Should we consume healthy fats without any restrictions?

Although fats are not what they were before, but long ago the bad of the movie happened to be sugar, it is always advisable to choose sources of healthy or unsaturated fats for our diet. And if we consume only of these, could we do so without any restriction?

Healthy fats and consumption limits

Since the intake of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are always recommended to benefit health, we might think that it would not be necessary to limit their intake.

However, we should not forget that fats, regardless of their quality, concentrate a lot of calories and therefore, so far it was recommended that their consumption does not exceed 40% of the calories of the diet.

In addition, current recommendations for fat intake for the population do establish restrictions and advise consuming between 20 and 25% of daily calories derived from monounsaturated fats, recommending extra virgin olive oil as the main source of them. And it also sets a limit of 1% of the daily calories for polyunsaturated fats .

Also, the New North American Dietary Guidelines , although they do not establish restrictions for the ingestion of cholesterol, do it for the healthy fats although they recognize the benefits of the Mediterranean diet with great amount of unsaturated fats.

On the other hand, it is always important to balance the omega 3 and omega 6 consumed, as these should be maintained in adequate proportions to benefit health, so that without restrictions we could fall into an excess of omega 6 and shortage Of omega 3 that would represent a risk for the organism.

New Study and the Benefits of Not Restricting

There seems to be new evidence that not restricting healthy fat intake would benefit health , helping to prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer in the framework of a Mediterranean diet.

However, we must look very well and with critical eyes the results of this study, as it speaks of the advantages of a Mediterranean diet without restrictions of fats and not of any diet or lifestyle in which not limiting healthy fats benefits health .

As we always say, everything is important, the whole of our lifestyle, because if we consume considerable amounts of healthy fats daily but also, we do not exercise and abuse the sugars or smoke and drink alcohol in excess, clearly the benefits of Not restricting unsaturated fats would be reduced or eliminated altogether.

So, there is still no evidence to support the idea of ​​not restricting healthy fats in our diet, but it is important to remember that unsaturated fats on the daily table can bring great benefits, and that a Mediterranean diet in which oil Extra virgin olive oil as well as other sources of good fats can be a great ally of health.