Imagine you had a team of huskies pulling a sled. These majestic creatures are muscular and hearty, making them a great fit for this task. One day the team was short one husky, and so a Chihuahua kindly took its place.

Now a Chihuahua is a dog and it can run. However, it is poorly equipped to do the job of pulling a sled through the snow alongside a pack of huskies. (You’re welcome for the entertaining and rather pathetic mental image.)

An Inadequate Substitute
In this example, the Chihuahua is like an unhealthy dietary fat in the human body. It tries to take the place of the beneficial fat. It can do the job to a certain extent, but it slows down the whole operation and will likely cause a disaster (e.g. common health issues we see today) in the long run.

Choose a Winning Team
Now imagine a whole team of huskies pulling a sled alongside a team of Chihuahuas who have their own sled. They are both doing the job, but the huskies will ALWAYS outperform the Chihuahuas.

When it comes to dietary fats, are you selecting the best “team” to run the critical operations of your body?

The Roles of Fat
Good fats enable the body to function optimally in a variety of ways. Bad fats are not able to perform those physiological functions to the same capacity. Let’s look at a few examples:

#1. CELLULAR HEALTH
You are composed of cells and health or sickness starts there. The structural membrane (outside wall) of a cell is composed of a lipid (fat) bi-layer. The quality of fats that you choose to ingest determines the vitality of each of your cells.

When you ingest bad fats, those fats create poor quality cell membranes. This results in cells that don’t transfer nutrients, toxins, or important messages in and out of the cell effectively or efficiently.

#2. NEUROLOGICAL HEALTH
Breast milk is rich in cholesterol. Why does that matter? During a baby’s first year, extensive brain development occurs and cholesterol (a type of natural fat) is a key building block for a healthy brain.

Even as an adult, your brain constantly needs nourishment to function optimally. Regularly ingesting unadulterated, dietary fat is a key component to decreasing depression and anxiety, maintaining or building a good memory, and focusing.

#3. DIGESTIVE HEALTH
Bile from your gallbladder emulsifies or breaks down ingested fat into smaller parts for proper absorption. Think of bile like dishwashing detergent. The type of fat a person eats helps the body to create bile, which in turn digests the future dietary fats that are eaten.

If you eat good quality fat, you will make good quality bile. If you eat poor quality fat, you will make poor quality bile. Thick, unhealthy bile will muck up the gallbladder, leading to a decreased ability to digest fats that are ingested in the future.

If you’re not digesting fats properly, they will rancidify in your body and become a toxic burden. Furthermore, if you can’t break down dietary fats, your cells, hormones, and brain won’t have the building blocks needed to thrive.

#4. HORMONAL HEALTH
Fats are a key building block for the creation of hormones. In the absence of good dietary fats, the body will use the poor quality fats it has available to make hormones. Not surprisingly, this leads to inadequate hormones and the resulting hormonal imbalances.

Imagine if you were building a brick house. You ran out of bricks the first day, and you didn’t have the resources to buy new bricks. You needed this house yesterday, so you use whatever materials you have available. After scrounging around, you procure a few pieces of cardboard and some flimsy plastic panels. These get nailed in place to create “walls” for the house. The result is a functioning house, but it is VERY WEAK compared to a house made entirely of bricks.

If you want a healthy libido, a balanced mood, ample energy, a fertile body (men and women), and (ladies) a smooth menstrual cycle, stop feeding your body with weak building blocks and instead build your hormones with nutrient dense, unprocessed fats.

#5: CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH
Omega 3 rich fats, such as those found in wild salmon, eggs from free range chickens, and grass fed beef, provide the building blocks for anti-inflammatory prostaglandins (hormone-like substances in the body). Regulating inflammation naturally is key to a healthy cardiovascular system.

Processed fats, however, will cause inflammation throughout the cardiovascular system. So again, don’t eat those.

Also, good fats, especially (well sourced) saturated fats fuel the heart. Fats provide a long burning source of energy for the heart muscle.

Action Steps
#1. EAT whole food fats that are found in nature.

#2. AVOID highly processed fats, such as canola oil, vegetable oil, and hydrogenated oils.

#3. DOWNLOAD this “Good Fats & Oils Guide” to receive a detailed explanation, regarding what fats will fuel you well and which ones will break down your body and brain.

This guide is one of the dozens of enhancement tools that are part of our UPGRADED, ON-LINE FORTIS PROGRAM workshop series for corporations. Stay tuned for more details on that! I’m so excited to share them with you!