Fats – for decades the medical profession has told us that fats were bad..they make you fat, the clog up your arteries, and cause heart attacks.
As usual, medical sciences – at least what was taught in med school – was all wrong and not based in science. Nonsense like this doesn’t just occur with nutrition, and note: physicians are typically given 3.5 HOURS in their 4.5 YEAR program!!! But the problem is this occurs in all the medical/health arenas Physicians are taught how to diagnose and whether to prescribe pharmaceuticals, surgery or chemo!! In many countries, if they refer to someone alternative – DNM, ND, Homeopath, Herbalist, etc – they can be sued and/or lose their licence!! If you had to pay your mortgage and put food on the table – never mind pay off 10,000s of dollar in student loans – what would you do? The tremendous amount of sciences, double blind, cross over studies, etc etc don’t get into the Medical Journals when the pharmaceutical companies are the editors – it doesn’t serve their purpose. So what do we end up with – the Old Men’s Club – managing our symptoms!!!
So let’s get back to the FATs story.
Fats are like any other compound – some are excellent for your health; some are so-so; and some are out right bad. You don’t need to get a PhD in nutrition in know this…just think, which is better for your health:
- MacDonalds hamburger or a beautiful salmon steak
- a chocolate bar or an avocado
- 100% pure chocolate (don’t buy into the 70 – 80- 90% stuff – you loose all the incredibly good omega 3s – cocoa butter is rich in them) and in the process of eliminating the cocoa butter – you loose most of anti-oxidants!!! On the other hand, you still get over 300 compounds that are excellent for your health – but why not get the whole basket?) or a chocolate bar
- microwaved popcorn or organic popcorn popped in coconut oil with coconut oil spread on top?
- potato chips or a combination of almonds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts
The list could go on and on…it boils down to: the more man gets involved in the food process – the more detrimental it is.
So here are a few tidbits that you should know that you should know about fats:
Cambridge University found no evidence to support the guidelines that advice against saturated fats – ummh did your MD know that?
- did you know that when you combine fats and protein – you feel fuller faster and longer
- healthy fats break down fats – water doesn’t – try dissolving oil in a glass of water
- did you know that too little cholesterol is more detrimental than too high cholesterol
- did you know that your brain is about 60-70% fats – if you are low in the fatty acids – your brain will have problems functioning.
- that the different groups of fatty acids: ALAs, EPAs, DHAs – are fundamentally essential to your health and well being
- there are many different types of HDL and LDL and simply giving an overall measure – just doesn’t cut it, nor does the ratio, there is alot more to it than that
- Dr R M Krauss, director of atherosclerosis research at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute found NO association between the amount of saturated fat consumed and the risk of heart disease.
- that good healthy fats provide:
- transport mechanisms, like lipoproteins – without you can’t transport vital nutrients in your body
- myelination of neurons – without it you get MS
- fats also provide energy – your brain uses more of this kind of energy than glucose based energy
- fats provide the membrane around every cell – when it deteriorates the cell dysfunctions, i.e., cancer or die
- fats make hormones – the compounds that regulate most of the body’s functions: for example, when teenage girls are too lean, their menses are delayed and irregular,
- fats are also required to make neurotransmitters in the brain
- fats are required for healthy skin – without it the skin is dry, flaky, and may even have rashes; it is also under the skin and helps to regulate heat
- fats protect your vital organs, ie., heart, kidneys, and your intestines
- fats make up the bile salts (the liver make them & store them in your gallbladder until you eat fats and require them for digestion) that break down the fats in your diet
- fats are the basis of all the cholesterol based requirements in the body from bile to steroid hormones like testosterone to
- help to increase HDL and reduce LDL!!!
- total saturated fat (measured in the diet or bloodstream) has NO correlation with heart disease
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a London cardiologist said:
‘This huge and important study provides even more evidence that our focus purely on saturated fat as the number one dietary villain in causing heart disease has been misplaced when we should be focusing on food groups.
‘Our over-consumption of processed food is what is driving much of the increasing burden of chronic disease currently plaguing the Western world.
‘Poor diet is responsible for more disease than physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking combined.
So let’s look at some of the types of fats:
~ Did you know that the research actually shows that animal fats are good for your? Yes!
– eggs are the number one source of choline for us, never mind all the B vitamins etc – just make sure they are truly free range – big supermarket definition of free range means out of the cage for 5 minutes a day
– whole milk is much better for most people than skim milk – the fats are actually good fats for your body and help your body to digest and transport fat soluble vitamins like A & D or minerals like calcium
– did you know that good fats actually help raise your HDL – which is a far better predictor of heart attacks than LDL – which by the way is only bad IF it gets oxidized – so a good reason to eat a diet high in anti-oxidants
– fried food itself isn’t really the demon – its the unsaturated vegetable oils that they are fried in – they oxidize quickly and degenerate into compound that provoke inflammation and damage to your intestinal wall
~ Did you know that eating good healthy types of and amounts of nuts – actually lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease
~ Omega 3 fatty acids – we know that most people are deficient in them – and they are utilized best when in our foods
What are some of the symptoms of insufficient healthy fats:
- depression & mood disorders
- Alzheimer’s , Parkinson’s & other neurological disorders
- loss of or irregularity with menses
- loss of hair
- dry, scaly skin
- bruising
- poor growth
- immune issues
- poor wound healing
- low body weight OR high body weight
- cold intolerance
So why all the confusion? Why does so-called science keep changing their minds?
- a lot of medical “science” is based on hypothesis, suggestion, indication, not on actual hard core science
- a lot of medical “science” is based on poorly designed studies and poorly interpreted studies
- a lot of medical “science” claims causation when it is fact correlation – something else is the cause
- MDs in general tend to be 15-20 years behind actual science
- it is well known that Big Pharma and the Food Industry are in cahoots – for their pocket books – not for your health
- JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) printed two articles that tell the tale in the 1990s….the first claimed that “Diet has no impact on your health”…the second claimed that “Do to overwhelming evidence, we have to conclude that diet impacts on your health” – No Kidding, we have known that for 1000’s of years!!! Basic biology 101 explains that – where the H… have you guys been?!
- JAMA also put out in 2003 – over 50% of physicians that come out of med school are incompetent!!
So what do we need to do:
1) buy good healthy products:
– buy truly free range eggs
– buy no hormones/antibiotic free range meat
– buy healthy oils, i.e., avocado oil, hemp oil, coconut oil – don’t get sucked Dr Holly good fat oilsin with olive oil – most have upwards of 60% bad oils
– buy whole NON GMO foods
2) eat healthy fat foods
– eat fruits with good fats like avocados
– eat a handful of nuts a day: walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts
– eat a handful of seeds a day: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, salba/chia seeds
– eat foods that are whole and not interfered with by man
REMEMBER: whether you are talking about proteins, fats, carbs, sugars, you need to know the difference between the good, bad and the ugly!!
ALSO: many of the important nutrients cannot be absorbed in supplement fashion – simply because they do not have the necessary fats attached to them. This is why Big Pharma can say that supplements don’t help – you need the high quality ones – again, get them from a good HEALTH practitioner. Otherwise you end up wasting your money.