What Are the Health Benefits of Monounsaturated Fats?

Scientists learned the health hazards of a high-fat diet as early as the late 1940s, according to the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. By the 1980s, low-fat diets were touted as the best way to achieve good health and optimal weight. Scientists and doctors, and the media reporting on their findings, trained us to see fat as the cause of the expanding American waistline and increased rates of a wide range of diseases and chronic conditions. But the nutritional path to good health has proved more complex. More extensive research found that not all fats are bad for us: Only some fats (saturated fats) pose health risks. Moreover, unsaturated fats are actually essential for those of us who aim to thrive.

Weight Loss

A low-calorie diet won't work if you feel hungry all the time. Eventually, you're going to break down and eat. The hungrier you are, the greater the binge is likely to be. Fats, because they take longer to digest than carbohydrates or proteins, help us feel full longer. But eating too much saturated fat can lead to poor cardiovascular health, compromised brain function and possibly cancer. Fortunately, unsaturated fats do not pose these risks, and by making us feel full they can help us stick to a healthy regimen. For example, dieters who consumed nuts lost more weight and were more likely to stick with their eating plan than those on diets that excluded nuts, according to a study reported in The Journal of Nutrition.

Heart Benefits

Monounsaturated fats--when used in place of saturated fats--help lower cholesterol levels, which reduces the risk for heart disease. Adding more unsaturated fat is preferable to simply removing fat from the diet because fat contains fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E, which are essential to good health, according to Practice Nurse. Vitamins A and E are antioxidants, which promote good circulation and help prevent buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries. Vitamin D is important for bone and muscle health, which can help people continue heart-healthy exercise even as they age.

Brain Benefits

Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of unsaturated fat, are important for brain development and function. They can even help us maintain mental acuity as we grow old. Research shows a 10 percent reduction in cognitive decline in older adults who ate omega-3-rich fish at least once a week, according to the Australian Nursing Journal. Omega-3 fatty acids also may help reduce symptoms of ADHD and depression, according to Practice Nurse. Sources of omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, sardines, flax meal and walnuts. Supplements also are widely available.

Sources

Nuts and seeds, peanut butter, avocados, olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, flax meal, salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and tofu are excellent sources of unsaturated fats.

How Much Fat?

The FDA recommends a diet no higher than 30 percent fat, with less than 10 percent coming from saturated fats. Daily Value (DV) percentages on nutritional labels are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. You may need to adjust your fat intake if you consume significantly more or less than that amount.

References

• Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences; How the Ideology of Low Fat Conquered America; Ann F. La Berge; Feb. 23, 2008
• The Journal of Nutrition; Impact of Peanuts and Tree Nuts on Body Weight and Healthy Weight Loss in Adults; Richard D. Mattes, et al; Sept. 2008
• Practice Nurse; Essential Fatty Acids--the Key to Great Health; Angie Jefferson; July 8, 2005