Fats get a bad rap, and we’re told to avoid them and instead told to choose low-fat and non-fat foods!
The truth of it is that we need good fats for our bodies to function properly, and we need to eliminate the bad fats.
To understand what makes a good and healthy fat versus a bad fat, understanding what fats are is important.
What are Fats?
Fats are a class of organic substances that are not soluble in water. In simple terms, fatty acids are chains of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms filling the available bonds. Fatty acids are classified into three categories:
Saturated Fatty Acids
All available carbon bonds are occupied by a hydrogen atom.
They are highly stable
They don’t go rancid, even when heated for cooking purposes
They form a solid or semisolid fat at room temperature
They are found in animal fats and tropical oils
Your body makes saturated fatty acids from carbohydrates
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids
They have one double bond in the form of two carbon atoms double-bonded to each other, and lack two hydrogen atoms.
Your body makes monounsaturated fatty acids from saturated fatty acids.
Tend to be liquid at room temperature
They are relatively stable
They don’t go rancid and can be used for cooking purposes
Most common monounsaturated fatty acid is oleic acid, the main component in oils from olive, almond, pecan, cashew, peanut and avocado.
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids
They have two or more pairs of double bonds, and lack four or more hydrogen atoms
Omega-6 is a polyunsaturated fatty acid, as is Omega-3.
The omega number indicates the position of the first double bond.
Your body cannot make these fatty acids and consequently are essential in our diet.
They are liquid, even when refrigerated.
They go rancid easily and must be treated with care.
They should never be heated or used in cooking
All fats and oils, whether of animal or vegetable origin, are some combination of saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The Dangers of Polyunsaturated Oils
In the United States, the public has been told that polyunsaturated oils are good for us and that the saturated fats cause cancer and heart disease, resulting in a fundamental change in the Western diet. Today, most of the fats in the diet are polyunsaturated from vegetable oils derived mostly from soy, as well as from corn, safflower and canola. At the turn of the century, most of the fats were saturated or monounsaturated, primarily from butter, lard, tallows, coconut oil and small amounts of olive oil.
Today’s diet contains as much as 30% of calories as polyunsaturated oils, and research indicates the actual amount is much higher. Our intake of polyunsaturates should not be greater than 4% of the caloric total.
According to Weston A Price Foundation,
“Excess consumption of polyunsaturated oils has been shown to contribute to a large number of disease conditions including increased cancer and heart disease; immune system dysfunction; damage to the liver, reproductive organs (sterility) and lungs; digestive disorders; depressed learning ability; impaired growth; and weight gain.
…New evidence links exposure to free radicals (key compounds found in rancid oils) with premature aging, with autoimmune diseases such as arthritis and with Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and cataracts.
…Most polyunsaturates in commercial vegetable oils are in the form of double unsaturated omega-6 linoleic acid, with very little of the vital triple unsaturated omega-3 linolenic acid. Recent research has revealed that too much omega-6 in the diet creates an imbalance that can interfere with production of important prostaglandins. This disruption can result in increased tendency to form blood clots, inflammation, high blood pressure, irritation of the digestive tract, depressed immune function, sterility, cell proliferation, cancer and weight gain. …Deficiencies in omega-3 have been associated with asthma, heart disease and learning deficiencies.”
Benefits of Saturated Fats
Saturated fats play many important roles in our body chemistry:
Saturated fats gives our cells necessary stiffness and integrity as they constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes
For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated
They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease, and they also protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol
They enhance the immune system
They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids
The fat around the heart is highly saturated, as the heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress
Saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties and protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.
According to Weston A Price Foundation,
'“Saturated fats do not clog arteries or cause heart disease. In fact, the preferred food for the heart is saturated fat; and saturated fats lower a substance called Lp(a), which is a very accurate marker for proneness to heart disease.
Saturated fats play many important roles in the body chemistry. They strengthen the immune system and are involved in inter-cellular communication, which means they protect us against cancer. They help the receptors on our cell membranes work properly, including receptors for insulin, thereby protecting us against diabetes. The lungs cannot function without saturated fats, which is why children given butter and full-fat milk have much less asthma than children given reduced-fat milk and margarine. Saturated fats are also involved in kidney function and hormone production.
Saturated fats are required for the nervous system to function properly, and over half the fat in the brain is saturated. Saturated fats also help suppress inflammation. Finally, saturated animal fats carry the vital fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K2, which we we need in large amounts to be healthy.”
Which Fats to Use?
You’ll want to avoid the polyunsaturated oils:
all hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils
industrially processed liquid oils such as soy, corn, safflower, cottonseed and canola
fats and oils (especially vegetable oils) heated to very high temperatures in processing and frying.
The best fats to use are:
For cooking:
butter (from grass fed livestock)
tallow and suet from beef and lamb (from grass fed livestock)
lard from pigs (from pasture raised pigs)
chicken, goose and duck fat (from pasture raised poultry)
coconut, palm and palm kernel oils, and extra virgin olive oil
For salads:
extra virgin olive oil
expeller-expressed sesame and peanut oils
For fat-soluble vitamins
cod liver oils (not farmed fish)
Eat More Saturated Fat!
We must eat more fat for our bodies to function as they were designed to do. Most people, especially infants and growing children, benefit from more fat in their diet than less. But the fats we eat must be chosen with care.
Avoid all processed foods containing hydrogenated fats and polyunsaturated oils, and instead use traditional vegetable oils like extra virgin olive oil, learn how to use coconut oil for baking, and with animal fats for occasional frying. Eat the fat with the grass fed steak for dinner, and add a slab of grass fed good quality butter with your fermented bread!
Source: Weston A Price Foundation
