6 Ways To Increase healthy Fats In Your Diet

When I hear someone tell you “you need to eat more healthy fats” my brain translates it into “you need to start cooking everything in virgin coconut oil, and it’s all going to taste like it too!”

Don’t get me wrong, I love the flavor of coconut, … but not in my eggs or fried potatoes – or pretty much any other savory dish, which means that I’ve had to adopt new habits and get creative to increase my daily healthy fat intake.

If this story sounds familiar, listen up! This is for you!

Six Ways To Increase Healthy Fats In You Diet

1. Drink it in your hot coffee or tea. My husband is a coffee drinker, and has been blending in coconut oil for years, but I’m not. So recently I’ve begun a ritual of making myself a cup of tea as soon as I get out of bed, and adding a tablespoon of virgin coconut oil. Tip: if you have an immersion blender, make sure you blend the oil in, for a creamy, rather than oily mouth feel.

2. Add it to your oatmeal in place of butter. If you don’t like oatmeal, or think you can’t eat it without a healthy serving of butter, that’s because you’ve never tried “Almond Joy” or “Mounds” oatmeal! Simply add coconut oil, your choice of sweetener, and either coconut or chocolate chips. Optionally, you can also add almond slivers. Yes, it’s like eating a candy bar for breakfast!

3. Make fat bombs. They’re kind of like candy, but healthy. Win-win! I love these pumpkin patty fat bombs from Healthful Pursuit, and Strawberry Cheesecake Fat Bombs. Basically, just search “fat bombs” on Pinterest, and you’ll get a gazillion delicious results!

4. Replace butter with coconut oil in baking. You can easily make the swap in recipes like muffins and quick breads. Pancakes (though not technically baked) are also a great place to make the swap! If you’re a microwaved cake addict like me, you’ll also be happy to know that coconut oil works great in this gluten-free chocolate mug cake.

5. Add it to your smoothies. This is such a sneaky way to add coconut oil – you’ll never know it’s there!

6. Make “Skinny Chocolate”. This is by far the best way for me, a chocolate lover, to get my daily quota of coconut oil in. It’s a simple, super easy to make mixture of oil, cocoa powder, and Truvia sweetener. Perfection!

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Where to buy coconut oil

When you’re eating coconut oil for health, it’s important to know that there are two kinds of coconut oil: virgin, and expeller pressed.

While expeller pressed is a great oil for cooking and frying things you don’t want tasting like coconut, as well as soap making, virgin coconut oil is the pinnacle of healthy oils, and it’s virgin that you want to take for healthy fat consumption.

Where to find coconut oil

Tropical Traditions. Their Gold Label virgin coconut oil can’t be beat! You’ll want to make sure you sign up for their sales emails so that you can take advantage of their frequent BOGO, half price, and/or free shipping deals. I typically wait until the five gallon pail is on sale for 50% it’s normal price, AND they’re offering free shipping. It doesn’t happen often, but then, I don’t need to replenish my five gallon pail very often either. 😉

Amazon. Occasionally, I have bought, and been very happy with Nutiva coconut oil. If you don’t feel like you can spring for a large quantity of oil right now, this is a great place to start!

Costco. If we lived nearer to Costco, we would probably take advantage of their coconut oil more often. though some debate the quality, the price is sure nice!

What are some of the reasons you would want to include coconut oil in your healthy diet?

I’m not a very eloquent health writer, so I’ll leave it to the guys and girls who know their stuff to tell you:

• Coconut oil for weight management (also see Coconut Oil And Weight Loss)
• Coconut oil for increased energy
• The Health Benefits Of Coconut Oil
• Ten Proven Benefits of Coconut Oil

Your turn: What is your favorite way to use coconut oil?