Since the 1970s, it has become very fashionable to cut fat; since then, the promotion of a low-fat diet has been an emblematic policy of the uninformed masses; ignorant journalists, uncaring supermarket chains and diet club leaders desperate for some sort of strategy to impart to their naïve charges. It’s no coincidence that since fat phobia took hold, obesity has skyrocketed and shows no signs of abating.

The culture of ignorance is still rampant, even among people who should know better. Recently, while doing paperwork in the presence of daytime television, I was stunned to hear comments from Rosemary Conley, an eminent figure in the world of diet and exercise videos. Rosemary’s words of advice were: “Follow a low-fat diet; remember, all the fat you eat is stored as fat in your body.” Perhaps you would like to explain this nonsense nonsense to the Eskimos!

Eskimos eat approximately 2,500 extra calories per day in pure fat (animal fat) to help meet their energy needs to stay warm, but do not suffer from obesity or other typical health problems. In fact, they didn’t even have a word for cholesterol until we gave them one! Of course, we live different lifestyles than the Eskimos, and naturally we need to feed ourselves differently. However, this example shows that fat can be perfectly healthy as long as it is in tune with your personal needs. Most people’s needs are much more moderate, even though their biology is identical. Ask your grandparents if their intake during the war – a diet based on dripping lard – caused them to gain weight or develop high blood pressure. (The answer is no).

Fats are an essential part of any good diet. Your body was designed and has evolved to function best with a balance of all three macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Eliminating anyone would be altering the biology of their body. Fats will never be the reason you have trouble shedding that weight that just won’t come off. However, too much fat (like anything) or the wrong types of fat can wreak havoc on your health (and physique).

One important thing to understand is the way fats react within the body. They are slowly broken down within the digestive tract and then processed by the liver, where they can be stored or released directly into the bloodstream as triglycerides (blood-borne fat). Once in the bloodstream, they can be used by muscles for low-intensity work or by internal organs to power daily life processes.

Because fats are released slowly (and slow down the rate of energy release from the foods they are eaten with), they are extremely good at stabilizing blood sugar levels. Controlling blood sugar levels is arguably the most important aspect of weight management, and any of my clients will be very familiar with lectures on how to achieve this.

However, fats can also have their drawbacks. If you eat the wrong types of fat, you get almost no nutritional value from your increased energy intake. It can also distort the profile of fats within your body so that biological processes are compromised and your bloodstream begins to clog. I am referring to Saturated Fats and, in particular, to the modern phenomenon of Trans Fats.

Saturates are so named due to their genetic makeup; they are a hydrocarbon and each available carbon molecule binds the maximum number of hydrogen molecules, basically ‘saturating’ them into hydrogen molecules. Saturated fats are found in products such as animal meat, butter, etc., and are generally called “bad fats”. Overeaten and this is totally accurate. Due to their molecular shape, they clump together very well and become quite hard; if unused saturated fat accumulates, it will find its way into the bloodstream and accumulate as hardened surplus, clogging the arteries and becoming available for fat storage.

Choosing “bad” saturated fats over healthier unsaturated fats also causes problems on a more general scale. You replace every cell in your body at least every six months, and when you create a new cell, the cell membrane is made of fat. The fluid properties of polyunsaturated fats make them perfect for work. When there is a deficiency of polyunsaturated fats (caused by eating the wrong kind of fats or a total phobia of dietary fats), your body is forced to use the wrong saturated fats. Its hard and clumpy properties ensure that homeostasis (your body’s balancing process) is compromised, which could cause problems.

Saturated fat isn’t all bad, though: We need a small amount for daily biological functions (which is why there’s saturated fat in breast milk), and the body can use it just fine for energy. The key to remember is that it is a excess of saturated fats in the diet that can cause problems, but if you stick to the common-sense balance dictated by nature, like the cavemen did, you won’t have to deal with the problems listed above.

Trans fats, on the other hand, have absolutely no value to the human body and their consumption should be avoided. Trans fats are those that began life as healthy polyunsaturated fats but have been chemically modified (transformed) through the processes of heating, oxidation and hydrogenation. Food manufacturers do this on purpose because it turns oils rancid, thus preserving their shelf life. However, the change in state means that the healthy C-shaped molecules in these oils are converted to I-shaped molecules, which now easily stick together in clumps, making the oil solid.

It is this ‘clumping’ to solidify that explains why trans fats tend to be solid at room temperature, just like saturated fats, while their saturated brethren remain liquid/oily. An example of this is margarine, and although the ads gleefully tell us that there are Omega 3’s in their wonderful product, they don’t advertise the fact that they are, in fact, tainted beyond use within this man-made toxin. The traditional choice of butter would be very smart.

Clearly, there are plenty of fats worth avoiding. However, we are so interested as a society in doing this, that we marginalize the intake of ‘good’ fats. These are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, our essential fatty acids (EFAs). An essential fatty acid is so called because they are fats that the body cannot make on its own, so they must be included in the diet for optimal health.

There is a lot of hype in the media for Omega 3 and Omega 6: both are forms of polyunsaturated fats and are good for your health. What is not always communicated to the public is that the ratio between these two is extremely important. The ratio should be between 1:1 and 4:1, that is, 4 parts of Omega 6 for every 1 part of Omega 3. However, the average Western diet has a ratio of 20:1, so it is vital to increase Omega 3 in your diet: This comes with consuming the right fats.

Flaxseed oil and other intact, nut, seed, and fish oils will help restore this balance to provide the proper amount of essential fatty acids in the body. (All of these will also help stabilize your blood sugar levels, which will help with weight management, among other benefits.) This will help in many ways, but there are two generic benefits that will help everyone. First, they are converted inside the body into a hormone-like substance called prostaglandin; In addition to having a calming effect on the individual, they reduce cholesterol and ‘purify’ the bloodstream. Second, getting enough essential fatty acids ensures that enough are available for the production of new cells (the cell membrane of each new cell must be made of oily essential fatty acids); this prevents many problems, including insulin resistance. There are many other benefits apart from these two, including relief from joint pain and skin conditions. The message is that you will find that your body becomes more and more unbalanced, unless you eat the fats that nature ordered us to.

When it comes to your fat intake, the message is to use common sense and consume an adequate amount for your needs. For almost the entire population, this means an abundance of oils, fish, nuts, seeds; a sufficient intake of meats; moderate use of cheese; and complete avoidance of cakes, sausage rolls, and margarine. All non-athletes looking to lose weight would benefit from moderation (No elimination) of carbohydrates/increase of fats and proteins, since this movement has a beneficial effect in stabilizing blood sugar levels.

Any expert who promotes extreme dieting is clearly the opposite. There are examples of diets based on solid science that are rendered useless and dangerous in the long run because they ignore the body’s need for a sensible mix of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Extreme regimens will require a change in your body’s function – only ignorant or arrogant people would want to change something that has worked perfectly for thousands of years.

Therefore, it is vital that you follow a balanced eating plan, taking advantage of the generosity that nature has bequeathed us, this includes fats. To strike the right balance, I suggest you take a cue from nature and eat according to the combination that evolution dictated (eg, the Paleo diet). Like many things, whether it’s diet choices or even your exercise order, you should always make your choice based on facts, not the opinions of others. More importantly, the facts tell us not to be scared off healthy fats by the ignorance of others.