Fat can have a bad reputation, but certain fats are essential for the healthy functioning of your brain.

Between government guidelines, fad diets, and our endless social feeds, nutrition advice overload has left us all a bit lost with how to incorporate healthy fats into what we eat.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The different kinds of fats (saturated vs. unsaturated) and which ones we actually need to consume
• The myth that “because your brain is primarily made of fat, it thrives on a high-fat diet”
• How the cardiovascular damage caused by saturated fats can increase the risk of cognitive decline and dementia
• All the tasty ways you can get more healthy, unsaturated, essential fats into your meals

We welcome esteemed nutrition scientist Dr. Alan Flanagan back to the show (he first featured on Your Brain On… Sugar), to explore the history of research into the impact of fats and how it shaped one of the most robust bodies of evidence in all of science.

We’re also joined by Dr. Danielle Belardo, renowned cardiologist and science communicator, to talk about the interplay between heart health, brain health, and fats, the controversy around statins, the low-down on LDL cholesterol, and the future of cardiovascular interventions.