Healthy Fats in An Ancestral Diet: A Complete Guide

What do you think of when I say healthy fats? Vegetable or seed oils and spreads, and avoiding animal or saturated fats like the plague, right? I hope what comes next will change your mind.

Until I was 36, I thought I should avoid saturated fat. Eating animal fat was for those who didn’t care about health – those beer-guzzling, junk food-eating, cigarette-chuffing kinda people.

The problem was, I was eating well but I wasn’t healthy. I was chronically fatigued. That was until I listened to a podcast that said animal fats are healthy and we should be eating them.

I would’ve normally laughed and dismissed the idea. But I was desperate for some relief from the misery I was living – the lethargy, brain fog, anxiety, and most of all, the deep, dark depression that was consuming me.

So I thought, “fuck it – I’m gonna try this.” So, I stopped eating human-made foods, including seed oils, and started eating animal fats.

My meals went from pesto pasta to ribeye steak cooked in butter and topped with peppercorn sauce. From a ham salad & mayo sandwich to scrambled eggs, bacon, cream, and loads of butter.

It all tasted bloody good but felt wrong. It contradicted everything I’d ever been taught about healthy eating.

But within days, my symptoms started to disappear. It was no more than 2 weeks, and I felt like a light bulb had been switched on in my head – one that hadn’t been on for a long time.

It was like a miracle, but I was so confused.

But as I considered it further, it became clear that animals and their fats have existed for millions of years, and human-made seed oils were only recently invented.

So it makes sense that humans would struggle with something we’ve never eaten before, and when we introduce back the fats our ancestors ate, we would start thriving again.

Suddenly, it all became so obvious to me—the next stage was anger. How could we have been led down such a destructive path? We put faith in the advice we were given, yet it was so clearly wrong. WTF!

Now that we know what “healthy fats” are, let’s explore their role in ancestral diets, their benefits, and how to incorporate them into our modern lives.

You’ll learn why fats like grass-fed butter, pastured animal fats, and wild-caught fish are essential for long-term health.

Let’s relearn the wisdom of ancestral eating and fuel our bodies as nature intended.

TL;DR

• Healthy fats, such as animal fats and cold-pressed oils, have fueled humans for millennia. They support energy, brain health, hormone production, and overall vitality.
• Our ancestors thrived on fats from animal meats, organs, wild-caught fish, and location-based oils like olive or coconut oil, which are unprocessed and nutrient-dense.
• Modern processed foods, seed oils, and refined sugars disrupt health. Returning to ancestral, whole foods reduce inflammation and restore metabolic balance.
• Healthy fats strengthen immunity, improve cardiovascular health, and reduce the risk of chronic disease. They offer sustainable energy and long-term wellness.

What Are Healthy Fats and Why Are They Important?

Healthy fats are natural animal fats that support bodily functions and overall health. Unlike processed seed oils and trans fats, these fats have been part of the human diet for thousands of years.

Fats are so much more than this annoying thing that hangs around our midriff. They have roles in the body that go way beyond energy.

Body Roles

Healthy fats have these roles in the body:

• Energy Production: Fats are a concentrated energy source for long-lasting physical and mental performance.
• Hormone Production: They are required to regulate metabolism, mood and stress response.
• Brain Health: The brain is 60% fat and needs omega-3 and other healthy fats for memory, cognition, and emotional stability.

Ancestral Sources

Our ancestors got their fats from whole foods like:

• Animal Fats: Ruminant animals, definitely. Maybe some poultry if it was available.
• Seafood: If they lived by a water source, no doubt wild-caught fish and shellfish.
• Dairy: Raw, full-fat dairy products like butter, cheese, and cream.
• Plant-based Oils: Cold-pressed oils like extra virgin olive oil and unrefined coconut oil are location-dependent.

These fats fuel survival, physical endurance, and mental sharpness. Returning to these nutrient-dense sources can rebuild our health from the inside out.

Healthy Fats in Ancestral Diets

Imagine yourself as a hunter-gatherer. Your number one stressor and job for the day is to find food for yourself and your tribe. You’re dressed in a loincloth and armed with a spear. You go searching for food.

It’s been a few days since your last feast and stomachs are growling.

As you walk across the plains you see an elk in the distance – your prayers are answered. You chase the beast and secure the kill using the skills and knowledge passed down from your elders and gained over the years.

Today, you and your tribe will eat well.

Now, do you cut off the fat and throw it away? The stuff that makes the food taste just a little bit better and makes you feel full?

Would you let anything go to waste, knowing you may not eat again for a while?

I think we both know the answer to this.

How Ancestors Used Nutrient-Dense Animal Fats

Animal fats have been part of the human diet for thousands of years. Before modern food systems, our ancestors hunted, fished, and foraged, relying heavily on nutrient-dense animal fats for survival.

These fats provide calories for people to survive through long winters and food scarcity.

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Animal fats are rich in fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2. These vitamins are necessary for strong bones, a robust immune system, and optimal organ function.

Unlike water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins require dietary fat for absorption, so animal-based fats are essential to ancestral diets.

Organ Meats and Wild-Caught Fish Nutrients

Organ meats like liver, heart, and kidneys were highly valued by our ancestors and are nutrient-dense. Liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, packed with vitamin A, iron, and minerals.

Wild-caught fish is a great source of omega-3s, which support brain health and reduce inflammation and heart health.

Our ancestors built strong, resilient bodies that allowed them to thrive in harsh environments by using these nutrient-dense fats. Today, we can return to these tried-and-true sources of healthy fats and achieve the same vitality.

Modern Diets vs Ancestral Eating

The food we stuff in our faces today is vastly different from what our ancestors ate. Many foods we eat today didn’t even exist a few years ago.

It makes sense that if our bodies aren’t used to processing this food, our health will suffer. The evidence is everywhere. You don’t have to look too far to see people struggling with their health.

This isn’t normal – we’re not meant to be unhealthy. Feed your body crap, and it’ll give you crap back.

Seed Oils, Refined Sugars, and Processed Foods

Modern diets are dominated by ultra-processed foods filled with seed oils, refined sugars, and artificial additives. Seed oils like soybean, corn, and canola oil are highly processed and prone to oxidation and chronic inflammation.

With refined sugars, these ingredients disrupt metabolism and promote fat storage.

Chronic Inflammation and Metabolic Health Issues

Consuming too much processed food leads to systemic inflammation, the root of many chronic diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and autoimmune disorders.

Metabolic health suffers when the body cannot regulate blood sugar, and people get stuck in a cycle of fatigue and weight gain.

Benefits of Minimally Processed Foods

Switching to minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods like ancestral diets will reduce inflammation, stabilize energy, and improve metabolic health.

Eating whole, unprocessed foods will restore the body’s natural balance and long-term health.

The Truth About Seed Oils: Are They Healthy?

If I had to remove one food from this earth, it would be seed oils. They were not made for human consumption and are slowly poisoning anyone who eats them.

Highly Processed Nature of Seed Oils

Seed oils like soybean, corn, and canola are industrial products extracted with high heat and chemical solvents like hexane. This process removes all-natural nutrients and creates unstable molecules that oxidize.

When these oils are heated, lit, or exposed to air, they form free radicals that can damage cells.

Bleaching and Deodorizing Process

Manufacturers bleach and deodorize seed oils to remove the unpleasant odors and off colors to make them edible.

So, we have a product that is not food at all – a highly processed, artificial substance with very little nutritional value.

A New Food for Humans

Seed oils are a relatively new addition to the human diet, introduced only in the last century. Before this, humans ate animal fats, butter, and cold-pressed oils like olive and coconut oil.

The human body evolved to thrive on these natural fats, not chemically altered oils made in factories.

Fats and Ancestral Diets Myths

The problem with getting people to eat animal fats is the brainwashing we’ve all been subjected to. We’ve been told for our whole lives that animal fats are bad and clog our arteries.

Let’s bust these myths.

Saturated Fats and Heart Disease Myths

For decades, saturated fats have been blamed for heart disease. This myth comes from outdated research that ignored sugar consumption and lifestyle factors.

Modern research shows that naturally occurring saturated fats from grass-fed beef, pastured butter, and coconut oil can be part of a heart-healthy diet.

Research has shown that eating healthy fats can even improve cholesterol profiles by raising HDL (the good cholesterol) and changing LDL particles from small, dense (bad) to large, fluffy (neutral).

Trans fats and highly processed seed oils, not traditional fats our ancestors ate, are often the real culprits in heart disease.

Calorie Intake and Weight Management Concerns

We are told that eating fat makes us fat. While fats are calorie-dense, they are also very satiating, keeping us full for longer and reducing overall food intake.

Eating healthy fats in meals can stabilize blood sugar, curb cravings, and support metabolism.

Research shows that diets high in healthy fats, such as carnivore or ketogenic diets, can aid in weight loss and maintenance. The key is to eat natural fats and avoid processed artificial fats, which disrupt hormonal balance and trigger fat storage.

Now that you know the truth about dietary fats, you can make better choices that align with your health goals, just as our ancestors did when they ate nature’s most nutrient-dense foods.

Maybe we should stop blaming animal fats for what human-made fats and refined sugars do.

Health Benefits of Ancestral Diets with Healthy Fats

So you’re on the animal fat train now. Now, let’s get to the health benefits of eating animal fats.

Immune Function and Energy

Healthy fats like omega-3s and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) from grass-fed meats, pastured butter, and wild-caught fish support the immune system.

These fats reduce inflammation, strengthen cell membranes, and help the body absorb nutrients, leading to more energy and greater resistance to illness.

Cardiovascular Health and Weight Loss

Cholesterol is a big, confusing topic. We’ve been told it’s the devil and should lower it as much as possible.

The problem is that, yes, cholesterol will go up. But it’s now understood that our bodies will make it if we don’t eat it.

So, if it’s really that bad, do you think Mother Nature or God would be that sick that they designed our bodies to make this thing that’s so bad?

It’s more complicated than lowering it as much as possible, and I’m not qualified to advise you on this. So, I suggest you research it. You can look into people like Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, Dr. Zoe Harcombe, and Ivor Cummins.

When it comes to weight loss, stop thinking fat makes you fat. Think more like: If you eat carbs, your body will be in fat storage mode. Lose the carbs and eat animal fats; you’ll be in fat-burning mode.

I’ve simplified it here but having this in mind is helpful when making good choices.

Autoimmune Disorders and Chronic Diseases

Ancestral diets with anti-inflammatory fats can reduce the severity of autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and lupus.

Also, the nutrient density of foods like organ meats and wild-caught fish supports cellular repair. They also reduce chronic inflammation and prevent lifestyle diseases like diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and certain types of cancer.

By eating nutrient-dense healthy fats from ancestral foods, you can experience long-term health benefits that are rooted in our evolutionary past. It’s time to feed your body the way nature intended.

Conclusion

This idea that animal fats are bad for us and we should replace them with human-made processed fats that humans have never been exposed to before is so harmful to our health.

A little common sense makes this obvious: Our ancestors ate animals and their fats for millions of years, while plant-based fats are a new invention. Which would you put your faith in?

Another thing that’s been floating around in my head is that humans can store fat on their bodies forever. As annoying as this is in our modern era of “food a plenty,” there must be an evolutionary reason for this.

When it comes to Mother Nature, things don’t happen by accident. There’s a reason we can store fat… survival.

In a time when food was scarce, it’s very handy to have some reserve energy, and as fat is a great energy source, how about we store some for those times when food is hard to come by?

And when you’ve run on fat as your main fuel source, i.e. when you’re in ketosis, you feel amazing. It’s almost as if we’re designed to run on fat. And what would have been the only fat available until 100-odd years ago?

Animal fat… So go for it!

It was when I went for it and cut out all the human-made processed crap – adopted the ultimate human diet of nutrient-rich foods – I reversed my chronic fatigue and started thriving and enjoying life again.

So, if you want to get well or improve your health, use logic. Picture yourself as a hunter-gatherer or caveman and eat and live accordingly.

And that’s it… have a healthy day!

FAQs

What did our ancestors eat to stay healthy?

Our ancestors ate a species-specific diet, meat, organs, fat, and occasional Indigenous fruits or vegetables. They focused on unprocessed natural foods that were available before modern food systems.

How much fat did our ancestors eat?

Ancestors ate plenty of animal fats from fatty meats, marrow, and organs for energy and brain health. This was a high-fat diet for optimal health.

What was the main food of our ancestors?

Meat, including organ meats and fatty cuts, was the foundation of ancestral diets. Supplementing with seasonal Indigenous fruits and vegetables ensured nutrient-dense food for survival and vitality.

What is the diet Based on lineage?

Based on lineage. Natural and unprocessed ancestral diet foods. Meat and Indigenous plants. Follow the principles of evolutionary health.