{"id":42671,"date":"2026-01-09T17:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T17:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/what-healthy-fats-actually-are-and-how-to-choose-the-right-ones-for-your-diet\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T17:01:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T17:01:38","slug":"what-healthy-fats-actually-are-and-how-to-choose-the-right-ones-for-your-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/what-healthy-fats-actually-are-and-how-to-choose-the-right-ones-for-your-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"What &#8216;healthy fats&#8217; actually are &mdash; and how to choose the right ones for your diet"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6960319a832e0ef1ead7731a?format=jpeg\" alt=\"eat real food campaign\"\/><figcaption>\n<p>Smith Collection\/Gado\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans have a prominent place for &quot;healthy&quot; fat.<\/li>\n<li>The guidelines still suggest limiting saturated fat.<\/li>\n<li>Nutrition experts say it&#039;s smart to prioritize fat sources like olive oil, nuts, and avocados.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his diet message is clear: &quot;Eat real food.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>That was his main mantra during a White House press briefing on the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The new guidelines feature an inverted pyramid, with protein, dairy, and so-called &quot;healthy fats&quot; as the foundational corner of the new American diet.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/695e9997832e0ef1ead75698?format=jpeg\" alt=\"new pyramid\"\/><figcaption>Protein, dairy, and &#039;healthy&#039; fats are the foundation for RFK Jr.&#039;s new pyramid.<\/p>\n<p>realfood.gov<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&quot;Protein and healthy fats are essential, and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines,&quot; Kennedy said.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#039;re trying to eat healthier, the problem isn&#039;t that you need more fat \u2014 it&#039;s that &quot;healthy fat&quot; is a vague term that means very different things depending on the source.<\/p>\n<p>But what is a healthy fat, exactly? Here&#039;s how nutrition experts say to tell the difference, and how to use that information when you shop, cook, and eat.<\/p>\n<h2>A &#039;healthy fat&#039; isn&#039;t just about fat \u2014 it&#039;s about the whole food<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/696030df64858d02d2180700?format=jpeg\" alt=\"olive tree\"\/><figcaption>Olive oil is a healthy fat that everyone can agree on. Others aren&#039;t so clear cut.<\/p>\n<p>Philipp von Ditfurth\/picture alliance via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The new federal guidelines don&#039;t provide a strict definition of &quot;healthy&quot; fat, only saying that healthy fats come from whole foods.<\/p>\n<p>Business Insider reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services multiple times, asking for a clear definition of &quot;healthy&quot; fat, but didn&#039;t get an answer.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, when nutritionists talk about healthy fat, what they mean is sources that have:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>More unsaturated fat and less saturated fat<\/li>\n<li>Other nutrients traveling with the fat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Take <strong>olives<\/strong>. An olive is a fruit that includes a mix of both unsaturated and \u2014 to a much lesser extent \u2014 saturated fats. It also has other nutrients in it, including fiber, iron, and vitamin E, plus plant chemicals called polyphenols, which aregood for your brain. That&#039;s why olive oil is widely regarded as a healthy choice.<\/p>\n<p>The same goes for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/high-fiber-foods-costco-mediterranean-diet-dietitian-recommendations-2025-8\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>chia seeds<\/strong><\/a>. They&#039;re high in omega-3 fatty acids, an essential fatty acid that we need to consume because we can&#039;t make it on our own. They&#039;re naturally low in saturated fat, and also provide other nutritional benefits, including decent doses of both fiber and protein.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/blue-zone-nutrition-meal-plan-2024-7\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Walnuts<\/strong><\/a> provide another great example. Until the 1990s, they were thought to be bad for your heart, due to their high fat content. It turns out the opposite is true: walnuts are packed with polyunsaturated omega-3s, making them actively <em>good<\/em> for your heart.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Joan Sabat\u00e9, who pioneered that walnut research in the 90s, said the key is to think about your fats in a broader context, not just focusing on one metric.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;It&#039;s not only the type of fat, but the source of the fat, and how the fat is together with [other nutrients],&quot; Sabat\u00e9, a Blue Zone epidemiologist who directs the Center for Nutrition, Lifestyle and Disease Prevention at Loma Linda University, told Business Insider.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What&#039;s the deal with saturated fat?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/696125fe64858d02d2180eac?format=jpeg\" alt=\"buttered bread\"\/><figcaption>Butter is a classic example of a food that&#039;s high in saturated fat. Fine, in moderation.<\/p>\n<p>ArtMarie\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Unveiling the new guidelines, Kennedy said, &quot;We are ending the war on saturated fats.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The new food pyramid features beef, butter, and whole milk high up.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Eating a little bit of animal products is good,&quot; Sabat\u00e9 said. Red meat and full-fat dairy are packed with nutrients like vitamin B12 and iron, for example, which is hard to find in plants. Experts agree that a little saturated fat is not <em>that<\/em> bad for your body.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it&#039;s controversial that the new guidelines front-load meat and animal products as &quot;healthy&quot; fats, and mention them first.<\/p>\n<p>Meat and dairy contain significantly more saturated fat than plants like olives and avocados. Research has linked diets rich in red meat and dairy to a higher incidence of chronic health issues, including heart disease and cancer. Animal products are also more pro-inflammatory than whole grains and vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;That is not the way to go,&quot; Sabat\u00e9 said, echoing concerns that many health experts shared this week.<\/p>\n<p>(Plus, the new guidelines still recommend limiting your saturated fat consumption to 10% of total daily calories, which means you can&#039;t actually live on a diet of butter, red meat, and cream.)<\/p>\n<h2>The takeaway: How to apply this to your diet<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6961255d832e0ef1ead77a4c?format=jpeg\" alt=\"drizzle olive oil\"\/><figcaption>Fat packs a punch, more than doubling the calories per gram of a protein or carbohydrate.<\/p>\n<p>AzmanL\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So, what should you cook with tonight?<\/p>\n<p>Most days, consider swapping butter for olive oil in your frying pan. That will mean more heart-healthy fats get in your system.<\/p>\n<p>The best change you can make, though, is to curb ultra-processed snacks. Packaged cakes and cookies are often loaded with saturated fat from cooking oils. If you had a buttery steak for dinner, and skipped after-dinner snacks, that could be a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#039;t fear fat \u2014 but don&#039;t center your diet on it either.<\/p>\n<h4>Shopping guide for fats at the grocery store<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Better choices (eat often):<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Olive oil<\/li>\n<li>Nuts and seeds<\/li>\n<li>Avocados<\/li>\n<li>Fatty fish (salmon, sardines)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Fine in moderation:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Whole milk<\/li>\n<li>Cheese<\/li>\n<li>Unprocessed red meat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Limit most of the time:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Butter-heavy baked goods<\/li>\n<li>Processed meats like hot dogs<\/li>\n<li>Ultra-processed snacks made with refined oils<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>                                          Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smith Collection\/Gado\/Getty Images The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans have a prominent place for &quot;healthy&quot; fat. The guidelines still suggest limiting saturated fat. Nutrition experts say it&#039;s smart to prioritize fat sources like olive oil, nuts, and avocados. US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his diet message is clear: &quot;Eat real food.&quot; That [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}