Is this type of Fat really dangerous?

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Fat, fat, fat…I don’t care how you say this word…sing it, cheer it, say it with a French accent…whenever people hear the word FAT they flinch and go running in the opposite direction. It’s pretty unfortunate because today we’re going to see how wonderful fat can really be. And, no, I’m not talking about the kind that sits on your belly and never goes away. I’m talking about the kind that you eat and supercharges your health and your fat burning efforts.

Today I am going to start with Polyunsaturated fats, which seem to be a hot and very heavily discussed topic right now. Now bear with me for just 1 second as I give you a very brief organic chemistry lesson and I promise to keep it short and simple.

Fats are classified into 3 different categories:
· Polyunsaturated
· Monounsaturated
· Saturated

The classification comes from how “saturated” the carbon bonds are with hydrogen atoms in the actual fatty acid molecule (say what?). Ok, that is a very simplistic way of looking at it and any organic chemist will tell you that there is much more to it than just that, but for our healthy eating purposes, it’s important for us to know the qualities of each type of fat and how to use each one in our eating plan (not to be able to pass the organic chem final, right?)



Saturated fats have all carbon atom linkages filled (saturated) with hydrogen atoms making them highly stable, even when heated at high temperatures. This is what makes most saturated fats, like coconut oil and butter so ideal for cooking…they do not go rancid under high temperatures and are great for almost all cooking and baking purposes. Saturated fats also tend to be solid at room temperature.


Monounsaturated fats lack 2 hydrogen atoms making them less stable than saturated fats and tend to be liquid at room temperatures, as in olive oil and oils from different types of nuts. They also tend to be relatively stable and can be used for some cooking purposes. Even though this is the case, my personal choice is to NOT use these oils for cooking or heating purposes as they do still have some instability and some ability to go rancid under certain heating conditions. I much prefer to use extra virgin olive oil and nut oils raw and find them to be a great option for salad dressing and on raw or cooked veggies.

 
Polyunsaturated fats lack four or more hydrogen atoms making them extremely unstable under heating conditions and will go rancid very easily if not used and stored the right way. Polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) are the only essential fats that our body cannot produce on its own, making it quite “essential” that we get the PUFAs from the foods we eat.

The topic of debate surrounding PUFA fats is that with their great instability comes a greater likelihood that they will be rancid and hazardous to our health when consumed. There is a lot of truth to this, but I think if the correct precautions are taken and the right fats are chosen and treated and used in the correct way, our bodies can greatly benefit from these essential fatty acids.

Foods containing PUFA fats range from vegetable oils, such as corn, canola and soybean oil) to omega 3 fish oils and many different types of nuts. It has become more widespread knowledge how dangerous cooking with vegetable oil really is and cooking with any oil that is primarily PUFA is a big NO NO when it comes to health and losing weight. But probably the food products in greatest debate now, as far as PUFA go, are all types of nuts and nut butters.

Most nuts are primarily comprised of essential PUFA (with the exception of macadamia nuts and pecans which are mostly monounsaturated) and it is IMPERATIVE that any of these nuts are not heated or roasted in any way, shape or form to benefit from their healthy fat content. It is the heating and/or roasting of any PUFA that makes them hazardous to our health, contributing to inflammation in the body and conditions such as different types of cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

So, just to make it clear….all types of PUFAs cannot be put in the same category. The ones we should be avoiding at all costs are corn, canola, sunflower, safflower oil and any nuts that are roasted and heated. The ones that are safe and quite healthy to consume are fish oils and a variety of raw nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds). But, as I mentioned earlier, good care and precaution should be taken when choosing these healthy forms of PUFA.

Here are a few tips I adhere to when choosing my healthy PUFA food choices:
1. Buy your raw nuts from sources you have researched and know are fresh. I like the ones I get from True Foods Market. Also, once you get home, store them in an opaque container and store them in the refrigerator. I also like to soak my raw nuts overnight in filtered water to increase their digestibility and their naturally occurring enzymes. I also store soaked nuts in the refrigerator.

2. I make my own nut butters. Once I soak my nuts overnight (almonds, walnuts, and/or pecans), I use them the next day to make homemade nut butter. I put the nuts and a bit of coconut oil in the food processor and process until it makes a creamy “butter”. I find this to be tastier than any store bought brand and I know the nuts are fresh and have been soaked. If you don’t have time to make your own, True Foods Market also has great almond butter.

3. I avoid all foods that have been made with or contain oils like canola, corn, and soybean oil. Many of these foods are actually not very difficult to avoid because they are processed foods, but every once in a while I will read a label and BAM…canola oil…agghh! This happens a lot at healthy food markets that provide their own prepared foods (like cooked vegetables, chicken, and fish). Unfortunately these “healthy” places often use quite a bit of canola oil in their cooking so you must read the ingredients list carefully (but you should always be reading the ingredients list of all the foods you eat carefully right?)

4. When using flaxseeds, I always grind my flaxseeds in a coffee grinder right before I am going to use them. I sprinkle ground flaxseeds on my oatmeal, fruits and/or veggies. I don’t ever buy the already ground varieties as they go rancid very quickly in the packaging. These pre-ground flaxseed mixtures are not a healthy choice and if you’re going to use flaxseeds, always grind them fresh yourself.

5. I do my best to obtain most of my Omega 3 fatty acids from fresh food like salmon and sardines. I also make my own home made walnut butter and eat plenty of organic eggs (yes, with the yolk) to include a variety of omega 3 sources in my meals. If you are not getting plenty of these foods into your daily diet, then you may want to consider taking an Omega 3 supplement in the form of a fish oil. I highly recommend only consuming a fish oil supplement from a company you trust and have researched. My company of choice is Prograde and they make the only Omega 3 supplement (Prograde EFA) I am comfortable recommending. I would also keep this supplement in the refrigerator to help avoid any exposure to heat.

Remember, not all polyunsaturated fats are created equal and we can continue to benefit from their healthy properties by just making the right choices (but isn’t that the case with just about everything???)


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