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Fat is no longer the devil; In fact, if you choose the right kind, it can provide a range of health benefits – and a lot of flavour!
1) Canned or Frozen Wild Salmon:
You’re probably wondering why I’m choosing canned/frozen over fresh fish here. My reason is that we can’t get fresh wild salmon in Australia, only farmed varieties, which contain chemicals and antibiotics to prevent the spread of disease*.
The beneficial omega-3 content of salmon may also be more guaranteed if you eat wild varieties; This is because farmed fish are fed factory-made fish meal**, which can contain good stuff – like omega-3 rich krill and wild fish such as anchovies – but also not such good stuff – like omega-6 rich vegetable oils. Seeing that the typical Western diet is higher in omega-6 than omega-3 – a ratio which is pro-inflammatory – eating a lot of farmed salmon may then defeat the purpose of us eating oily fish, because we want it for its omega-3 content.
2) Avocado:
I don’t think there’s a café in Sydney or Melbourne that doesn’t do smashed avo, a foodie trend that unlike the cronut, is actually healthy. Apart from making whatever dish you add it to delicious, avo is rich in good-for-you monounsaturated fat, which has cholesterol lowering properties. Avo also contains nutrients for eye health (lutein and zeaxanthin) and is a good source of vitamins C and E, which work as antioxidants, protecting our cells from damage by free radicals like pollution – This includes our skin cells, making avo a great food to include in an anti-ageing diet.
I also love mixing some a tablespoon or two of mashed avo with equal parts of unhulled tahini and a squeeze of lemon juice for a creamy, wholesome salad dressing. The high fat content in this also aids the absorption of the nutrients in your veg, many of which contain fat-soluble vitamins, meaning they rely on fat for better absorption.
3) Coconut:
I’m often asked why coconut is considered a health food if it’s so high in saturated fat. The reason is that coconut oil contains the good kind of saturated fat, potential fat-burning ‘medium-chain-fatty-acids’ (MCFAs); After coconut oil is consumed, its MCFAs go to straight to the liver where they are used as an immediate energy source to be burned off, rather than stored as fat.
Coconut oil’s high smoke point also makes it an ideal oil to cook with at high temperatures; Other oils - even the good ones like olive oil - become unstable or oxidised when heated for a long duration, losing their beneficial health properties and develop undesirable ones in the process.
Then there’s creamy coconut flesh, which contains both the good oil from the coconut as well as fibre to fill you up and support gut health (For one, it may help alleviate constipation by helping move things along the gastrointestinal tract). It also tastes sweet but is low in sugar, which is why I’m a fan of coconut butter - blended coconut flesh that you’ll find at the health food store; Its well-rounded mouth feel from the fat content and naturally sweet taste makes a spoonful great for satisfying a sweet tooth without the blood sugar crash. Or, try Coconut Magic’s Coconut Raw Energy Bar, a wholefood snack that’s delicious straight up, crumbled on top of yoghurt, or frozen and enjoyed like an ice cream
Coconut Magic: Coconut Raw Energy Bar Each of our coconut raw bars contain as much premium organic virgin coconut oil and coconut flower nectar that we could pack, as well as organic coconut chips to give it that crunchy coconut flavour that customers rave about.
Perfect as a health snack and for a boost of super food energy. Gluten free, wheat free, dairy and soy free. No emulsifiers or preservatives.
*Source: http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/whats-the-catch/learn/episode-3-issue-5-aquaculture
**Source: http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/whats-the-catch/learn/episode-3-issue-6-future-fish-farming