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| Learning and Sharing --> Health --> Focus on Fats | |||||||||||||
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5. FOCUS on FATS Bad fats hurt us; good fats help us. Knowing which is which is vital. For those of us over 40, the battle over which oil is better to cook with or what’s best to spread on our bread has been going on most of our lives. Unfortunately, much of what we think we know now is probably wrong. The skinny on fats is this: Far, far too much of what we eat is loaded with bad fats, termed by science “omega-6.” Some of these fats (saturated) occur relatively naturally in meat and dairy products (of which we should generally eat less). But most of them (polyunsaturated) come straight to us from science, which has tortured natural substances into oils our bodies can’t recognize and don’t know what to do with. These unnatural compounds are found in nearly half of all products sold at most grocery stores, and clearly are linked not only to the explosion in obesity, but strongly correlated to virtually all the major diseases of our time.
These chemically altered fats can’t bind in our
bodies with oxygen and actually become an
obstacle to the process of breathing. Our hearts rejects these fats
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So how the heck did this happen? It began with the rise of the food processing industry, when manufacturers discovered the profitability of stocking store shelves with long-shelf-life “stuff that won’t rot,” and then engaged in sometimes dubious (yet highly successful) efforts to market it. ALL of these manufactured oils: polyunsaturated vegetable oil (canola, corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean and sunflower), hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils (AKA trans fats), shortening and margarine, PLUS the products in which they appear (crackers, cookies, breaded fish sticks, salad dressings, mayonnaise and a thousand other things we’ve grown so used to consuming), PLUS commercially-produced meat, dairy products and eggs (because cows and chickens aren’t out eating grass in the pasture, but are fattened on corn or soybeans, making them pass on high amounts of this tainted fat in their food products) AND virtually all of our favorite fast foods fried in this awful oil---cause widespread inflammation at our body’s most basic cellular level. The American oil processing industry has grown by leaps and bounds for 50 years, and consumption of these heavily advertised, chemically altered fats has closely paralleled (and strongly been linked to) a marked rise in the incidence of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, circulatory disorders, liver and kidney dysfunction, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and other autoimmune disorders, liver and kidney degeneration, cataracts, macular degeneration, sterility, asthma, osteoporosis and skin diseases. Most recently, processed oils have been linked to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s Diseases, as well as learning disabilities in children. Despite such ominous concerns, 57 percent of all fat now consumed in this country comes from these dangerous, unnatural fats. (For a troubling perspective on canola, an oil we were taught to love, see http://www.mercola.com/2002/aug/17/con_ola2.htm.) [Top] |
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Back at the turn of the last century, before the advent of processed oils, when people ate the kinds of fats people had been eating since the start of recorded history (olive and flax and coconut oil, butter and even lard) heart disease was pretty much unknown, cancer claimed one in 10 lives (today it’s one in five) and no one had ever heard of Type 2 diabetes.
At the end of
World War II, the American seed oil industry was in crisis, with the
traditional use
of flax and other
seed oils in paints and plastics being replaced by new
compounds made from
petroleum. The industry needed new markets, and it discovered ways
to Europe never welcomed these pseudo fats like America did. Russia outlawed the chemical saturation of fats for the purpose of artificial hardening (as in the production of margarine) as long ago as 1902. Most European countries limit trans-fatty acids to 4 percent in any food (some of our foods contain up to 40 percent), while others, like Denmark, have continued to ban them altogether. Interestingly, Denmark has lower diagnosed rates of heart disease, overall cancer, breast cancer, diabetes and autoimmune disorders than any other country in the world. What’s even more interesting is that its citizens consume more saturated fat in the form of dairy products than virtually anyone else. As far back as 1928 (and often since) reputable scientists both here and abroad have raised strong concerns about processed oils, including former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and German biochemist Dr. Johanna Budwig, nominated six times for the Nobel Prize and considered by many as one of the world’s premiere authorities on fats. Many of her simple recommendations can be found at http://www.smarthealthcenter.com/budwig.html. The German seed oil manufacturers came after Dr. Budwig in court, and American seed growers and oil manufacturers have engaged in limited research while waging successive campaigns of disinformation (butter and “tropical oils” are bad, polyunsaturates are good)---all protecting their ever-growing financial interests. [Top] We have, in other words, been massively misled for decades. A growing number of reputable researchers, medical doctors, nutritionists and health care practitioners now share the view that polyunsaturated fatty acids in vegetable seed oils are “the bane of human health.” Their discoveries, they say, may save your life. More information on the history and casualties of the fat wars can be found at http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/fats_and_cancer.html and http://www.thescreamonline.com/essays/essays5-1/vegoil.html Sites that contains interesting articles on nutrition with a subversive slant on what’s often been popularly promoted for the public good are found at http://www.westonaprice.org/index.html and http://www.dldewey.com/hydroil.htm After decades of resistance, the FDA finally is allowing the American public to make better choices about the worst of these fats, and trans fats now must be named on product ingredient labels. Trans fats do all the bad things other processed oils do, but go a step further, (among other things) causing low birth weight in human infants, elevating cholesterol and triglyceride levels two fold, increasing the risk of breast cancer by 40 percent, and doubling the risk of heart attack in both men and women. The new trans fat warning may be just in time, as the largest group of Americans currently developing heart disease are young people between 21 and 28. In 1956, Hugh Sinclair, one of the world's greatest nutritional researchers, claimed that most of the so-called "diseases of civilization" - coronary heart disease, thrombosis, cancer, diabetes, inflammation, and skin diseases - were caused by a disturbance in fat metabolism. [Top] |
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Then there’s the flip side, good fats called Omega 3 While the wrong kinds of fats do all kinds of damage, the right fats play key roles in almost all aspects of bodily function, regulating heartbeat and chemical balance, transporting oxygen, controlling chromosomes during cell division, breaking down toxins, keeping out bacteria and viruses, cleansing arteries, reducing cholesterol and triglycerides and lowering blood pressure. It’s from these essential fatty acids that the body builds cell membranes, facilitates cell-to-cell communication and creates anti-inflammatory chemicals that boost immune function. These good-guy fats work against migraines and psoriasis, ease the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, create anti-clotting effects (lessening likelihood of heart attack or stroke) and protect against cancer.
Despite the overwhelmingly positive evidence that omega-3 fats are, indeed, essential, deficiencies of these good fats are believed to be widespread, as flax, walnuts and fish aren’t a large part of today’s standard American diet. [Top] And then things get really tricky. Americans are virtually “swimming in a vat of the wrong kind of fat” while starving for the right kind. But as if this isn’t bad enough, the complexities of our metabolism make it worse. Nature created food sources that would provide a balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fats. For most of humanity's existence, the omega-6/omega-3 ratio would have ranged from 1:1 to 3:1. Yet the omega-6/omega-3 ratio in the American diet today averages about 12:1, and many Americans today eat 20 to 40 times more omega-6 than omega-3 fat. Although we worry about our waistlines, the damage done inside is far worse. The triple whammy of this imbalance isn’t just the harm done by too many bad fats or too few good ones. The bottom line is that bad fats interfere with the metabolism of good fats, rending what was in short supply even more useless. This too-often-fatal chain of events creates an extremely favorable environment for degenerative diseases, heart disease and cancer to thrive. [Top] |
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So what’s the smart thing to do? Get over the hype we’ve been sold and get reacquainted with nature: w Add sources of omega-3 fats: flax seeds or oil, oily fish, walnuts, dark, leafy greens and “designer” Omega-3 eggs (created when chickens are fed a diet of flax). w Throw away canola, corn, cottonseed, peanut, safflower, soybean and sunflower oils (and consider eliminating products that contain them). Polyunsaturated oils are highly fragile, and develop dangerous free radicals when subjected to heat and oxygen---both in processing and when cooking. Made by high-temperature mechanical pressing and extraction with solvents, refined with acid, bleached, de-gummed and deodorized, these oils depress immunity, contribute to weight gain and cause widespread bodily inflammation.
w Use extra virgin olive oil as a main fat for cooking and sauteing. (It’s fine for baking too, and the cake really won’t taste funny.) Unlike other vegetable oils, olive oil is stable at fairly high temperatures. Olive oil has been around basically forever, is mentioned in the Bible and was used as a lubricant in building the pyramids. It’s actually a neutral oil, with little good or bad effect on the body. Specialty oils such as sesame or grape seed also can be blended with coconut and/or olive oil to form a good-tasting, heat-stable cooking oil. A new study shows that olive oil appears to be protective against development of breast cancer. w Take care not to heat oil to the point of smoking. Never reuse the same oil twice, as multiple heatings create dangerous toxins. Store in a cool, dark place and buy only what can be used in a month or so. Purchase only unrefined varieties, labeled “cold expeller pressed” or “extra virgin.” w For salad dressing, olive oil is the most reliable, economical choice for a base. Consider combining flax oil with olive oil for a healthier alternative. Flax oil must be kept refrigerated and can’t be heated. Good quality (like Flora, found at Henry’s) can be expensive, but worth it in terms of health benefits. Pumpkin and walnut oils also have the right fats (but fewer of them). These oils are good for salad dressings---but all lose their positive properties when heated. w Reduce consumption of products containing vegetable shortening, polyunsaturated fats and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. (Be a smart shopper, and get into the habit of reading food labels to check for their presence.) For the first time, starting this January, manufacturers must list trans fats on the “Nutrition Facts” panel on all foods. According to the FDA, "Trans fats can no longer lurk, hidden, in our food choices." w As a bread spread, steer clear of margarine, as lard (that stuff we were taught to shun!) is actually better for us than margarine, even the “designer” kinds (including those that add flax). Butter is better, but not in excess. Unlike most oils, butter can be used for all types of cooking, as it doesn’t break down into dangerous toxins when heated. Butter has been around for thousands of years and only in our time has been maligned to make way for unsafe manufactured oils.
w
Forget what you “know” about coconut oil. In moderation,
it’s one of the
healthiest oils of all, including olive. The bad press
coconut oil received a few years back was due to the vegetable oil
industry’s use of a flawed study where
the oil tested wasn’t natural, but hydrogenated.
The people
of the South Pacific and Hawaii have used coconut oil for
generations, w Reduce saturated fat intake by eating smaller amounts of butter, cream, cheese, full-fat dairy products and palm and coconut oil. Select lean meats. Remove the skin from poultry. Learn to love fish unbreaded. w Avoid eating fried foods at restaurants, as there are no industry-wide rules that govern the choice and maintenance of cooking oils used in restaurants. Reheated oils are especially toxic. w
Reconsider
commercial meat, eggs and dairy products, the non-natural creations
of farming methods that fatten animals on grains (like corn and
soybeans) high in problematic fats. Commercial, corn-fed beef is 10
times higher in omega-6 fats and seven times lower in omega-3 fats
than beef that’s pastured on grass. Grass-fed beef actually has an
omega-6 to omega-3 ratio similar to fish! Commercial eggs have
eight times more bad fat than the high Omega-3 eggs available now in
most markets, while commercial milk has 10 times more bad fat than w Reconsider soy. Like the “margarine versus butter wars,” there’s been a slew of publicity about the wonders of soy, and American soy farmers are having a field day. But the real truth about soy’s goodness is mixed. Some studies show that it helps (particularly in the prevention of breast cancer), but some studies say exactly the opposite. Soy and genistein (a phytoestrogen found within it) currently are under investigation by the FDA for possible links to reproductive cancers in both women and men. Until the jury’s all in, wisdom might urge caution (and flax!) A cursory search of the internet reveals lots of concern with soy, but one site seems to take the lead: http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/01aboutus.htm w In general, hold fats to 30 percent of food consumption, to keep weight down and energy up. |
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they
end up as inorganic deposits on the heart muscle itself. Our bodies
reject chemically processed fats because their composition has been
changed so much from what nature intended that they can no longer
fulfill their function, but instead can only cause damage. They clog
our arteries, create potent inflammatory chemicals that suppress our
immune systems, promote inflammation (linked to arthritis and
autoimmune disorders like lupus) and (at least if cancer is already
present) stimulate tumor growth. 
