Fats Deficiency: Signs That Show You Don't Have Enough Fats In Your Body (2)

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Vitamin deficiencies

Your body needs dietary fat to help it absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. Not getting enough of these essential nutrients can, among other things, increase your risk of:

• night blindness
• infertility
• swollen gums
• easy bruising
• dry hair
• loose teeth
• depression
• muscle pain
• blood clots under your nails

Dermatitis (skin inflammation)

ResearchTrusted Source has found that fat is an essential part of the structure of your skin cells and helps your skin maintain its moisture barrier. If you don’t get enough dietary fat, it could affect the health of your skin and lead to dermatitis.

“Dermatitis” is a general term to describe inflamed skin. Dermatitis caused by a dietary fat deficiency often presents itself as dry, scaly rashes.

Slow wound healing

According to researchTrusted Source, your body needs fat to create many important molecules that control your body’s inflammatory response. Low dietary fat intake could disrupt this response and lead to slow wound healing.

Deficiencies in fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin C and vitamin D can also cause wounds to heal more slowly than they should.

Hair loss

Fatty molecules in your body called prostaglandins promote hair growth. Consuming too little essential fat could change your hair texture, and researchTrusted Source suggests it could also increase the risk of hair loss on your scalp or eyebrows.

Frequent sickness

Severely restricting fat intake can weaken your immune system and lead to more frequent illnesses.

Your body needs dietary fat to produce several molecules that stimulate the activity of your immune cells.

Essential fatty acids are also important for the growth of immune cells. In particular, your body needs the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid and the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid for this purpose.

Tips for creating a more balanced diet

The USDA recommends getting up to 35 percent of your calories from fat. This means:

• up to 97 grams of fat per day in a 2,500-calorie diet
• up to 66 grams of fat per day in a 2,000-calorie diet
• around 50 grams of fat per day in a 1,500-calorie diet

But not all fats are created equal. It’s best to avoid eating foods that contain trans fats whenever possible.

It’s fine to include some saturated fats — such as eggs, meat, or dairy — in your diet. But try to get most of your fat intake from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources such as:

• olives and olive oil
• nuts and seeds
• fatty fish and fish oil
• avocado

The bottom line

Your body needs dietary fat for many biological processes. If you don’t get enough fat in your diet, you may notice symptoms such as dry rashes, hair loss, a weaker immune system, and issues related to vitamin deficiencies.

To help maintain good health, most of the fats you eat should be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. These fats are typically found in fatty fish, nuts and seeds, olive oil, and avocados. 

Categories: Food And Nutrition