Although many diets would have you believe otherwise, fats are essential for health.

Fats are also an important source of energy, support cell growth, and are essential for your body to absorb some nutrients and produce important hormones. Our research also shows that having fat in a meal can help to control your blood sugar response.

Most importantly – fats enhance flavor, add texture and make a meal taste great!

Your body needs fats and there are many healthy sources which you can eat while controlling your blood fat levels.

We give you alerts about the amount and type of fat you are eating to help you limit harmful dietary inflammation in your body.

Certain fats as well as too much fat, can cause dietary inflammation. If this inflammation is too high or lasts too long it can increase your risk of developing health problems (including heart disease or diabetes), and it may also make it more challenging for your body to manage weight.

You can keep dietary inflammation from fat in check by keeping an eye on:

Certain foods release fats that may cause more inflammation than others. We also know that on average it takes 6-8 hours for blood fats to clear after a single meal. Because most people eat every 4-6 hours, fat can build up in your body over several meals. Controlling this build-up of blood fats can reduce dietary inflammation and is better for your long-term heart health. We give you messages about your fat intake to help you factor this into your meal planning.

The maximum fat anyone should have is between 55-100g in 8 hours. Your fat threshold may be lower or higher depending on the results of your blood fat control (estimated from your own blood tests or measured from your ZOE test) and the quality of fats you choose. High quality fats are those found in olive oil, nuts and seeds.

The ZOE app will remind you to keep an eye on your fats if you are coming close to your personal fat threshold.

Poor quality fats can increase the likelihood of dietary inflammation, and in the long term, are linked with poorer health outcomes.

You can learn about your predicted blood fat response for any food or meal when you select an item in the ZOE app. Predicted responses are shown beneath your score on food detail pages and include contributing factors such as the quality of fats.

We've designed the ZOE app to help you learn to manage your diet for better health over time, and understanding about the sources of fats in your diet can help you do so.

If you get an alert, try some of the following suggestions: