Fats in Your Diet: Peter Attia Weighs in on Olive Oil & Other Fats

How well does your body process saturated fat? Are fats unhealthy? Are some fats more detrimental than others?

According to physician Peter Attia, olive oil in your diet is a good thing. That’s generally true for all monounsaturated fats. In his book Outlive, he explains why this type of fat is more healthy for you than polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats.

Keep reading to learn the basic ins and outs of fats in your diet.

Fats in Your Diet

When you reduce your consumption of carbohydrates and eat the necessary amount of protein, the rest of your diet will primarily be made of fats. This is perfectly healthy.

So, what types of fats in your diet are recommended? According to physician Peter Attia, olive oil and other foods that are high in monounsaturated fats are generally healthier than foods that are high in polyunsaturated fats (like nuts and fish) or foods that are high in saturated fats (like beef and butter). Attia estimates based on anecdotal evidence that one-third to one-half of people react badly to a diet heavy in saturated fats—it causes them to produce significantly more LDLs and other unhealthy forms of cholesterol, increasing their likelihood of heart disease. That said, for those whose bodies can process it well, saturated fat is perfectly healthy to eat.

(Shortform note: According to Michael Pollan in In Defense of Food, the main reason people believe that dietary fat is so unhealthy is that lobbyists pressured government agencies into popularizing this idea. In 1977, a US Senate committee reported that eating too much red meat and dairy caused heart disease; however, pushback from the meat and dairy industries caused them to retract their findings and instead blame the saturated fats and cholesterol contained in those foods. This allowed corporations to market “healthier” low-fat processed foods like margarine, which also end up causing heart disease.)

The Drawbacks of “Healthy” Fats and the Benefits of “Unhealthy” Fats

Because saturated fats are the only fats with a chance of increasing your risk of heart disease, you may assume that a diet of low saturated fats and high poly- and monounsaturated fats would be ideal for anyone. (One such diet would be the Mediterranean diet, heavy in fish and fatty oils and light on red meat and dairy products like butter.) However, this may not be the case—especially for the one-third to one-half of the population that can process saturated fats just fine.

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats have some potential drawbacks. Olive oil, a great source of monounsaturated fat, is surprisingly calorically dense. Just one tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories. Similarly, nuts like pine nuts and walnuts (which contain polyunsaturated fats) are lightweight but dense with calories. If you’re not careful, the caloric density of these foods may sneak up on you, causing you to gain weight.

Furthermore, increasing your intake of certain types of saturated fat may yield unexpected health benefits. For instance, the saturated fats caproic, caprylic, and capric acid (known collectively as Medium Chain Triglycerides, or MCTs) have been shown to help your body burn calories, decrease insulin resistance, and prevent seizures. These benefits are potent enough that these saturated fats are sold as dietary supplements.

Fats in Your Diet: Peter Attia Weighs in on Olive Oil & Other Fats