And inflammation, we now know, is at the root of nearly every chronic disease, especially those that impact the brain and the heart, like Alzheimer's and heart disease. Now, of all the body parts dependent on high quality fat, guess what? Your brain is the most important one. And it's the most vulnerable to the wrong fats. Why? Because it's made up of 60% fat. Now, easy access to high quality fats does a lot of good things. It boosts your cognition, it makes you happier, it helps you learn better, it helps memory. On the other hand, when you look at the studies where people have a deficiency of omega 3 fats, they get more depression, anxiety, bipolar disease, schizophrenia, and even violence. Now, after the brain, it's your heart that's going to thank you more for eating omega 3 fats. Why? Because the heart directly benefits from more omega 3 fats. Why? Because good fats from omega 3s, they actually fix your cholesterol by lowering triglycerides. So they can raise the good fats like hdl and they can reduce inflammation and stickiness in your blood, all of which helps prevent heart disease. And part of their magic is that omega 3 fats make the blood more slippery and less inflamed, which reduces the likelihood of having heart disease. Now besides being good for your heart and your brain, eating the right fats also helps you shed body fat. You see, healthy cell walls made from high quality fats are actually better able to metabolize insulin, which better regulates blood sugar and helps your body stay in balance. See, without proper blood sugar control, the body stores away fat for a rainy day when you have too much insulin and it doesn't work right cause the cells aren't working. Guess what? You just store more fat. Ironically, it's not eating fat that makes you gain weight, it's eating the wrong types of fat and eating carbs and sugar. So what fats do I recommend? Well, it's pretty simple. Lots of wild fatty fish, some nuts and seeds, coconut oil, some grass fed butter, avocados, grass fed meats, whole eggs, plenty of extra virgin olive oil and olives. I'm going to post my favorite fats below and if you're curious about whether you're getting enough fat in your diet, I I want you to take the quiz that's attached to this blog. Now, if you're looking for some great inspiration and great ideas on how to incorporate healthy fats into your diet, I want you to check out my new book, which I'm really excited about, the Eat Fat, Get Thin Cookbook, which is filled with luscious, delicious healthy recipes that feature fat. You're going to love these recipes because I always say that you should eat foods that you love and that love you back. Now I want to hear from you. Do you eat healthy fats? What have you noticed since incorporating healthy fats, especially omega 3 fats, in your diet? I want you to comment on my Facebook page and if you like this video, I want you to share it with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter. And be sure to submit your questions to drhyman.com and maybe next week I'll make a house call to you.