Oils to Use
Butter from grass fed cows
Oils to Ditch
Margarine
Shortening
Canola oil
sunflower oil
Corn oil
Vegetable oil
We have been told to ditch the butter, ghee and full cream milk, and even though most Americans switched to the so-called heart healthy vegetable oils and low fat milk, we haven’t seen a major shift in heart disease, cholesterol or obesity. Could it be a myth or just a hypothesis based on non-scientific evidence?
lets dig into the 3 most common types of fat used in our diet
Saturated Fats
Found in animal products like red meat, dairy products and coconut.
It took lots of years and media effort to convince people that natural food like butter and cheese that they have been eating for centuries is bad for them, yet highly processed alternatives are good for their health, but was this assumption ever backed up by enough evidence?
A meta-analysis published in 2010 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It gathered data from 21 unique studies that included almost 350,000 people, about 11,000 of whom developed cardiovascular disease, tracked for an average of 14 years, and concluded that there is no relationship between the intake of saturated fat and the incidence of heart disease or stroke.
Another review published in 2014 looked at data from 76 studies (both observational studies and controlled trials) with a total of 643,226 participants. They found no link between saturated fat and heart disease
The trend is going more towards; when you remove saturated fat what do you replace it with? Most people remove fat and replace it with more sugars and carbs, which actually increase LDL bad cholesterol, and decreases HDL good cholesterol.
A low fat diet didn’t prove to help with weight loss or heart disease, but a healthy fat diet did, like the Mediterranean diet which is full of olive oil, nuts, seeds, vegetables and some animal fats too.
Anther missing aspect is most of these studies didn’t differentiate between butter, milk and animal protein that were fed grass and not given hormones opposed to grain fed animals that are pumped up with hormones which make their fat more inflammatory.
Cholesterol and heart disease is more complicated than we once thought, cholesterol is made of HDL the good cholesterol, and LDL, LDL is made of small dense particles and large fluffy particles, the small dense particles are the one that clogs the arteries and causes strokes and this is actually increase by consuming sugar and refined carbs not saturated fat! Animal protein increases the big fluffy LDL particles, which don't pose harm.
Benefits of saturated fats
Vitamin Absorption
Fat is essential for the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins, like vitamins A, D, K and without an adequate amount of fat in your diet, your body is unable to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins.
Heart Health
Adequate saturated fat intake helps the body reduce levels of lipoprotein, a risk factor for heart disease.
Bone health
While calcium is absolutely necessary for bone health, saturated fat is necessary for calcium absorption.
Brain Health
The brain is made up of fats and cholesterol, mainly saturated fat. A diet low in saturated fats deprives the brain of the building blocks in needs for proper repair and function.
Appetite regulation and weight loss
Decrease appetite and weight loss When you eat fats as part of your meal, they slow down absorption so that you can go longer without feeling hungry, and they also signal the body that it is full, low fat diets are likely to make you overeat.
Stable at high cooking temperatures
For example, saturated fats are excellent for cooking. Because they have no double bonds, they are highly resistant to heat-induced damage
Liver health
Good for you liver Adding saturated fat to the diet has been shown in medical research to encourage the liver cells to get rid of their fat content
Immune strength
Saturated fats found in butter and coconut oil (myristic acid and lauric acid) are essential for immunity, Without sufficient saturated fatty acids in the white blood cells they loose their ability to recognize and destroy foreign invaders, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi.
This is not a green light for you to add cups of butter to your food, yet using natural organic butter, full cream milk and coconut oil as part of a healthy diet can be heart healthy and beneficial for all the reasons stated above. Too much of a good thing is harmful, fats should always be used in moderation even the healthy kinds.
Humans and pre-humans have been eating saturated fat for hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of years, but the heart disease epidemic started a hundred years ago.
Butter and Ghee from grass fed cows along with virgin raw coconut oil are my favorite types of fat for cooking, they withstand high temperatures without any oxidation, and they are made with minimum processing and are as close to their natural form as possible, they carry all the benefits of saturated fats.
Vegetable oils
We have been told to ditch the butter and get the cholesterol free canola oil, corn oil or others Vegetable oils and margarines and we did, for years now restaurants and house holds are using canola oil and corn oil instead of butter and lard.
Vegetable oils and margarine made from these oils are oils extracted from seeds like the rapeseed (canola oil) soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, etc. they are usually genetically modified crops sprayed with tons of pesticide, They were not a part of our diets until the early 1900s when new chemical processes made it possible for them to be made.
Unlike butter or coconut oil and cold pressed olive oil, these vegetable oils can’t be extracted just by pressing, they have to be removed chemically, deodorized and altered. These are some of the most chemically processed foods in our diets, yet they get promoted as healthy.
Vegetable oils contain a very high concentration of Omega 6 fatty acids, which with over use shifts the balance of omega 6 to omega 3 in our bodies and leads to inflammation, this imbalance is further increased with our high grain diet and animals fed with grains and corn which caused a major shift in the ratio between omega 6 and omega 3.
Unsaturated fats exposed to high heat and oxygen during cooking or commercial food processing, undergo a chemical change known as auto-oxidation, whereby free radicals are produced that cause rancidity.The process of extracting these oils has already applied enough heat to oxidize these oils, and then we make it worse by further cooking with them. This oxidation is one reason why when these types of oils are incorporated into tissue like skin cells; the heat and light from sun exposure can increase skin cancer risk.
Most vegetable oils and their products contain BHA and BHT (Butylated Hydroxyanisole and Butylated Hydroxytoluene) which are artificial antioxidants that help prevent food from oxidizing or spoiling too quickly. These chemicals have been shown to produce potential cancer causing compounds in the body, and have also been linked to liver/kidney damage, immune problems, infertility or sterility, high cholesterol, and behavioral problems in children.
One US study that analyzed store-bought soybean and canola oils found that 0.56% to 4.2% of the fats were trans fats, without any indication on the packaging, which we will be taking about its harms below.
Vegetable oils are only healthy when used in their Cold pressed raw unrefined, they need refrigeration and has to be used cold not for cooking, as they are very heat sensitive, they add a healthy dose of fats to your salads or sandwiches. you can try unrefined cold pressed sunflower, hempseed and flaxseed oils.
Trans fats
what is trans fat?
Trans fat is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil through a process called hydrogenation, which makes the oil less likely to spoil and is solid at room temperature similar to saturated fats. Using trans fats in the manufacturing of foods helps foods stay fresh longer, have a longer shelf life and have a less greasy feel.
Why is Trans fat Harmful?
Heart Health
it's the most dangerous type of fat, a major contributor for heart disease, are believed to damage the inner lining of the blood vessels, impair the ability of the arteries to dilate.
Diabetes
A large study of over 80,000 women found that those who consumed the most trans fats had a 40% higher risk of diabetes
Cholesterol
Trans fat raises your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol and lowers your "good" (HDL) cholesterol, and are the major contributor for clogged arteries and heart disease.
Where is Trans fat?
Most commercially prepared baked goods have trans fats, like cookies, cakes, doughnuts Many restaurants use trans fats for cooking and frying since it doesn’t spoil easily and is cheap. Many precooked and Fried foods have Trans fat.
Is ZERO TRANS FAT a myth?
The FDA allows food to be labeled trans fat free if it has 0.5 gm of trans fat per serving
How to avoid Trans fat?
Reduce the amount of precooked, prepackaged and restaurant food. Look in the ingredient list for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil or shortening
