It rankles me when people use the term “healthy fats.” We don’t make a distinction like that when we’re talking about carbohydrates, although there are certainly carbs that are nutritious and carbs that are not.

Consider the Atkins diet. I like to think that Dr. Atkins was on the right track, but that he was wrong about some important details. Clearly, he understood that something about carbohydrates in the American diet was causing a serious problem. But he could not see the enormous difference between muffins and mangoes, between white flour and lentils, between sugar and peaches. So people who tried eating his diet lost loads of weight by removing virtually all the carb from their diets, even green beans, but then regained it as soon as the restrictions —along with the constipation and phytonutrient deficiencies — became too onerous and they returned to eating even small amounts of breakfast cereal, followed almost immediately by the doughnuts, pasta, bread, cookies, cake, and potato chips. 

Dr. Atkins also did not understand that there is a marked difference between a slice of salmon and a scoop of Crisco. To him, all fats were the same. A painful non-truth.

Today, all these years later, we continue to sort out differences among the three major categories of dietary fats: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. We have clarified that omega-3 fatty acids, in the polyunsaturated category, are particularly nourishing, and that the standard American diet is extremely deficient in them. We know that we can increase our consumption of omega-3s by eating more fish, walnuts, flax seed, and green, leafy vegetables. 

We also know that the ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids is a critical measure of a diet’s nutritional value, and that the amount of omega-6 fatty acids in ultra processed items is extremely high, which has caused that ratio in the standard American diet to rise far above what is considered acceptable in the support of good health.

Research into the benefits of the Mediterranean diet demonstrates that those benefits appear to derive in part from the use of olive oil (a monounsaturated fat), the main fat used in Mediterranean cooking. Conversely, we know that partially hydrogenated polyunsaturated fats, also known as trans fats, damage blood vessels, which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. We know they also increase the risk of diabetes (type 2), high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Although they were banned from the food supply, trans fats are still found in small amounts in a large variety of ultra processed items, this despite that there is no safe amount. One way to reduce your intake is to avoid any product advertised as “trans-fat free.” That may sound counter-intuitive, but let the buyer beware.

There is still a great deal more to learn. We know, for example, that cocoa butter is one of the most highly saturated fats on the planet. But….isn’t dark chocolate supposed to be nourishing? And aren’t saturated fats supposed to be bad? So what does this tell me? That we still have a lot to learn.

Another curious example?  Most animal fats are actually mixtures of a variety of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids. Which animal fats contain the most monounsaturated fatty acids? Chicken fat and lard. Yes, believe it or not, that is true. So what is most clear to me at this point is that we still, indeed, have a lot to learn.

At the same time, there are certain things that I do understand. The fact is that there are good examples of nutritious foods from each of the three groups of macronutrients (i.e., fats, carbohydrates, and protein). If I recommend that you try a particular food, or if I use an ingredient in a recipe, I don’t qualify it with the word “healthy.” Fat IS nutritious. Protein IS nutritious. Carbohydrates are nutritious, too, as long as they come from the garden or the orchard or the meadow, with their fiber matrix intact. That means fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. These are carbohydrates, through and through. 

So when I include one in a recipe, I don’t call it a “healthy” apple, or even a nourishing one. I already know that you know that I am referring to apples without worms or pesticides. When I talk about fats and oils, you can assume the same.