Is heavy cream a healthy source of fats?

avocados are my favorite healthy source of fats. nuts too!

It depends on who you are and what your body needs. If you're a middle aged obese woman with cholesterol in her family history, it's a terrible fat. If you're you, an underweight young person (like me, I'm 5'8, 120 and 21) then cream is a very good food for you to eat. I don't mean you need to consume fat to gain fat , but you need a variety of fats to keep your hair and nails from going brittle (I know what I'm talking about here too...) and I'm personally a fan of the idea you would benefit more from a variety of fatty foods than what the media deems "healthy fats" like avocados and olive oil (those are awesome foods but you need other fats too, media weight loss articles on "healthy fats" are geared towards the obese.) Good luck and try and eat more. Losing weight on purpose when you're not fat screws up your health, even if you're naturally thin (I know this from experience too.)

edit: Just wanted to let people know as a chemical/bioengineer I understand the cis and trans/saturated and unsaturated fats and their affects on heart health,but I really do think the black and white binary of "consume these but never eat those" is an incorrect conclusion to draw from that fact.

To answer your question, OP, you'll need to look at the amount of bad fats: saturated and trans fats... Good fats are polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats..

You can get good fats from olive oil, avacados and avacado oil, nuts, flaxseed oil, fish etc...
Cream is not a bad choice for getting your fats, but don't over do it.. Having cream with strawberries is fine though

as long as a good part of your fats comes from "healthy" fat sources like fish, nuts, avocados and various oils its perfectly fine to fill the rest with "less healthy" sources like the milk-fat in cream or animal fats.

Saturated fats are in fact not as bad as their reputation. In moderation they can be beneficial to your hormone levels and organ-funktion.

Just aim for a balance.

I find it difficult to eat enough fat, so I will put cream on my strawberries. Is this a healthy source of fat, or should I consume something like coconut oil instead?

Yes the fats in cream are healthy, and if you choice organic, a fatty acid called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is much higher, which is a good thing. Just under half the fat is oleic acid, a monunsaturated fat, normally abundant in avocado and olives and it has very little polyunsaturated fat, which is what we want to see......the bonus is cream taste great over strawberries.

Cream...healthy????seriously?

Animal fats are not unhealthy.

If the cream comes from a grass fed cow and is organic what would make that any more unhealthy than olive oil or peanut butter?

Cream...healthy????seriously?

agreed...IMO milk is not healthy anyways. :laugh:

Cream...healthy????seriously?

agreed...IMO milk is not healthy anyways. :laugh:

Milk is not cream, though. Cream is just the fat in milk. Animal fats are not unhealthy. OP, I've lost 12 pounds so far using things like heavy cream and butter - in general, a high fat diet. I'm not necessarily recommending you try this approach, but if you need a fat boost, cream is a great source.

I've heard from some people that full fat dairy has some benefits but honestly I am skeptical of that claim. Cream has so many calories and saturated fat - I made a vintage macaroni and cheese recipe using full fat cream and it had 800 calories per serving. Most people tell me that it's a good idea to restrict saturated fat.

All dairy is definitely a step up from hydrogenated oils, though.

For healthy fats I would recommend nuts, fish, flax seed, hemp seed, avocados, and extra virgin olive oil. I follow a lot of Dean Ornish 's views on fat so I don't cook with it. I find that it's easier to maintain a diet when the food is not as calorie dense, and fat adds quite a few calories per ounce. Fat important for nutrients to be absorbed though, so add a little. But if I have a choice between 4 ounces of sweet potato pie and two teaspoons of oil I'm definitely going with the pie !

P.S. Low fat and fat free dairy is generally good for you!

I've heard from some people that full fat dairy has some benefits but honestly I am skeptical of that claim. Cream has so many calories and saturated fat - I made a vintage macaroni and cheese recipe using full fat cream and it had 800 calories per serving. Most people tell me that it's a good idea to restrict saturated fat.

All dairy is definitely a step up from hydrogenated oils, though.

For healthy fats I would recommend nuts, fish, flax seed, hemp seed, avocados, and extra virgin olive oil. I follow a lot of Dean Ornish 's views on fat so I don't cook with it. I find that it's easier to maintain a diet when the food is not as calorie dense, and fat adds quite a few calories per ounce. Fat important for nutrients to be absorbed though, so add a little. But if I have a choice between 4 ounces of sweet potato pie and two teaspoons of oil I'm definitely going with the pie !

P.S. Low fat and fat free dairy is generally good for you!

there is nothing wrong with fully hydrogenated oils
its partially which is the problem(trans fat)

there is a difference.
there is also nothing wrong with saturated fat.
If anything saturated fat can be bad for those that are not physically active and eating more than body requirements.
Then again everything is bad on a hypercaloric diet.

Should look up french paradox for those who still think saturated fat is bad