Do you avoid, or intentionally incorporate, fat into your diet?
It seems to me that many people are under the misguided impression that fat is always something to be avoided, and that consuming a higher-fat diet will lead to weight gain or worsened health.
My general nutritional opinion is that it is more the quality of fat in our diets that matters, and that it is generally other factors (like chronic stress, overload of processed foods (including many unnaturally low/non-fat foods!), sedentary lifestyles, etc.) that lead to poorer health outcomes.
Eating a diet full of high-quality fats is essential for hormonal health, brain health, immunity, energy, nutrient absorption, and more!
My appreciation for this macronutrient was recently reinvigorated as I was learning more about the story behind one of my favorite cookbooks, Run Fast, Eat Slow. Elyse Kopecky, one of the co-authors, had been a competitive runner since her preteen years and still hadn’t had her first period by the time she went off to UNC to run cross-country in college. Predictably, the doctors she saw prescribed the birth control pill to induce what we know is an artificial period. Not one suggested she alter anything in her diet/lifestyle!
After college, Elyse tried several times to go off the pill to have a natural cycle. Time and time again after waiting and even nixing the running, her period fail to make an appearance, leading her to repeatedly return to the hormonal birth control band-aid “solution”. It wasn’t until moving overseas to Switzerland and experiencing a whole new way of eating that Elyse had her first natural period at age 30! She left behind her low-fat, processed foods diet and filled it with satisfying and nourishing high-fat foods like whole milk yogurt, aged cheeses, butter, egg yolks, and grass-fed red meat.
Elyse started her first natural period after only a couple of months of eating this higher-fat, nutrient-dense diet. (And noting no noticeable changes in body size or composition). Later on, despite being told by doctors she would have trouble getting pregnant due to her period history, Elyse got pregnant immediately with her first daughter!
You can read more about her story here or listen here.
Reflecting on Elyse’s story and my own story of using higher-fat foods to get my period back and balance my hormones has re-inspired me to be even more intentional about incorporating more quality fat into my meals and snacks throughout each week. Read on for some of my favorite fat sources to incorporate, as well as ideas for enjoying them in especially delicious ways!
10 Healthy Fat Sources to Include Regularly: