Boost Your Fat Intake to Save Your Brain
By Emily Main
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Two-thirds of the human brain is made up of fats. So when you don't get enough good, healthy fat in your diet, the levels of fatty acids in your brain become imbalanced, and you can wind up suffering from hyperactivity, depression, or, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, cognitive decline.
The study’s authors looked at the dietary histories of 482 women over the age of 60 and put them through a series of cognitive tests. They found that women who had a higher intake of monounsaturated fatty acids—those found in olive oil, avocadoes, nuts, and some types of fish—suffered less cognitive decline over the course of the three-year study than women with low to no monounsaturated fat intake. The difference was particularly marked in the areas of memory and in visual-spatial recognition.
women who had a higher intake of monounsaturated fatty acids—those found in olive oil, avocadoes, nuts, and some types of fish
40% of the fat in beef tallow is mono-unsaturated, as is 50% of the fat in lard.