But I thought fat made you fat???

All your life, you’ve probably been told that eating too much fat will make you fat. This statement is only partially true. YES, eating too much fat will make you fat, in the same way eating too many carbohydrates or protein will also make you fat.

I feel bad for fat because it gets such a bad rep. Everyone feels the need to cut the fat out of foods, but this doesn’t always make it healthier. A lack of fat in your diet can wreck havoc on your body and leave you feeling hungry all the time. Below are three food items that I think are way healthier in their natural, full fat form.

Reduced Fat Peanut Butter

NEVER EVER buy this item. This is the worst of the worst when it comes to reduced-fat foods. When companies take the fat out of peanut butter (which is full of healthy fats) they replace it with things like corn syrup, excess sugar, and maltodextrin. A better bet is to buy natural peanut butter with no added oils, sugars or salt. Look for 100% dry roasted peanuts and nothing else on the ingredient list to know you made the right choice. I also love natural almond butter for a change and is a paleo friendly option.

Fat Free Salad Dressing

This is another culprit.  Cutting the fat in salad dressings means replacing it with sugar to increase the flavor. The problem is that many of the nutrients in salads need fat for the body to absorb them. A better bet is to make your own vinaigrettes at home using vinegar and olive oil, or look for regular vinaigrettes with 30-60 calories per tablespoon.

Fat free packaged snacks

This applies to a whole lot of different snacks (reduced fat Oreos, fruit snacks, jelly beans, candy, twizzlers etc) People think they are a guilt free treat because they are fat free. Coca Cola doesn’t have any fat in it, but I wouldn’t exactly call if a healthy beverage options? The best thing to do is READ your labels. If a snack sounds too good to be true it probably is; make sure sugar/corn syrup/glucose isn’t one of the first ingredients on the list.