{"id":67878,"date":"2022-06-03T14:30:36","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T18:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=67878"},"modified":"2022-06-11T04:46:49","modified_gmt":"2022-06-11T08:46:49","slug":"is-fat-bad-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/is-fat-bad-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Fat Bad for You? A Complicated Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is fat bad for you? Why is fat vilified? What do different types of fat do in the body? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our culture often portrays fat as something to avoid at all costs. It&#8217;s true that eating too much fat can cause health issues, but certain types of fat play key roles in the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about the role of fat in the body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-fat-as-a-macronutrient\">Fat as a Macronutrient<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Is fat bad for you? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While too much fat can be detrimental to our health, we also need certain types of fat to function. Fat primarily serves as our <strong>long-term energy supply<\/strong>. It\u2019s particularly suited to this job because it can store over twice the amount of energy as proteins and carbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Enders, fat also coats our nerves. (Shortform note: The fat-based substance that coats our nerves is called <em>myelin<\/em>. Without myelin to lubricate and protect them, our nerves couldn\u2019t properly communicate with our brain and each other, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellhealth.com\/myelin-sheath-4129059\">leading to problems such as muscle spasms, severe pain, and vision impairment.<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-fat-and-dietary-recommendations-over-time\"><strong>Fat and Dietary Recommendations Over Time<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The perception of fat in Western society <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/361\/bmj.k2392\">has changed over time<\/a>. Dietary recommendations about fat began to appear in the 1950s when several studies found that fat consumption could increase the risk of heart disease. These studies led to an aversion to all fats that lasted through the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 1990s, however, studies began to show that cutting out all fats didn\u2019t significantly improve health. Scientists and doctors, therefore, began to push back against previous recommendations to avoid all fats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, despite this shift, many people still recommend blanket low-fat diets. However, science suggests that we <em>do<\/em> need certain types of fat. For example, unsaturated fats\u2014which are found in certain plant oils, avocados, and nuts\u2014can improve heart health and lower blood cholesterol. Still, scientists and doctors suggest limiting our saturated and trans fat intake: Modern dietary guidelines suggest that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dietaryguidelines.gov\/resources\/2020-2025-dietary-guidelines-online-materials\">these types of fats should compose no more than seven to 10% of our diets<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Harvard School of Public Health has created a scale that can <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn1.sph.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2012\/10\/finding-foods-with-healthy-fats.jpg\">help you visualize which kinds of fat are good for you<\/a>. At the top of the scale are healthy fats such as omega-3, omega-6, and monounsaturated fats, found in fish, nuts, and oils. Lower on the scale are saturated fats, found in red meat, butter, and ice cream. At the bottom are industrial trans fats. This category includes hydrogenated oils: synthetically produced fats that manufacturers add to food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is fat bad for you? Why is fat vilified? What do different types of fat do in the body? Our culture often portrays fat as something to avoid at all costs. It&#8217;s true that eating too much fat can cause health issues, but certain types of fat play key roles in the body. Keep reading to learn about the role of fat in the body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":35547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16,160],"tags":[633],"class_list":["post-67878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-health","category-science","tag-gut","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Fat Bad for You? A Complicated Answer - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is fat bad for you? Our culture often portrays fat as something to avoid at all costs. But fat plays a few key roles in the body. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/is-fat-bad-for-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Fat Bad for You? A Complicated Answer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is fat bad for you? Our culture often portrays fat as something to avoid at all costs. But fat plays a few key roles in the body. 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