How to Eat More Fat
The leaders of the dietary establishment either keeled over or started arming themselves with pitchforks as I wrote that title. (It’s a good day to enjoy the subversion, I think.) On a serious note, let me unpack this worthy question – one I tend to get often: how does one incorporate more fat into a day’s eating? This common inquiry usually comes from someone new to the Primal way of eating; someone that has just started ditching grains and sugars and is having a hard time replacing carbs with the fats they’ve always been told to avoid. And replace, at least in part, they must, or experience the inevitable crankiness and hunger (and possible failure) associated with not eating enough food.
Of all the things we do for our health, I think we all find this to be one of the more enjoyable efforts – at least once we get the hang of it. Go as clean as you can of course – pastured and organic or as close to it as you can obtain and afford. (It ensures better nutrition and fewer toxins.) But let’s not get caught up in details today. I’m ready to dig in. Are you?
Prep Foods Generously with Fat
Oh, those glorious pan drippings that get poured down sinks or thrown away in doubled up Dixie cups! It’s a disgrace really – not to mention a blow to your plumbing. Save the fats! Store them with pride. Put a set of beautiful glass jars on your Christmas list just for this purpose. (And let everyone know exactly how you’ll use them.)
Whether as hot drippings now or precious spoonfuls later, these fresh roasted fats are perfect for braising meats or sautéing stir fry. Alternatively, coat the skin of whatever fowl you’re cooking with a lavish dollop of duck fat, and you’ll have a bird so succulent and skin so crisp it’ll make you cry over your carving knife.
Pair veggies with fats. Sure, the clean and earthy tastes of vegetables stand on their own pretty darn well. (It’s one thing so many people appreciate in going Primal – that reclaimed ability to taste the subtlety of fresh food.) That said, there’s something so uniquely satisfying about vegetables treated to the richness of fats. Anyone who’s roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon grease or drizzled chicken or goose fat over mashed turnips knows what I mean here.
Stock Up on Dark and Organ Meats – and Fat for Fat’s Sake
Who are they calling cheap? The truth is, the anti-fat brigade doesn’t know what they’re missing. Let them pay extra for their boneless, skinless chicken breast. We’re “whole animal” folk here. Their loss is our gain. So, relish those fully skinned chicken thighs, fatty roasts, and offal parts – and the fact that you got a good deal on them. MDA’s got recipes galore to make sure you relish every frugal purchase. Although you’ll be able to build up your own fat stores from cooking alone, consider buying a variety – slabs or rendered fats. Again, even the pastured, organic stuff can be budget-friendly here. A local butcher or direct-sale farm can set you up with fat from beast or fowl.
Fat. Fish.
The fattier the fish, the more chock full it generally is of healthy omega-3s (particularly if it’s wild caught). Think smaller fish like herring, sardines, and anchovies, which are great whole as a snack or in salads. Larger fish like salmon, trout, and mackerel can be a first-rate main course but can also beef up a filling Primal salad.
Bacon. ‘Nuff said?
Add Eggs
The yolk is the star here fat-wise. Beyond the standard – but laudable – breakfast fare and hardboiled snack goodness, add chopped egg to (you guessed it) chopped salads. The uncooked (but heated if you prefer) yolk adds a richness to dressings and sauces.
Don’t Forget the Non-Animal Fats
There’s more to avocados than guacamole – although that alone is enough to love an avocado, isn’t it? Pair it with shrimp or crab in endive lettuce, or grace just about any salad with its creamy presence. (I love it with chicken personally.) Make generous use of coconut oil and palm oil in your recipes as well as olives, nuts, seeds, and coconut meat. We’ve got plenty of recipes for some fresh ideas.
Indulge in Full Fat, Pastured Dairy If You Can Tolerate It
A side note: if you haven’t been able to tolerate low fat milk in the past, don’t write off dairy just yet. Try the real stuff before you cross it off the list. How about melted butter over roasted nuts or some Greek yogurt with a bit of fruit? Or maybe you’re up for good cheese (raw is better if you can get your hands on some) and wine after dinner. Cream? What can’t you add cream to? I’m a sucker for a really good cream sauce over chicken or seafood, and don’t get me started on bisque soup.
“Finish” All Manner of Dishes with an Extra Dash of Fat
Here’s where Primal friendly oils come in especially handy. A really good olive oil will take fresh spinach or salad greens to a whole new level. Avocado oil and sea salt over fresh tomatoes is heaven if I ever tasted it. Whether it’s a splash of macadamia nut oil on a salad or a tablespoon of goose fat in a stew, fat can be a finishing touch like no other. I’m talking layers of flavor, people!
So, I hope I was able to offer a little inspiration for this strenuous endeavor. Now seriously, who’s up for lunch?
Thanks for reading today, everybody. Be sure to share your own ideas for savoring more fat in your Primal Blueprint diet.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
O! O! O! please, let me say it one more time…BACON!!!
Great post! Seems like every blog I follow is writing about fat this week! Hurray for FAT!! Fat is SO important to our overall health! I get 60-75% of my daily calories for fat, and find if I get below that, I don’t feel so great and have less energy.
Also, it is SO important for women to eat a lot of fat – cholesterol is necessary for all our steroid-based hormones, and absolutely essential for a healthy reproductive system. So if you wanna make babies, eat FAT!
Back to the brussels sprouts in bacon fat:
if you haven’t tried it with chopped up prosciutto and pine nuts thrown in, you are in for a treat. So delish. (I shred the brussel sprouts and do a quick fry only until bright green) This has converted many anti-brussel sprouters.
ps. Yes to coconut milk in tea! Or coffee. I tried it originally because my sweetheart is lactose intolerant. It is the best non-dairy cream substitute yet! I use either cream or coconut milk interchangeably because I love them both. Bonus: you avoid the icky milky aftertaste.
My roommate and I are under constant attack for our Primal ways and eggs are causing a bit of argument. We buy them in bulk, as we are in college and cannot afford too many other primal foods. I would estimate we eat around twelve or so a day. Is this too many? The staples of our diet include eggs, greek yogurt, and fruits such as bannanas, apples, and pears. Any advice on the number of eggs we eat or any other cheap primal foods would be great.
oop! over here. BAS
12 eggs a day is a fine way to get nourishment, [i]if[/i] the eggs are farm-fresh and free-range. If they are from an egg factory and your birds are pumped full of drugs and fed GMO corn, you might as well just eat a Wendy’s cheeseburger.
my husband also worries about eating more eggs, we have to agree to disagree about them, which means I need to find a lot of alternate cheap foods. As a cheap protein I have been making chicken soup from chicken necks. Sometimes butchers give them to me for free, and sometimes I have to pay, but they are really cheap and a few necks makes a huge amount of soup liquid. I freeze it in smaller containers and then make it into smaller soups or add small amounts to stir fries. We can also get gizzards for free in some places, and for very cheap in other places. I boil them and then saute them. And anytime there is a sale on any type of animal protein, I buy a lot and then freeze it in meal size portions(sometimes I cook it first, depends what it is). That is how I am able to afford meat on my college poor budget.
I have to agree with Dasbutch, get some salad in there!
You definitely need to get some leafy greens into your diet. If you have a dorm fridge buy some Broccoli and cauliflower which can easily be eaten raw or chopped up and tossed in with your eggs in the morning.
Read through the comments on this post for ideas about how to add fats to your diet. Like the post about bacon fat salad dressing for a spinach salad.
You need to look at the omega 6 content of eggs. Without some offsetting omega 3, you are way into a high inflammation situation.
I can’t stand eating veggies without fat. It makes them so dull. I miss butter, but I can’t find grass-fed butter anywhere around here. The best the stores carry is certified organic butter, and I know that’s a positive thing, but there’s never anything about grass-fed on the packages. I picked up one and didn’t notice until I got home that it was super high in trans fats. I threw it away.
I think nature intended for us to eat a lot of fat considering that some of the most important vitamins are fat soluble. Even lycopene in tomatoes is fat soluble. I have a co-worker who bragged about her fat-free salsa. Another co-worker of mine today picked up a latte from Starbucks this morning and was feeling superior to everyone else because she ordered it with skim milk. I think she would have been better off getting something unsweetened or at least quarter-sweetened.
I made a prim rib roast last night. I saved the drippings. I’m going to use them to coat my broccoli for dinner
IDK where you are at, but they sell Kerrygold butter at my local Stater Brothers and it is grass fed (cuz it’s from Ireland!) but it does not say that on the package. Just fyi
Has anyone noticed a really unfortunate change in the taste of Kerrygold when they made it “easier to spread”? I was horrified by the yucky taste — but they insist it’s the same, just puffed up (I guess) with air so it’s easier to spread right out of the fridge. (Also probably CHEAPER for them! We end up paying for whipped-in air, not fatty-goodness! {frown})
I complained, but they said it’s the same stuff as before, not adulterated. I switched to Costco’s “organic” (which is…. thinner… that Kerrygold — and may or may not be pasture butter, probably not.) I’m harassing my local Costco to carry Kerrygold (in **sticks** not tubs) all the time, not ‘just around St Pat’s day!
Oh, I get Kerrygold at the local Publix. Only tubs of the whipped-out salted stuff; smaller sticks of the unsalted.
Mark – I have been a Paleo convert for about 4 months and while I love the results, I was very concerned when my recent blood test showed that my LDL had gone up over 30 points. I believe this is directly tied to the increase in fats and meat consumption, but am in a quandry as to what to do. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks much.
Rochelle
LDL number isn’t important – the size of the LDL is what counts. The HDL and Tri numbers are more important than the LDL number. Saturated fat in the absence of carbs will create large fluffy “benign” LDL while excessive carb consumption will create small, dense, dangerous LDL. Check out the forums here and look for a sticky post called “Cholesterol Primer” by Griff. You can even take your numbers and figure them yourself. Also read the book called “The Cholesterol Con”. I have just started reading it and I am already amazed (Just finished reading “Wheat Belly” – WOW!!)
Thank you for the information on LDL! What a freakin medical scam if you are correct (and so good for big pharma)! My HDL is off the charts and tri’s are good too. I have NEVER heard anything about the size of the HDL. I am checking out the forum and grabbling the book. Thank you again! Does this mean I can eat bacon again????
Rochelle, Heather is correct. The CW on cholesterol is a scam. Sad, really.
I just read something recently about the blood lipid tests during weight loss. It said the lipid profile can look very bad while you are in the midst of releasing body fat. You are doing a good thing for your body but the numbers might be off until the weight stabilizes. Here’s where I read that: http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2011/11/tracking-your-wheat-free-experience/
Thanks to all who responded to my LDL question. I have one more – it seems that lean meats are encouraged on a Paleo diet but there is an awful lot of discussion about the virtues of bacon. Can someone please explain this conundrum?
paleo is not Mark’s diet…at MDA its the Primal Blueprint. Mark encourages FAT, and its impossible to go low carb without enough fat- I have been low carb for years, and you NEED fat.
Check this out for a detailed response!
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/lean-meat/
Same thing happened to me! Was a good boy and lost 20 lbs, only to be rewarded with a higher LDL after 3 months I am resisting the statins. The VAP test showed I have the right kind of LDL so I’m not too worried
BAS
“How about melted butter over roasted nuts or some Greek yogurt with a bit of fruit”
Stop it Mark, I’m drooling all over the keyboard!
btw, Greek yoghurt with olive oil/walnut oil/macadamia oil & raspberries is awesome! Sounds wierd, but I love it!
Google the Bacon explosion and add green chile and cheese. It’s a show stopper at the next BBQ.
Great advice.
Was just looking online at ancient Northern European calendar for an art project. Discovered that their word for suet sounds exactly like our word, “more”. Ha! And an ancient name for what we’d call February is “mor-suggar”. That is suet-sucker month — the month of sucking suet!
Thank you for this! I have only been primal for about 4 months now and sometimes still need the reminder to “go fat” to be healthy. This has re-inspired me!
I’ve posted a couple of times having taken up Primal after battling Lymphoma. I moved to FL a couple of weeks ago and my new oncologist suggested that I eat more “full fat” yogurt as it seems the chemo did a number on my gut bacteria. My wife loves the stuff and now I’m partaking about 3 times a week. It has helped tremendously. Don’t get too excited about the new Onc. He gave me the CW sigh when I told him I eat a high fat diet and take no meds. A total of 60# weight loss isn’t enough evidence that this works for me. He ordered a full blood panel which I look forward to reviewing with him. I want to see his face when he notes my historical fasting glucose hovered around 120 and is now regularly between 70-80. My BP used to hover in the 150/110 range and his reading was 114/72. I’m sure my blood lipid numbers will be high but I’ve been defending my choices for 2 yrs…ditch the grain and sugar and let your fat flag fly! EAT!
Just make sure that your omega 3 and 6 are balanced. High omega 6 is linked to metastasis of cancer.
So my bf went to a Mexican bakery and bought some sweet bread. Oh how I wanted to eat some too. But, I got a bright idea! Maybe the attached sandwich shop sells carnitas by the lb? They did. My bf munched on bread and I devoured a 1/2 lb of fatty, delicious carnitas. Cravings gone!
I roasted a duck in coconut oil once…the skin was so succulent and crispy i was in bliss…and the meat was moist and delicious…*drooool*
Hi Mark/All
Is this recommended for loosing weight as well?
Thanks
Geoff
yes! Eat fat to lose fat. My weight loss always stalls if I’m not getting enough fat.
Interesting! Thanks for this!
Great Post Mark! Very timely as I was just wondering today as I was warming up my lunch at work… how do I calculate the calories from fat used to cook meat and veggies?
I mean, I know if I add a tablespoon of coconut oil to the pan and fry some asparagus (delicious), a good deal of that oil remains in the pan when finished.
So as I am really trying to monitor my calorie intake, how do I account for the fats I used for cooking, calorie wise? Thoughts?
Awesome burgers. We buy 100% grass fed ground beef from a local farmer (or grind your own)
Cook 1 lb of bacon. Pour half the drippings into a second pan. In one pan fry hamburgers, in second pan fry mushrooms and garlic.
Top cooked beef patty with stips of bacon, mushrooms and a bit of cheese. OMG – YUM!!!!!
Palm oil might be good for you, but it’s one of the worst possible oils to choose for the environment. It’s horrible… Causing deforestation, habitat destruction, reduction in biodiversity, etc. The effects of palm oil cultivation would have pissed off Grok.
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/palm_oil/environmental_impacts/
Totally agreed!
It’s actually quite sad, really…
I’ve seen palm oil used in many primal/paleo baked recipes & will not touch the stuff. I wouldn’t be able to stomach it after seeing all of the sad animals at the zoo whose habitats are being destroyed.
(Not to say that palm oil is the only concern environmentally-speaking.)
I have a tub of lemon-oregano infused turkey drippings sitting in the fridge right now. That darned turkey was put to great use.
So, Mark, how’s all this dairy making the Primal cut? I knew you indulged occasionally in good cheese (understandable), but the extent of dairy recommendation in this article sounds decidedly un-Primal.
After making a batch of Bacon I’m roasting Brussel Sprouts in the left over Bacon Fat tonite! Yum!! Great Article
THANK YOUU!
Just curious what is everyone’s average fat percentage intake ? Mine hovers at around 52 %
60-70%
I saw that someone asked this with no reply that I could find. How should you store bacon fat? Sealed jar? Glass or plastic? Refrigerate? How long will it last? Lol, wife and I pour out tons of bacon grease every week, never ever thought of saving it, this is gonna be huge for our household!
We strain it and keep in glass jars, closed, in the refrigerator.
Someone mentioned it keeps for a year, but for us it is gone in no time!
I pour bacon fat into a coffee mug and keep it uncovered in the fridge. The one fat that I MUST freeze is poultry fat. That seems to go bad in a short time. It is easy to scoop out while frozen. I saute vegetables with it before pouring in the stock. Pastured lard seems to get rancid kind of quickly. I only keep a pint in the fridge and leave the rest in the freezer.
I have found tallow to be too hard to use after it has cooled in a coffee mug. I melted it and poured it into an ice cube tray. This is for ice cubes that are long and thin for adding to a water bottle. Once the fat was solid, I stacked up the sticks into another container that I keep in the freezer. I have to use tallow to cook grassfed ground beef because it is so lean.
My favorite new fat to cook with now is duck fat. I use it for pork beef and chicken it is great and I found out about it here on mda
I am proud to say I just rendered the venison fat from my husband’s deer – looks delicious, although I am still working through some other fat I also have in the fridge.
My husband just looked at me and asked what I was going to do with it now that I had it…
So glad to see a post on this, Mark.
One thing I find helps get the point across to people new to the PB is this: We need a limited number of grams of protein and carbs per day, and there are ways to figure out our individual needs. Once we know those two amounts, we can quickly see that they don’t amount to enough calories to get us through – and the balance needs to come from somewhere else, namely the third macronutrient – fat.
So the questions become, how much fat, and from what sources?
In other words, people who are afraid of fat trying to limit it are doing so by getting their calories from too many carbs, too much protein, or both.
People need this simple fact pointed out to them, in order for the “ah ha!” moment to take place. They can’t really argue with sound metrics. Once they know there’s a way to figure out their individual macronutrient needs – they can focus more on that and less on conventional wisdom. Or so it seems to me.
I’d love to see a greater focus on your blog about metrics and using them to figure out what our needs are. I’m not advocating a rigid Zone-type regime, but I would like to see more of an emphasis on how to balance macros without making ourselves crazy.
I’ve talked to many Ivy-educated people who don’t even know what the 3 macronutrients are – much less how to balance them. All they think is that fat is bad. Once they exclude them, it gives them the green light, so they think, to eat carbs. They’ve heard there are “good fats,” but they often don’t know what they are off hand, much less how much to consume. Total vagueness.
P.S. I love macadamia nuts drizzled with coconut oil. Yum.
I am struggling still with knowing the needs of myself and my family – husband and kids 1 and 3 years.
How do you determine how much of each macronutrient?
Hi all! Nice discussion! WHEAT BELLY is one of the best books I have ever read in my life! And it’s been written by a cardiologist, which adds quite some weight to the issue. It makes me so very angry that this stuff about grains and hybrid wheat has been known for so long and NOTHING is done by the main governments to try and educate the population, putting financial gain over people’s health. I once heard that the drugs companies and arms dealers have a lot in common – add to that agrobusiness!
That would explain the Feds’ armed raids on Amish farmers and even organic food stores, as well as the onerous regulations placed on family farms. If you are a big Agro lobbyist, you can get your senator to bankrupt the local farms. Large dairy firms payed off a senator to get laws that prevent farms from selling raw dairy in a certain state. These laws keep animals in CAFOs suffering.
I stopped using the canola and the soybean oils, now using olive oil, coconut oil and even macademia oil.
Not sure how Grok would approve of raw goat milk, though.
Try coconut milk ice cream. The recipe is on Whole foods web site. The recipe is chock full of fat sans the sugar and using full fat coconut milk will notch it up.
My two fatty favorites are macadamia nuts (21 g fat per 1 oz serving) and homemade “coconut manna” (9g fat per tbsp).
It couldn’t be easier or cheaper to make your own coconut “manna”. See my recipe at: http://getfitkatie.blogspot.com/2011/09/recipe-diy-coconut-manna.html#more
I love getting my fat fix through breves. basically a latte made with half-n-half
Bacon in Australia is lovely stuff….but for some reason the fat doesn’t render out like bacon in the States. So….no grease. Sadness!
Probably like British bacon. I love that stuff. If you can get the proper cut of hog(asian grocers sometimes have them) you can cure it yourself.
…….cure your own ‘american’ bacon
Can you send some American bacon fat so I can cook this Australian bacon. Sorry Aussies, you don’t have bacon!