The Critical Role of Healthy Fats in Cellular, Hormonal, and Mental Health

I explain how eating 200g of healthy fats daily helps me thrive, improving my health, physique, and mood.

Last year, when I published a story discussing my consumption of 200g of healthy fats, I received feedback from some subscribers concerned about consuming such a large amount of dietary fat. Some thought that this amount of fat would make a person fat.

These readers were from the US, where fatphobia originated in the 19th century. They follow the standard American diet. I have empathy and compassion for them, as I had similar concerns in my younger years.

But my perceptions changed when I understood the importance of healthy fats and saw many people losing weight or maintaining a healthy body composition on high-fat diets such as well-formulated ketogenic ones.

Interestingly, developed countries in Europe doubled or even tripled their healthy fat intake in the 20th century, demonstrating the importance of a balanced diet, including adequate healthy fats, to improve physical and mental health.

Healthy fats are essential for our cells, mitochondria, genes, tissues, organs, hormones, and systems. Fat molecules provide the body with energy, help maintain healthy cholesterol levels, and support neural and hormonal functions. The brain cannot function without fats.

I am passionate about promoting healthy eating habits from whole foods, even though topics like saturated fats and cholesterol are still considered antagonistic. Despite confusing arguments, we must understand that adequate healthy fats are critical to maintaining health and vitality.

Unfortunately, many people globally still fear consuming healthy fats and are unaware of their benefits. The body requires adequate fat intake to maintain cellular, hormonal, metabolic, and mental health.

I write this article with empathy and compassion to educate my readers about the critical role of healthy fats in their diet. I understand their concerns as I lived with fatphobia, which gave me nightmares while on low-fat diets.

Billions of people throughout history experienced the miracles of ketosis I discovered serendipitously. This capability is coded in our genes and embedded in our metabolic, digestive, and nervous systems.

For example, the liver can create alternative energy for the body when we eat more fats and fewer carbs or when we don’t eat food for a while. And the brain, heart, and other organs love ketones as much as glucose.

I hope my experience and observations summarized in this short story will help dispel the misconceptions surrounding healthy fats and encourage my readers to add adequate amounts of healthy fats to their diets.

First, I’d like to summarize the importance of healthy fats. Then I briefly introduce my regimen using a high-fat diet safely and successfully.

Here’s why healthy fats are critical for health in summary.

Dietary healthy fats are vital in cellular, hormonal, metabolic, and mental health. Healthy fats in the diet can have various health benefits and support the optimal functioning of the body and mind.

Some healthy fats are omega-3 fatty acids in fatty fish, monounsaturated fats in olive oil and avocados, and saturated fats in grass-fed butter and coconut oil.

Some fats are also unhealthy. For example, as documented by Harvard Medical School, “Bad fats — trans fats — increase disease risk, even when eaten in small quantities. Foods containing trans fats are primarily processed foods made with trans fat from partially hydrogenated oil.”

Bad fats make us sick. But healthy fats are critical in cellular, hormonal, and mental health. They are essential components of cell membranes and act as signaling molecules. They also serve as precursors for synthesizing hormones and neurotransmitters.

One example of the critical role of healthy fats in cellular health is their contribution to maintaining the fluidity and integrity of cell membranes.

Omega-3 fatty acids, such as DHA and EPA, are essential components of cell membranes. They are crucial for maintaining their fluidity and flexibility. They allow cells to communicate with each other and the outside environment, which is necessary for proper cellular functions.

Healthy fats are vital for hormonal health. For example, cholesterol is the precursor for synthesizing steroid hormones such as testosterone for men, estrogen for women, and cortisol. And our satiety hormone, leptin, is made up of fat molecules. If leptin does not work, we cannot stop eating.

Cholesterol is also necessary for physiological and psychological processes like metabolism, immune function, and stress response. Unlike common misbeliefs, dietary cholesterol does not affect blood cholesterol much, as I explained in my previous article.

In addition to their roles in cellular and hormonal health, healthy fats are crucial for mental health. They are essential for proper brain function. The brain comprises large amounts of fat.

Omega-3 fatty acids, in particular, have cognitive benefits, like improving memory, attention, and mood. They also protect against the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia.

In addition, healthy fats, like Omega-3 fatty acids, have anti-inflammatory properties. Chronic inflammation is associated with developing physical and mental health disorders.

Furthermore, healthy fats are invaluable for people experiencing epilepsy. While fat is the friend, sugar is the enemy of epilepsy. Since the 1920s, millions of epilepsy patients have healed their condition by eating substantial fat and refraining from carbs. Interestingly, they even ate more than I did.

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder. Still, 50 million people suffer from epilepsy annually, according to the World Health Organization.

A Brief Overview of My Experience and Perspectives on Healthy Fats

Some friends, family members, and readers think that consuming large amounts of fat can cause fat gain and lead to cardiovascular disorders. But based on my experience, these concerns are invalid.

Of course, consuming too many calories from any food group, if not burned timely, will cause problems. It is not exclusive to fats.

However, calories from fat are more favorable than carbs, which cause hormonal imbalances. For example, fats do not cause insulin spikes like carbs, so does not lead to insulin resistance as carbs or proteins in high amounts might do.

I’d like to briefly explain why consuming 200 grams of healthy fat daily does not cause problems with my 2400 daily caloric intake.

I have designed my caloric intake through decades of systematic experimentation using technical and scientific facts by obtaining professional support.

I have used simple arithmetic to arrive at this formula. One gram of fat contains around nine calories. So consuming 200 grams gives me approximately 1800 calories, which equals 75% of my caloric intake.

This regimen provides me with clean energy while having minimal impact on insulin levels. Therefore, my body remains insulin sensitive, a critical health factor in preventing metabolic and neurological disorders.

More specifically, my dietary formula comprises 75% calories from healthy fats and 25% from bioavailable proteins, similar to the traditional ketogenic diet.

This formula keeps me in optimal ketosis for maintaining excellent cognitive health. As I explained in a previous story, I don’t consume carbs by choice. You may also check my battle with carbs in another story.

I am intolerant to carbs. However, some carbs-tolerant people, like my friend Amy, can enter ketosis without following a ketogenic diet. So it is possible to arrange the ratios of macronutrients based on our needs.

Let me explain my protein intake. One gram of protein contains four calories, and 150 grams provides 600 calories, meeting my body’s maintenance requirements and adding 25% to my caloric intake.

While protein provides some energy, its primary purpose is for cell growth and maintenance, making it non-negotiable.

To achieve the ideal caloric protein intake for muscular maintenance, I consume 25% of my calories from them, activating mTOR daily.

Additionally, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and resistance training like calisthenics and weightlifting help me maintain my muscle mass.

My metabolic rate, movement, and daily workouts consume around 2400 calories. This means I do not gain or lose weight and have remained at my ideal weight for decades. Therefore, one nutritious meal per day is sufficient for me.

However, creating this formula was not easy, and I sought advice from accomplished physiologists and metabolism specialists on my basal metabolic rate (BMR) or resting metabolic rate (RMR).

They also helped me identify my resting energy expenditure (REE), which indicates the number of calories my body burns while resting.

So consuming 200 grams of fat is ideal for me because I keep my body active and don’t consume carbs, getting my energy from only healthy fats keeping me in ketosis, and improving my metabolic and mental health.

Of course, what works for me might not work for you. Therefore each of us needs to customize our diets based on our needs, goals, fitness levels, age, sex, and other factors.

However, as I summarized above, we all need an adequate amount of healthy fats as the body needs them for critical functions and to perform well to cope with daily stress.

Finding the delicate balance of nutrients and caloric intake that works best for us requires research, analysis, consultation, and experimentation. Gaining knowledge and mastering skills takes time and effort.

If you have difficulty customizing your diet, a viable approach is to get professional support from qualified dieticians or nutritionists who can access your medical history.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

As a new reader, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.

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Disclaimer: My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness.

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