Putting healthy fats on your plate makes just about everything you do better! Fats nourish every structure and function of the body, including your very important brain. Fats also help you absorb nutrients more efficiently and keep you feeling full.
To perform well during your Paleo workouts, you need to nourish yourself with the healthiest fats you can eat. Fats occupy second place on your shopping list (behind protein), so you should spend the extra money for quality items. Here are some good options:
Animal fats: Eating animal fats can be healthy when they come from pastured-raised, grass-fed sources, such as tallow (beef fat), lamb fat, duck fat, and schmaltz (chicken fat).
Avocados: These fruits provide monounsaturated fats, which are incredibly healthy. Add some avocado in a salad, mash and use as a dip for veggies, or just eat with a spoon.
Butter and ghee: Butter from grass-fed, pasture-raised cows and organic, grass-fed ghee (also called clarified butter) are fantastic cooking oils because they're stable at a very high heat.
Warning: Any butter, even grass-fed, contains milk proteins. If you're sensitive to milk proteins, you may want to stick to ghee, in which the milk proteins are boiled off.
Coconut fats: Incorporate coconut through coconut butter, flakes, and milk. Or eat fresh coconut.
Nuts and nut butters: Eat any of these nuts as a snack: almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts.
Note: Due to their toxin level, you should avoid peanuts and peanut butter.
Oils: Try macadamia, avocado, coconut, olive, and walnut.
Olives: Olives offer monounsaturated fats and are a great snack or addition to salad.
Seeds: Pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, and pine nuts are great Paleo choices.