Recap: ‘A Healthy You and Carol Alt’: Good Fats vs Bad Fats
I love my company, Jost Media, as I get to work (and learn from) amazing women like Carol Alt.
Carol has a show on FOX NEWS, A Healthy You & Carol Alt, which airs Saturdays/Sundays at 4 pm EST. During the show Carol interviews 3 health/wellness experts and shares all the valuable information she’s learned on her journey to health throughout the years.
Last weekend Carol had a guest, Udo Erasmus author of Fats that Heal, Fats the Kill, who spoke about good fats vs bad fats. This is often a confusing topic for people (thank you low-fat trend) so I figured I would re-post Udo’s Guest post from Carol’s Blog.
Enjoy
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Fats and oils can be confusing. Here are the two most important questions you need to ask yourself when eating:
1) What kind of fat/oil, is it?
Not all fats are created equal. Nature produces different kinds of fats, all with differing properties, but when it comes to how they relate to health, they generally fall into three categories:
a) The Really Good (Essential!) Fats:
Until the late 1920’s, dietary fats were considered a basic calorie source, functioning much like a carbohydrate. In 1929 and 1930, however, that belief permanently shifted when researchers George and Mildred Burr established that fatty acids were critical to health. When fats were missing, health declined which, over the long term, often led to death (this first discovery was done with Omega-6s, and tested on rats). As a result of their findings, the Burrs became the first people to coin the phrase “essential fatty acids”.
Since then, extensive research has further confirmed the “essentiality” of fatty acids to human health, with Omega-3s gaining the same status in the early 1980’s. Since the body cannot make Omega-3s and -6s (the two forms of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are “essential”) from other nutrients, and these are vital to our health, it is important to get them from the food we eat (or a supplement) in order to prevent deficiency symptoms and a deteriorating health condition. In addition to Omega-3s and -6s, about 20 elements, 14 vitamins, 8-11 amino acids, water, and oxygen have all been established as “essential” by the same definition.
The essential fatty acids are important precisely because they are a basic and key components to health, and its foundational building blocks.
Omega-6s are abundant in common foods, making “cooking” oils such as safflower, sunflower, corn, grape seed, soybean, and sesame oil favorite sources, and to a lesser extent almond, peanut, and canola oils.
In recent years, Omega-3 has captured the public’s attention, and for good reason. After its essentiality was discovered in 1981, more and more research provided a greater understanding of its properties. What was eventually discovered is that Omega-3s have widespread health benefits, but unfortunately are also much more sensitive to spoilage and damage and five times less stable than Omega-6s. 99% of people everywhere get less than they need of this sensitive vital building block, and so they have less than optimal health.
Like perishable foods such as vegetables, fruits, and dairy, Omega-3s have a short shelf life and need to be viewed and treated like “fresh” food. Because of its perishable nature, however, manufacturers and retailers viewed it as logistically challenging compared to other kinds and turned their focus to “more manageable” oils.
The health benefits of Omega-3s were a grand discovery. At the time, I thought “if we can find a way to optimize Omega-3s back into the diet, we could really help a lot of people.” This inspired us to figure out how to make oils for optimal health, which no one was doing at the time. That was how it all started.
b) The Okay (But Not Essential) Fats:
Fats and oils, in general, are good sources of fuel that cells can burn for energy. In this way, saturated and monounsaturated fats (or Omega-9s) are useful, but they are not essential because the body can convert sugar and starch into both of these kinds of fats. This also explains why eating more carbohydrates than you burn will make you “fat”.
All oils contain some saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, but the richest sources of saturates are butter, lard, cocoa butter, coconut, palm kernel, beef, lamb and pork, while some of the richest sources of monounsaturated (or Omega-9s) include olive, macadamia, and canola oils.
Saturated fats have an undeserved bad reputation, but are actually only bad when you have too little Omega-3s to counteract and balance out their potential for harm.
c) The Bad Fats:
Certain kinds of fats are harmful. How harmful – or toxic – the fat is to the human body is mostly related to how the oil has been processed or made. Trans fats would be a perfect example of this: a good-fat-gone-bad by common food production practices. This leads us to the second most important question you need to ask about fat/oil:
2) How was it made?
Oil damaged by food industry practices is the greatest nutritional assault on our health. It is a man-made tragedy that can be fixed only when we place importance on consuming oils made with health in mind, and avoid damaged oils or foods made with damaged oils
There are three elements which cause fats and oils to degrade: heat, light, and oxygen. Light damages them by causing free radical chain reactions; oxygen causes them to become rancid, and exposure to high heat alters them to become health-damaging fats.
One example of fat damaged by heat (and therefore a bad fat) is trans fat, which has received quite a bit of media attention in the past few years, even though we have known about trans fatty acids since the 1960’s. Trans fats are the result of the common practice in food production of overheating an unsaturated oil to make it more “stable” (and therefore harder and less liquid). This method extends shelf life, makes the product more “manageable”, and increases profitability. Through this process, used in partial hydrogenation, an artificial fat is created
We must take care in how we choose our oils and how we use the oils in food preparation in order to avoid damaged fats/ oils and preserve our health long-term. When it comes to fats, it’s all about choosing well and understanding how to prepare meals with them correctly.
How do we use good oils?
Since high heat damages an otherwise good oil, I always recommend eating raw foods, especially those high in essential fats (Omega-3s and –6s) or adding quality pressed oils to your prepared meals. If the dish is cooked, such as with soups, pastas, steamed vegetables, etc, I recommend mixing in the oil once the food has been removed from the heat source. Good oils can also be used for salad dressings, smoothies, mixed into yogurt, and used to dip bread in
If nourishing your body the way it needs to be nourished is a priority for you, high temperature uses of oil in baking, “cooking in oil”, sautéing, and especially frying, should be avoided. Throw out your frying pan, cook in water, eat good oils, and eat whole, fresh, raw, organic foods as much as possible.
With a shift in our attitude about what health is and with small adjustments to our habits, we can take a huge step forward. More energy, less inflammation, and better brain and eye function are some of the benefits you can potentially look forward to. As an added bonus, good oils also make hair, skin, and nails nicer. Athletes love them because they can increase stamina by 40-60%, improve performance, and speed recovery.
When storing fat rich foods (such as nuts and seeds) and oils, it’s always best to keep them in the fridge, and away from heat, light, and oxygen. Oil should be packaged in dark glass, not plastic.
How much better oil should I consume in one day?
A good rule of thumb is to take 1 tbsp of oil per 50lbs (or about 23kgs) of body weight per day. Another easy way to know you need more oil is if your skin is dry. Since skin is the last organ to get the oil, take as much oil as you need to make your skin soft and moisturized. Typically more oil is required in the drier winter months than in the summer, and in dry climates than in humid ones.
Keeping healthy is not about perfectionism. It’s about being informed and making better and better decisions based on your knowledge and personal health goals. Every good decision you make for yourself will be a step in the positive direction of long-term health. Enjoy the journey!
IN SUMMARY, here’s what you need to do to get your fats right:
- Focus on increasing the amount of fresh, unprocessed Omega-3s in your diet by either eating more foods or more oils rich in them
- Make sure the Omega-6- rich foods or oils you consume are from unprocessed, undamaged, healthy sources
- Minimize trans fats
- Minimize fried foods
- Integrate healthy, unprocessed oils by mixing them into your everyday meals. Add the oil only after the food is removed from the heat source.
- We recommend about 1tbsp per 50lbs (about 23kg) of body weight per day of Udo’s Oil, which is twice as rich in Omega-3s than Omega-6s and is pressed without heat, light, or oxygen, then bottled in dark glass, packed in a box, and refrigerated.
