Think, Eat, Be Healthy

The Importance Of Fats In Our Diet

Fats have always been a very important part of any healthy diet. The traditional fats, used almost exclusively until the early 1900’s, were animal fats such as lard from pork, suet from beef, butter from milk and schmaltz from chickens, and olive oil. Though all fats are mixture of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, animal fats are mostly saturated and solid at room temperature and olive oil is mostly monounsaturated and liquid at room temperature. These types of saturated and monounsaturated fats are stable and not easily oxidized from room temperature up to fairly high cooking temperatures. Polyunsaturated fats come mainly from seeds, grains and nuts and supplied the smallest amount of calories from fat in any traditional diet.

butter, grass fed butter, dairy, grass fed dairy

Grass fed butter, a healthy saturated animal fat stable at high temperatures for safe cooking without oxidation.

These same traditional fats are what our bodies evolved to be able to digest most easily and make best use of nutritionally. Think about our “paleo” ancestors for a moment. Except for a few nuts and seeds here and there almost all of the fat in their diets came from game they hunted and then ate raw or cooked. The most prized parts of an animal in traditional hunting societies to the present day are the liver, brain and organs – the fattiest parts of any animal. Not only did eating these first ensure getting the most calories but also supplied the maximum amount of the important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Yet for hundreds of thousands of years our ancestors showed little or no signs of heart disease or diabetes or high blood pressure.

olive oil

Olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat and is stable from room temperature to medium cooking temperatures.

Suddenly around 100 to 150 years ago, the “modern” chronic diseases of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes started to appear. The numbers of people suffering from these diseases mushroomed quickly as the years passed into the near epidemic that is now upon us. Medical science and drug companies did studies and it was decided, on quite flimsy evidence, that cholesterol and saturated fats were the cause of the problem. A huge public health campaign began, vilifying dietary cholesterol and animal fats and touting a diet low in polyunsaturated fats and very lean meats and high in carbohydrates. The diseases continued to get worse at ever faster rates even though many people adopted the new diet guidelines.

What changed in the early 1900’s to cause the beginning of the heart disease-diabetes epidemic? Did people all over the world suddenly change so that the saturated fats and cholesterol eaten in such large quantities for so long started making us sick? Does this reasoning make any sense at all?

 

coconut oil

Coconut oil is an unusual vegetable oil because it is mostly saturated, making it suitable for high temperature cooking.

One thing that did change in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s was the introduction of many new forms of oil made from seeds and grains. Sunflower, flax, safflower, canola or rapeseed and corn oils were relatively unknown before this time because they were difficult to make and quickly became rancid at room temperature. These plant based oils were also mostly polyunsaturated and oxidized easily even at low cooking temperatures. They became known as the “industrial” oils because large monoculture fields of grain and seed plants along with modern processing methods made them cheap and easy to make. Polyunsaturated fats, many high in omega-6 fatty acids, began to replace saturated animal fats in many diets.

walnut oil

Walnut oil oxidizes easily and like the fresh nuts should be kept refrigerated. I like it drizzled on salads and vegetables.

Another thing that changed around the same time was the discovery that hydrogenating polyunsaturated fats would make them solid at room temperature and produce much longer-lasting baked goods. The ascendancy of margarine over butter and wonder bread over locally baked fresh bread had begun. No one asked whether or not these products were safe to eat because the public health machine was telling us they were safer than what we had been eating. We were told this even though these products had never before been part of the human diet in any significant way.

avocado oil

Avocado oil is higher in monounsaturated fat than olive oil and also has more vitamin E.

A third change taking place in the early 1900’s was the industrialization of the meat industry. Dairy and beef cattle were traditionally grazed on pasture in good weather and fed hay during bad weather. Pigs were allowed to forage and given garbage slops and a little grain. Chickens wandered freely eating worms, insects, leaves and grass and coaxed into the hen-house at night with a little grain. These were all natural diets for the animals. During the early to mid 1900’s, all of the animals were moved indoors to restrict movement and switched to grain diets. These animals are not designed to eat only grain: they gained weight faster but got sick more often and required more medications. The all grain diet also made the meat, eggs and dairy contain many more omega-6 fatty acids, fewer omega-3 fatty acids and fewer fat-soluble vitamins.

Lets review the changes to our diets since the early 1900’s.

*Polyunsaturated vegetable oils mostly replace saturated animal fats

*Hydrogenated “trans-fats” become an ever larger part of the diet through margarine and commercial baked goods

*Meat and dairy products and the fats they contain become much less healthy because of sedentary grain-fed animal and dairy production

It is no surprise to me that more and more studies are showing negative health effects from polyunsaturated fats. Studies are mostly ambivalent about meat and dairy products but clearly show health benefits from eating grass-fed beef and grass-fed dairy products. Evidence of harm from hydrogenated trans-fats grows almost daily. Modern studies show little to no connection between eating saturated animal fats and cholesterol with the incidence of heart disease but the public health establishment refuses to reverse its stand on the issue.

sesame oil

Sesame oil, mostly polyunsaturated, should be used for raw foods or added after cooking for flavor.

I suggest reading the material at the links listed below. Do further research on these topics for yourself. Use your brain, think about these issues and what really makes sense, and then make up your own mind about what kinds of fats you should be eating for optimum health. Because you must eat some fats in order for your body to function properly and not suffer vitamin deficiencies.

Links to more in-depth information on dietary fats and oils:

*http://www.sharecare.com/health/diet-nutrition/article/unsaturated-fats-unhealthy-kinds-types

*http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/345277/description/Tricks_Foods_Play

*http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/beginner_fats.htm

*http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/hasf-dh092712.php

*http://www.avocado-oil.co.nz/health-benefits/