A false rumour has been circulating over the years that a zero-fat diet is a healthy lifestyle. Certainly for people with high cholesterol issues, intentional care should be given to avoid foods that exacerbate their condition – but not all fats are created equal, and avoiding them altogether could actually do more harm than good as far as the brain is concerned.
The brain is a powerhouse of the body and consequently can be somewhat guilty of hogging the body’s fuel (which comes from food). A safe estimate is that the brain alone uses about 20% of fuel, and a significant amount of that fuel comes from fats. It’s no coincidence that the brain itself is composed of 60% fat, which means the body itself needs at least 30% fat to supply the brain and keep it working properly. This is why no weight-loss program, no matter how extreme or severe, can ever cut out fats completely – the lowest level of fat inclusion in a properly nutritional diet should still maintain at least 40% fats.
The real issue, since it’s impossible to forgo fats, is to choose “good” fats that feed the brain as well as filling the stomach. Olive oil has long been a favourite of these good fats, but there are many more options available, and for different reasons. Coconut oil can tolerate heat better than olive oil, which makes it far more ideal that olive oil (especially extra virgin) when cooking at higher temperatures. Coconut oil also more closely resembles fats that naturally appear in the human body, which means there is less work involved for the body to properly use it. Peanut oil and grapeseed oil can also tolerate heat, making them suitable for all-purpose cooking. Peanut oil has the additional benefits of being cheaper than olive oil, with just as many (if not more) advantages for heart (and brain) health.