Fats
Fats
The lipid hypothesis theory states that the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet heightens the incidence of coronary heart disease. A researcher named Ancel Keys proposed this idea in the late 1950s. Numerous following studies questioned his work; however, Keys' articles were published in a way that those opposing opinions were not. Vegetable oil and food processing industries began promoting and funding additional research designed to support the lipid hypothesis.
At one point, Nathan Pritikin was the most well-known advocate for the low-fat diet. Pritikin advocated the elimination of sugar, white flour, and all processed foods from the diet, and raw foods and whole grains paired with extensive exercise. The low-fat aspect of his diet was what most media outlets ran with. People who followed Pritkin's recommendations reported lower levels of cholesterol as well as a decrease in blood pressure. The Pritikin diet's success likely had nothing to do with its lower levels of fat intake; weight loss alone will provoke a reduction in the blood's cholesterol levels. It didn't take long for Pritkin and those practicing his way of life to learn that there are many downsides to the low-fat paradigm.
Reporting found that people who could maintain this low-fat way of living developed a slew of health problems, including depleted energy levels, lack of concentration, depressive ideologies, mineral deficiencies, and perhaps the most unwanted side effect, weight gain.
Pritikins' low-fat diet did not prevent him from getting cancer. He took his life at a young age after identifying that this way of living was not curing his leukemia. Heart disease and cancer should not be as prevalent as they are, just like we shouldn't be consuming a diet that leaves us deprived and, in turn, makes us depressed, questioning what's wrong with our innate being.
The Chemical Makeup of Fats
It's evident that something is wrong with the theories we are fed about nutrition. These factory-made low-fat, experimental foods are precisely that, experimental. The idea that saturated fats cause heart disease and cancer is not only wrong but is detrimental to our actual nutritive potential. Some fats are bad for us. However, the fat's chemistry or makeup determines whether or not it is healthy.
A process called partial hydrogenation rearranges the molecule. Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium, or platinum. The effect is a reduction or saturation of organic compounds.
It causes molecules to straighten out and creates a molecule you wouldn't find naturally in food, called trans fats and these molecules inhibit reactions in the body. They mess up enzymes, and they mess up receptors.
Fats, aka lipids, are not soluble in water. Triglycerides are naturally found in our food and bodies—three fatty-acid chains attached to a glycerol molecule. Elevated levels of triglycerides have a direct correlation to heart disease. These triglycerides do not come directly from fats you find; they are made in the liver from sugars that have not been converted into energy. Triglycerides come from carbohydrates, primarily processed sugars and refined flours.
Fatty Acids by Saturation
The three different forms of fatty acids are as follows:
Saturated: A fatty acid is saturated when a hydrogen atom occupies all available carbon bonds. All carbon-atom linkages being filled means they are highly stable due to being heavily saturated with hydrogen. As a result, they do not usually go rancid, even when heated for cooking purposes. They are straight in form and pack together quickly, forming a solid or semi-solid fat at room temperature. The body makes saturated fatty acids from carbohydrates, which are also found naturally in animal fat and tropical oil.
Monounsaturated: Monounsaturated fatty acids have one unsaturated carbon bond in the molecule; this is also called a double bond and therefore lacks two hydrogen bonds. The human body makes monounsaturated fatty acids from saturated fatty acids and uses them in several ways. Monounsaturated fats bend at the double bond position so that they do not pack together as quickly as saturated fats and, therefore, tend to be liquid at room temperature.
Polyunsaturated: Polyunsaturated fatty acid molecules have more than one unsaturated carbon bond, also called a double bond. Our bodies cannot make these essential fatty acids. We must get EFAs from our food. The polyunsaturated fatty acids have a bend or a turn at the double bond position and do not pack together easily. They are liquid, even when refrigerated. These oils go rancid quickly, particularly omega-3 linolenic acid. Polyunsaturated fats should never be heated or used in cooking.
Any fat or oil, whether of vegetable or animal origin, is a combination of saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated linoleic acid, and linolenic acid.
Fats from animal sources such as butter, lard, and tallow generally contain about 40-60% saturated fat and are solid at room temperature. Vegetable oils from northern climates contain polyunsaturated fats and are liquid at room temperature.
The Dangers of Polyunsaturated Fats
The masses have been misinformed. For years, government entities have told us that polyunsaturated oils are healthy and that saturated fats cause cancer and heart disease. At the turn of the century, the majority of fats in the diet came from raw butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil, and olive oil. Today, most fats in the diet are from vegetable oils, primarily soy and corn, safflower, and canola.
Evidence suggests that the amount of polyunsaturated fats we consume shouldn't exceed more than 4% of the caloric intake. In approximate proportions of 1 1/2 % omega-3 linolenic acid and 2 1/2 % omega-6 linoleic acid.1
Essential Fatty Acid consumption can be found in similar quantities in native populations whose consumption of polyunsaturated oils comes from the amounts naturally found in legumes, grains, nuts, green vegetables, fish, olive oil, and animal fats. Vegetable oils have way higher amounts of polyunsaturated fats than those found naturally in food grown under the sun.
Excess consumption of polyunsaturated oils has been shown to contribute to many disease conditions, including increased cancer and heart disease; immune system dysfunction; damage to the liver, reproductive organs, and lungs; digestive disorders; depressed learning ability; impaired growth; and weight gain.2
Polyunsaturated fats cause many health problems because they become oxidized or rancid when subjected to heat, oxygen, and moisture. Rancid oils are characterized by free radicals—single atoms or clusters with an unpaired electron. These chemical compounds are highly reactive. They have been described as "marauders" in the body because they are known to attack cell membranes and red blood cells, which cause damage to DNA/RNA strands. This reaction has been known to trigger mutations in tissue, blood vessels, and skin.
1 - Lasserre, M, et al, Lipids, 1985, 20:4:227
2 - Polyunsaturated fat complications in general: Pinckney, Edward R, MD, and Cathey Pinckney, The Cholesterol Controversy, 1973, Sherbourne Press, Los Angeles, 127-131; Polyunsaturates in correlation with learning disorders: Harmon, D, et al, J Am Geriatrics Soc, 1976, 24:1: 292-8; Meerson, Z, et al, Bull Exp Bio Med, 1983, 96:9:70-71; Polyunsaturates concerning weight gain: Valero, et al, Ann NutrMetabolism, Nov/Dec 1990, 34:6:323-327; Felton, C V, et al, Lancet, 1994, 344:1195-96
Too Much Omega-6
Recent research has revealed that too much omega-6 in the diet creates an imbalance that can interfere with the production of important prostaglandins.3 This disruption can result in an increased tendency to form blood clots, inflammation, high blood pressure, irritation of the digestive tract, depressed immune function, sterility, cell proliferation, cancer, and weight gain.4
3 - Kinsella, John E, Food Technology, October 1988, 134; Lasserre, M, et al, Lipids, 1985, 20:4:227
4 - Horrobin, D F, Reviews in Pure and Applied Pharmacological Sciences, Vol 4, 1983, Freund Publishing House, 339-383; Devlin, T M, ed, Textbook of Biochemistry, 2nd Ed, 1982, Wiley Medical, 429-430; Fallon, Sally, and Mary G Enig, Ph.D., "Tripping Lightly Down the Prostaglandin Pathways," Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Health Journal, 1996, 20:3:5-8
Too Little Omega-3
Several researchers have argued that along with too many omega-6 fatty acids, the American diet is deficient in omega-3. Omega-3 is crucial for cell oxidation, metabolizing necessary sulfur-containing amino acids, and maintaining proper hormone production balance.
Deficiencies have been associated with asthma, heart disease, and learning deficiencies.6
Most commercial vegetable oils contain minimal omega-3 and large amounts of omega-6. Modern agricultural and industrialized farming practices have reduced the amount of omega-3 in commercial foods. For example, Organic eggs from hens who are given the ability to feed on insects and green plants can have a 1-to-1 ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Commercial supermarket eggs, on the other hand, can have as much as nineteen times more omega-6 than omega-3!7
6 - Okuyama, H, et al, Prog Lipid Res, 1997, 35:4:409-457
7 - Simopoulos, A P, and Norman Salem, Am J Clin Nutr, 1992, 55:411-4
The Benefits of Saturated Fats
The vilified saturated fats that most Americans try to avoid are not the cause of our modern diseases. They actually play many essential roles in body chemistry:
Cell membranes are made up of 50% fatty acids.
Saturated fatty acids give our cells the necessary stiffness and integrity they require. The integrity of cellular membranes is crucial for cell survival.
Saturated fatty acids contribute to bone structure and allow calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal system.
Saturated fatty acids contain antimicrobial properties that protect us from harmful microorganisms.
Heart Disease
Despite numerous entities telling us otherwise, the cause of heart disease is not animal fats and cholesterol but several inevitable factors in industrialized diets. Vegetable oils, hydrogenated fats; refined carbohydrates in excess; mineral deficiencies, low levels of magnesium and iodine. Deficiencies of vitamins, particularly vitamin C, needed for the integrity of the blood vessel walls, and antioxidants such as selenium and vitamin E, which protect us from free radicals; and, finally, the disappearance of antimicrobial fats from the food supply, namely, animal fats and tropical oils.8
The way to avoid and treat heart disease is not to focus on lowering cholesterol with drugs or diet. But rather consuming foods rich in B6&12, as they bolster thyroid function. Daily use of natural sea salt, a source of usable iodine, to prevent deficiencies that make arteries more prone to ruptures and plaque. Incorporating antimicrobial fats in the diet; and eliminating processed foods containing refined carbohydrates, oxidized cholesterol, and vegetable oils full of free radicals.
While serum cholesterol levels don't directly correlate to future heart disease, high levels of homocysteine in the blood have been linked to the pathological build-up of plaque in the arteries and a tendency of blood clots. Folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and choline are nutrients that lower serum homocysteine levels.9
8 - Fallon, Sally, and Mary G Enig, Ph.D., "Diet and Heart Disease—Not What You Think," Consumers' Research, July 1996, 15-19
9 - Ubbink, J B, Nutr Rev, Nov 1994, 52:11:383-393
All of these are found naturally in animal-sourced foods. These antimicrobial fats are crucial for fighting pathological viruses and bacteria associated with plaque build-up.
We NEED saturated fats.
Saturated fats help the body put calcium into the bones.
Nature doesn't make mistakes by putting fat into milk.
Low-fat and skim milk is calcium going to waste or being put into the wrong place, like the arteries and the joints.
LIFE IN ALL ITS SPLENDOR IS MOTHER NATURE OBEYED. – WESTON A. PRICE
