Fat is a word with many negative connotations. As a society we are facing an obesity epidemic. According to the NHS, in 2011 thirty-four per cent of British men and thirty-nine per cent of British women were classed as obese. However obesity and fatness are different things. Fat is a perfectly natural component of the human body, not that you’d get that impression from the endless photoshopped celebrities gracing the pages of our glossy magazines. 

At a time of year when we all tend to indulge a little, and then resolve to undo our sins, I think it is worth taking a step back to distinguish the word 'fat' from the word 'lipid'. How can we expect people to have a realistic view of lipids in foods when we label them 'fats', with all the social stigma the word carries? Now I’m not proposing we change the English language (although maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea), but the confusion only serves to propagate misconceptions about how bad fats are in our diets. The truth of the matter is that fats really are essential. For everything from making hormones to protecting our organs to providing thermal insulation, we need fats. 

"Not saturated fats though surely?" I hear you cry. "They’re those ‘bad fats’ right?" No. The honest answer is that we don’t absolutely know what the ‘perfect’ diet for any individual is, the likelihood being that it just doesn’t exist. In fact some recent studies have shown that saturated fats can have a protective effect in the battle to prevent heart disease. Where saturated fats come from likely has a large impact on health. Dairy products often contain high levels of saturated fats, but also contain vitamin D, which has been linked to reduced cardiovascular risk. 

The human body is a complex machine, and as such it needs all the right bits in all the right amounts. We don’t know precisely what those bits are, or at least not the right amounts. We need to work to overturn the ‘bad’ image of fats in our society. 

We do have a problem with obesity, yet fats are far from the sole cause of that problem, and in fact many fats may have underappreciated health benefits. For now, we are all best off just eating a variety of foods, enjoying our meals and not worrying too much about what we eat. Nothing raises your blood pressure and risk of heart disease like good old-fashioned stress.