In this post, we’re talking about how much fat is enough. Are you eating enough fat? Many of you are relying on a tonne of carbs to get your through each day, but unfortunately, all these excess carbs (yes, even ‘healthy’ whole grains) are contributing to blood sugar imbalances, digestive issues and ultimately, your acne.

Are you getting enough fat?

Chances are you’re not! Dietary fat is so important for healthy hormones and therefore acne-free, clear skin yet so many of us aren’t eating enough of it to make a difference to our bodies.

Fats contain an abundance of essential vitamins and nutrients that are incredible for clearing the skin. For example, dairy products contains vitamins A, D, E, iodine, selenium and short and medium chain fatty acids. Vitamins A, D and E are the three best vitamins for healthy skin. Full stop. Between them, they cool inflammation, reduce sebum oxidisation, reduce oily skin and balance testosterone levels. Iodine, selenium and vitamin A also support thyroid function and vitamin E and D promote healthy ovulation and support female hormones. Yes, I’m doing it. I’m recommending dairy as a safe food for acne sufferers! But wait… before you go running for a milkshake, continue reading this post to find out why not all dairy products are equal and the group of dairy foods you still need to avoid if you’re suffering with acne and hormone issues.

The reason I don’t recommend cows dairy is that it contains highly inflammatory A1 casein that should be avoided by anyone who suffers from acne or any sort of hormonal issues such as endometriosis, PCOS and even just chronic PMS. However, Goats, Ewe and Buffalo dairy are A2 casein and most women don’t suffer the same inflammatory symptoms as cows dairy. It’s one of those things that you’re going to have to try it and see how you get on. I recently read on this post by Lara Briden that if you used to suffer with regular ear/throat infections as a child, it’s a very good indicator to whether you can or can’t tolerate dairy. Those who suffered with upper respiratory infections as a child should avoid dairy completely as those childhood infections “were driven by A1 casein, and in adulthood, the same immune-disruption manifests as other inflammatory conditions.” (L.Briden, 2013)

Not only does fat have tonnes of nutrients that are fab for our skin, it also contains short and medium chain fatty acids, which also have really important roles in our healing and health. These fats help keeps us fuller for longer (so we don’t snack on junk between meals) and most importantly, they reduce inflammation in our digestive tract. Reducing inflammation in your gut means you can get rid of toxins and excess hormones more efficiently and also absorb nutrients better. I would say that getting these two processes working at an optimum level is probably the most important thing you can do when it comes to clearing your skin. If you’re not able to detox waste efficiently then you’ll never be able to clear your acne, no matter how healthy your diet is or how many supplements you take.

Isn’t saturated fat bad for us?

No! We’re finally learning that conventional medicine has been wrong this whole time! Studies have now shown that saturated fat isn’t bad for our health and it’s refined vegetables oils and sugar which are the reason behind our declining health! Canola, sunflower, rapeseed, margarine and other cheap vegetables/trans fats are mega inflammatory and can cause big problems for our skin and hormone health and should always be avoided if your serious about improving your health. However, fats from whole food such as meat, fish, avocado, coconut, butter etc are all highly beneficial for us and we should start embracing them for more balanced hormones and clearer skin! If you’re still not convinced, I highly recommend doing the research yourself but these articles here and here are a great place to start!

How much fat is enough?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say a million times more…fat is essential for healthy bod and smokin’ skin! However, most of us aren’t getting anywhere near enough! We’re often getting maybe 3 helpings of healthy fat a day when we should be aiming for 2-3 servings of healthy fat at each meal!

One way I recommend my clients to get enough fat each day is by aiming to include 2-3 of the foods listed below to each meal and all snacks should be based around one of the foods below.

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Avocado
• Avocado Oil
• Coconut Milk
• Grass-Fed Butter
• Goat Cheese
• Manchego Cheese (Ewe)
• Halloumi (Sheep)
• Feta (Goat/Ewe)
• Coconut Oil
• Coconut Cream
• Goat Cream
• Eggs (Duck/Hen)
• Salmon
• Ghee
• Bacon
• Grass Fed Beef
• Chicken (with skin)
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Nut Milks
• Mackerel
• Sardines
• Full Fat Goat Yogurt
• Coconut Yogurt
• Dark Chocolate (85%+)
• Chia Seeds
• Hemp Seeds

How do 4 health bloggers get enough fat each day?

So many of you are unsure of how much fat we should be eating on a daily basis so I thought I’d round up some of my online buddies to share the sorts of foods we eat on daily basis to help you get inspired to more fat! Over the next two weeks I’ve also got Kezia and Georgie sharing their individual stories about their transition into a high fat diet, and how it affected their health.

Kezia from Supernaturally Healthy

Kezia runs an online health coaching practice that utilises both nutritional science and a more functional medicine approach and often dives deep into both the biochemical and emotional elements of healing and health…..and eating! To indulge in more of Kezia’s delicious recipes, find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and check out her podcast for all things health and nutrition (I’m interviewed in Episode 20!)

Pre breakfast: Water and a herbal tea

Breakfast: Chia pudding made with coconut milk topped with blue berries and nut or seed butter / 3 scrambled eggs, sauerkraut, ghee and some assortment of veggies

Lunch: Gluten free sausages with cooked veggies, salad and this Detox Dressing / leftover chilli and spinach salad with avocado

Dinner: Salmon with roasted veg and pesto sauce / Curry of some kind with avocado / Chilli and guacamole

Snacks: One of my Super Charged Cocoas with touch of stevia / smoothie with collagen, coconut oil, banana or blueberries and chia seeds / A few squares of 90% dark chocolate

Georgie from Greens of the Stone Age

Georgie is a vegetarian, 30 something year old hot mama of 3, with a passion for health, fitness and food – I could literally spend hours browsing through her recipes, it’s full of the most amazing paleo and keto delights from Berry and Kale Salad to Cherry Bounty Bars – I featured her creations a couple of times on my acne-friendly Halloween treat post! For more treat inspiration, find Georgie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on her blog!

Breakfast: A coffee with 50ml organic full fat milk and 50ml organic double cream and 1 hard boiled egg

Lunch: Kale, bell pepper, 2 large mushrooms, and raw sauerkraut all fried in raw grass-fed butter with some mixed nuts, wakame (dried seaweed) rehydrated in water with 1 tsp organic sesame oil, mixed seeds and organic cheese

Dinner: Grilled wild salmon/mackerel fillet, broccoli and carrots (boiled/steamed).

Snacks: Vivo Life PERFORM protein shake and 20g Lindt 90% chocolate / Vegan Cookie Dough Protein Bars or my Cherry Bounty Bars / Mushroom Hot Cacao (1/2 tbsp cacao powder, 1 tsp Hybrid Herbs Mushroom Complex, a dash of NuNaturals stevia powder, 150ml hot water, 50ml unsweetened Almond Milk)

Jenna from Raw Rhubarb

Raw Rhubarb is an award-winning food blog which offers creative recipes that focus on being simple, easy, fast and healthy with a predominant focus on paleo and ketogenic food. You’ll find no technical terms or truffle oil here – but nothing is limited, either. For more easy, brilliant recipes, you can find Jenna on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Breakfast: In the week it’s easy to prepare a smoothie the night before to grab on my way to work and have after a long fast. Normally this is made from 4 tblsp coconut yogurt, frozen berries, 1 tbs almond butter, almond milk and possibly half a kiwi or half a banana. At the weekends with a little extra time on my side I’ll make eggs, I love making frittatas with vegetables such as mushrooms and peppers cooked in butter, then adding bacon, two beaten eggs, spinach and finally a spoonful of cream cheese and fresh chilli to finish.

Lunch: Weekday lunches are always prepared the night before and I love to have lots of greens such as spinach, rocket, watercress as a base, layered with cucumber, celery, cut raw peppers and raw carrots and cherry tomatoes with either a smoked salmon fillet/ two soft boiled eggs or some roasted free range chicken drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, a big pinch of coarsely ground black pepper and a little balsamic vinegar. Lunch at the weekend is normally incorporated into brunch and involves eggs. A favourite is poached eggs on buttered roasted sweet potato with tender stem broccoli on the side or shakshuka

Dinner: Usually my lightest meal and I love having baked salmon or mackerel with garlic butter broccoli as the florets absorb all the flavour! If I’m feeling like I don’t want meat perhaps I’ll roast two Portobello mushrooms smeared with tomato puree, topped with spinach, feta, olive oil and lemon. Get the recipe here.

Snacks: Usually a whole avocado dressed with olive oil mid afternoon for some energy / Coconut and Almond butter (Pip & Nut) with some bulletproof coffee

Amy from Skyn Therapy (me!)

Having battled with blemishes for over 15 years, I specialise in the natural treatment of acne and other skin disorders. Skyn Therapy helps others to identify the root cause of their skin problems and achieve a beautiful, clear complexion for good. For tips and advice on how to get your clearest skin yet, find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or sign up to my newsletter for your FREE Acne Trigger Quiz.

Pre breakfast: Green Tea or Spearmint Tea

Breakfast: Whipped coconut cream with berries and almond butter / almond milk smoothie with (1-2 tblsp) coconut oil, chia seeds, macadamia nuts and 1/2 scoop of protein powder / 2 poached duck eggs and buttered (1 tblsp) kale

Lunch: ‘Charcuterie Salad’ with spinach, tomatoes, goats cheese, sauerkraut, avocado, walnuts, salt, chicken and 1 tblsp olive oil based dressing

Dinner: Grass fed steak with crispy kale cooked in (1 tblsp) butter / grilled chicken tower on buttered (1tbslp) spinach with homemade guacamole, bacon, cucumber slices and a homemade ranch dip

Snacks: Macadamia ‘hummus’ or ranch dip with cucumber or pepper sticks / whipped coconut cream with a few berries and almond butter / 90% dark chocolate

As you can see from my ‘day on a plate’ below, I usually add a minimum of 1 tablespoons of fat to each main meal. That’s around 40g of fat before we even get onto the fat rich foods such as coconut milk, avocado, eggs, almond butter, mayonnaise, walnuts, goats cheese that I fill my plate with at every opportunity!

There you have it! I don’t know about you but I’m so inspired by some of these recipes – I’m definitely going to give them all a go over the next few weeks, and I’m now totally lusting after that Vivo Life Salted Maca Protein Powder – how good does that look?!

After reading this post, what are your thoughts? Do you think you’re getting enough fat each day? Let me know how you’re going to add more fat to your routine in the comments below!

Peace, Love & Clear Skin,