Fat Facts – Friend or Foe?

March 1, 2008

Passing this along........

As published in the Smart Start Meals Newsletter - March 2008.

Fortunately, as with all diet fads, low fat is coming to an end. Eating fat-free and low-fat has been part of our food landscape for so long it’s hard to grasp that yes, not only is it okay, but it’s crucial to include fats in our diet. Confusion is understandable – so much contradicting information has us reaching for margarine with one hand and butter with the other. Here’s a whole-foods guideline to the why, what, and which of nutritious fats facts.

Why – Contrary to past adages, eating fat does not make you fat. Quite the opposite, as there are too many important roles that the healthy fatty acids play in our bodies to hide them away in fat cells. Fats insulate the body, are shock absorbers for our organs, are a great source of energy, increase the palatability of foods, promote digestion, and carry the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) are components of all cell membranes, hormones, and the nervous system, and therefore are crucial to the regulation of emotions and mood, brain function, and nerve impulses. They are required for immune response, decreasing inflammation, and regulating insulin function.

Here’s the real kicker after all those years of avoidance. Because they’re so important, your body makes sure it always has access to fats. If you are eating good fats regularly, those are available for use. If good fats are not a regular part of your diet, your body will make sure there are always some on hand, by having backup fat stores in places like your hips and thighs. In order to lose that fat, you have to eat fat in your diet.

What – Now that you know it’s important to eat fats, this does not give you license to start deep frying your toast. There are good fats and not so good fats. Here is a glossary of fats to help clear your head.

• Polyunsaturated Fats; Essential Fatty Acids; EFA’s; Omega 3 & 6 – These names refer to the same thing; essential fats. They are essential for good health and our body cannot make them out of anything else, meaning we must eat them directly for proper mental, emotional, and structural health. But, these fatty acids are very unstable, and can be altered to an unhealthy form by heat, light, and oxygen - why cooking with oils high in EFA’s is discouraged.

• Monounsaturated Fats – These oils are fluid but more stable than polyunsaturated oils. They keep arteries supple and skin lubricated. Because of their higher stability they can be used for medium heat cooking without damage. The most common of these is olive oil.

• Saturated Fats – There are two categories of saturated fats, one which is beneficial and one that is hard for our body to digest. How to differentiate the two? If you put a stick of butter or scoop of coconut oil in your hand it would melt, showing it will be liquid at body temperature when digested. If you put a slab of steak fat in your hand, it will stay solid, like it will at body temperature. It is much easier for the body to handle liquid fats than solid. Liquid saturated fats are used for cell membranes and energy. Solid saturated fats like animal fats are linked to sticky platelets and blood clots. Because liquid saturated fats are very heat stable, coconut oil and butter are excellent for high heat cooking and baking.

• Cholesterol – This fatty molecule is needed for membrane fluidity, protecting skin, and making steroid hormones, adrenal hormones, vitamin D, and bile, but cholesterol has an undeserved reputation. In cardiovascular disease, cholesterol is not the cause of arterial damage, but more the bandage. Damage to the arteries is caused by a diet high in refined sugar, total fat, chemical additives, and trans-fatty acids; a lack of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and EFA’s; and a modern lifestyle full of free radicals (pollution, smoking, drinking, etc.) Cholesterol is part of the package of fats and proteins that come to cover up damaged sites. It is an important part of the system – limit it but do not eliminate it from your diet. If your body requires cholesterol to ‘patch up’ free radical damage, it will make more through a process involving vitamin D made on the skin by UV radiation. Eliminating it from the diet will not stop arterial damage.

• Trans, Hydrogenated, Partially Hydrogenated Fats – These altered oils are not natural and have no role in your body. They act like slugs in our cells - they cannot perform the roles of good fats and lead to many detrimental effects, like interrupting the energy flow required for heartbeat, nerve function, cell division, coordination, sensory function, mental balance and vitality. The food industry makes these bad fats by altering the structure of natural oils, which makes them a spreadable non-food with a very long shelf life. Make a point to eliminate these fats by reading ingredient labels to avoid hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, modified, or otherwise altered fats.

Which – Great, there are good fats out there, but which foods are they found in? Here is a list of healthy fat foods to add to your diet once again. It really doesn’t matter which good fat is in what food; there is an array found within each item. Concentrate on a variety of good fat foods to provide you with all the fats your body requires.

• Seeds and Nuts and their Oils - Hemp, pumpkin, flax, sesame, sunflower, and chia (Salba) seeds; walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, and pine nuts• Cold-Water Fish - Mackerel, sardines, salmon, halibut, and trout• Other Natural Foods – Olives and olive oil, coconuts and coconut oil, avocados, eggs, poultry, and butter

Enjoy these foods again in your diet daily. Do remember that because these fats are energy-dense, moderation is really the key. Don’t much on almonds the same way you would popcorn. But enjoy a handful of unroasted, unsalted trail mix as a snack or a salad topper.

Here’s to good fats and great health!

http://www.alignnutrition.com:80/2008/02/28/fat-facts-–-friend-or-foe/

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