When discussing fats, we have to get some vocabulary out of the way. Fats are basically chains of carbon that have hydrogen attached. For each carbon, we can have four different attachments; either to other carbon atoms, or to hydrogen. If all of the carbon attachment sites are full, we term this a saturated fat; there is no room for anything else to be added (see below). If we remove one of the hydrogen atoms, we now have an unsaturated fat, of which there are two types. Monounsaturated means it has one opening and polyunsaturated means it has two or more. Free fats are acids, so when we discuss them, we term them fatty acids. This gives us three classes: saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA's), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA's). Over the years, it has been the saturated fat that has gotten the bad rap from medicine, leading us to eliminate foods like butter, coconut oil, and lard from our diets.
Saturated fats are those that are most often found in animal products. This class has the highest caloric storage possible, and tends to be relatively solid at room temperature. After all, do you really want a bunch of oil sloshing around as you move? Solid fat at body temperature is our best storage form. MUFA's are found mostly as olive oil, and the rest of the oils out there are generally PUFA's. However, when medicine started recommending we cut out saturated fats, the food industry came up with a ingenious replacement. Take those PUFA's (which are liquid at room temperature), and add hydrogen to them. When we do this, voila, we get a PUFA that is not only more solid, but has an extremely long shelf life. In addition, they mix very well with water based foods without coming out of solution. Since these were no longer naturally occurring fats, we had to create a new class termed partially hydrogenated oils, aka trans fats. While the food industry loved the new creation, and added it to almost everything possible, it has wreaked havoc with our health.
The body has plenty of enzymes to take any of the three naturally occurring fat classes and interconvert them as needed for a variety of needs. The walls of your cells are mostly fat, many hormones are fat based, a large segment of your immune signaling happens with fats, and your brain is over 60% fat. The problem with trans fats is that they have significant structural differences from naturally occurring fats, and your body has limited enzymes to convert or rid itself of them. A naturally occurring MUFA or PUFA is boat-shaped (imagine an elongated "U"). A trans fat, on the other hand, can end up being straight or have the back of the boat angle down instead of up. In either case, structurally, these molecules are not even close to what our body is meant to use, and it creates problems when we force it to do so. Trans fats are found in margarines, shortenings, and most processed foods. Just look for "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" in the ingredients, and regardless of what the label says in front, you know it's in there.
Luckily, trans fats have finally met their match: an informed public. For decades, medicine, the government, and the processed food industry have done their best to keep the public in the dark on the dangers of trans fats. Fortunately, those of us in the natural community have kept the truth flowing, and the American public has finally roared a resounding NO to these synthetic fats.
So if trans fats are so bad, what does that leave us with? How about what we were doing for hundreds of years before modern medicine made it's proclamation that saturated fat is the bane of all evil? We choose those fats that are minimally processed. Here are my recommendations for making wise choices about fats.
The fat that is probably the best for you has gotten a bad rap for decades: coconut oil. Yes, coconut oil tends to be on the saturated side, but it has some great qualities to it, not the least of which is a high smoke point. Choosing a high quality extra virgin, unrefined coconut oil (EVUCO) is the really the only safe oil to use for high heat cooking. EVUCO has fats that are great for our digestive tract, minimizing yeast and pathogenic bacterial growth, as well as tasting great. Unfortunately, it is pricey, and is semi-solid at room temperature, so doesn't work well for baking.
If you don't want the slight coconut flavor of EVUCO, then your next best option for high heat cooking is lard. I know this is in direct contradiction to what medicine is still preaching, but it comes down the the fact that only saturated fat is safe at high heat. When you add oil to high heat, add water (which has hydrogen), you take a significant risk of hydrogenating that oil and creating trans fats. The negative health impact of trans fats far outweigh those of lard, and it is the only safe alternative for recipes requiring shortening. Make sure you choose lard that has not been partially hydrogenated to extend it's shelf life. Go to the local butcher shop, not the grocery shelf, when looking for lard. Or better yet, make it yourself, like your grandparents did.
After EVUCO and lard, we have to make one more stop before we finish with the saturated fat discussion. It's time to throw margarine away and go back to the natural spread: butter. How medicine decided that it was better to add a trans fat instead of a saturated fat is beyond me, but the concept of margarine just doesn't make any health sense. I'm not saying glob on the butter, but if you are going for a spreadable product to add taste to foods, butter is the only safe choice. Lard and EVUCO won't work well, and margarine just isn't safe. Try to keep the butter as organic as possible, since many dairies utilize hormones and antibiotics routinely, and these will be concentrated in fat.
Moving on from the saturated fats, we'll look at MUFA's. This really is all about olive oil, where medicine finally got one right. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a great source of dietary fat, and has many health benefits. While this oil can be used to saute foods, it doesn't really do well with high heat, and with the taste profile, doesn't work well for a "background" oil. It is bold and takes some getting used to the flavor, but once you do, it will be the main oil you reach for.
If you need an oil that doesn't have a huge flavor but is still relatively healthy, you'll need to look for an oil like sunflower, safflower, or grape seed. These oils have a fatty acid profile that lends itself towards health, where many others don't. They also have minimal flavor, so can be used for baking, salad dressings, and sauteing if you aren't looking for and EVOO flavor. Ideally, you want to look for organic versions, or at least those that are cold or expeller pressed. This means they have the least amount of processing, and retain the most health benefits.
Stay away from oils like canola, corn, soy, peanut, and "vegetable". Canola oil is from a genetically modified rape seed, and has a profile that leads us towards unhealthy inflammation. Corn and soy are almost universally genetically modified as well, and I believe these two altered crops are causing a significant amount of disease. Peanut isn't my favorite either, simply due to the fact that it is usually reserved for high heat preparations (i.e. deep frying) which can lead to trans fat production during the cooking process. Vegetable oil is simply a mixture of corn and soy usually, so I'd recommend avoiding it.
Fats are a vital component of our diet, and you will develop sickness if you follow the current guidelines put forth by the government and traditional medicine. I'm not promoting a high fat diet, but I am an advocate for adequate amounts of high quality, healthy fat. It's up to you to find out the truth about how to stay healthy, since it seems way too many "health" recommendations take us down the road to disease. Don't be afraid of fat, just make sure it's a healthy one.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.
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