"Good" Fats

Most experts agree: Don’t be afraid of good fats, like nuts or olive oil, which can help you feel full and eat fewer calories throughout the day.
In your quest to improve your diet or lose a few pounds, you do not have to reach for fat-free or reduced-fat products, and worry they contain other things that aren’t healthful. While light products may contain less fat or fewer calories, we tend to eat more of them because they don’t fill us up. A new study explains why: Natural oils and fats can help regulate your appetite by making you feel full. And extra virgin olive oil may be the best of the bunch.
 When researchers supplemented volunteers’ diets with olive oil, rapeseed, butter or lard, they found that olive oil filled people up the most. Compared to people in the other groups, no one in the olive oil group gained weight or body fat over the three-month period. When food manufacturers take naturally occurring fats out of products like peanut butter, they have to adjust the flavor, often by adding more sugar, which can actually stimulate the appetite. What’s more, you miss out on the beneficial monounsaturated fats.