Signs you're not getting enough fat in your diet

Why do you need fat in your diet?

• Helps you absorb vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, which means your body can only absorb them if you eat them with fat. A lack of fat in the diet can lead to deficiencies in these vitamins, which can lead to a variety of health problems.
• Support cell growth. Fat provides structure to the outer membrane of every cell in your body.
• Supports brain and eye health. The omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) help maintain the health of the brain, central nervous system and retina. Your body doesn't make these fatty acids - you can only get them from your diet.
• wound healing. Essential fatty acids play a key role in wound healing and blood clotting.
• Hormone production. Your body needs dietary fat to make certain hormones, including the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen.
• Source of energy. Each gram of fat you consume provides you with approximately 9 calories of energy. In comparison, each gram of carbohydrate or protein produces only 4 calories of energy.

Dietary fats can be divided into four categories: trans fats, saturated fats, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats.

Trans fat

Trans fats are primarily found in partially hydrogenated oils and are the unhealthiest type of fat for your body. Hydrogenated oils are often used to improve the taste and shelf life of processed foods.

Your body doesn't need trans fat. Eating large amounts of this fat can increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Trans fats may be found in:

• Processed foods (such as microwave popcorn, frozen pizza, and cookies)
• Baked goods (such as store-bought pie crusts, cakes, and cookies)
• Fried foods (such as donuts and French fries)
• Margarine and vegetable shortening

To find out if a food contains trans fat, you can read the ingredient list on the package. If partially hydrogenated oil is listed as an ingredient, it's best to avoid using the product.

Saturated fat

Saturated fat is primarily found in animal products such as meat, eggs, and dairy. These fats tend to be solid at room temperature.

The USDA recommends getting less than 10% of your daily calories from saturated fat. Current research shows that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat is associated with a lower risk of heart disease.

monounsaturated fat

According to the American Heart Association, monounsaturated fats can help lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol in the blood. This can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Unlike saturated fat, monounsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature. Foods that are good sources of this type of fat include:

• Vegetable oils (such as olive, canola, sesame, and safflower)
• Nuts (such as almonds, peanuts, walnuts, and cashews)
• Nut butters (such as peanut butter and almond butter)
• avocado

polyunsaturated fat

Your body can't make polyunsaturated fats - that's why you need to get them from the foods you eat. These fats are also called "essential fats."

Omega-3 fatty acids are a special type of polyunsaturated fat that can help reduce the risk of heart disease, prevent irregular heartbeats, and help lower blood pressure.

You can find omega-3 fatty acids in the following foods:

• Fatty fish (such as salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines)
• Oysters
• flax seeds
• chia seeds
• Walnut

To help keep your body healthy, most of the fat you eat should be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat.

Dietary fat deficiency is rare in healthy people who eat a balanced, nutritious diet. However, certain conditions may put you at risk for fat deficiency, such as:

• eating disorder
• Large bowel resection (colectomy)
• inflammatory bowel disease
• cystic fibrosis
• pancreatic insufficiency
• very low fat diet

If you don't eat enough dietary fat, certain biological processes in your body may not work properly.

Let's take a closer look at some signs that you're not getting enough fat in your diet.

vitamin deficiency

Your body needs dietary fat to help absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. Inadequate intake of these essential nutrients increases the risk of:

• night blindness
• Infertility
• swollen gums
• bruises easily
• dry hair
• loose teeth
• frustrated
• Muscle pain
• blood clot under fingernail

Dermatitis (skin inflammation)

Studies have found that fat is an important part of the skin's cell structure and helps the skin maintain its moisture barrier. If you don't get enough dietary fat, it can affect your skin health and lead to dermatitis.

"Dermatitis" is a general term describing inflammation of the skin. Dermatitis caused by dietary fat deficiency usually appears as a dry, scaly rash.

Wounds heal slowly

According to research, your body needs fat to make many of the important molecules that control your body's inflammatory response. Low dietary fat intake may disrupt this response and lead to slower wound healing.

Deficiencies in fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin D can also cause wounds to heal more slowly than they should.

hair loss

Fat molecules in the body called prostaglandins promote hair growth. Consuming too few essential fats may change your hair texture, and research suggests it may also increase your risk of scalp or eyebrow hair loss.

often sick

Severely limiting fat intake can weaken your immune system and lead to more frequent illness.

Your body needs dietary fat to produce several molecules that stimulate immune cell activity.

Essential fatty acids are also important for the growth of immune cells. To do this, your body especially needs the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid and the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid.

The USDA recommends getting up to 35% of calories from fat. this means:

• On a 2,500-calorie diet, you can consume up to 97 grams of fat per day
• On a 2,000-calorie diet, you can consume up to 66 grams of fat per day
• About 50 grams of fat per day on a 1,500-calorie diet

But not all fats are created equal. It's best to avoid foods containing trans fats as much as possible.

It's OK to include some saturated fat (such as eggs, meat, or dairy) in your diet. But try to get most of your fats from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources, such as:

• Olives and olive oil
• Nuts and seeds
• Fatty fish and fish oil
• avocado