Investing in your health is the most important and valuable investment you can make. You can't go out and buy a new body when this one wears out. Taking care of your body will be rewarded with vibrant health and abundant energy!
Fats and Your Health
The subject of fats in the past was full of confusion however at this time it is commonly known that placing focus on "fat free" and "low fat" everything is a quickly way to developing fat deficiencies!
How are fat deficiencies possible with all the obesity in the world? The adjective "fat" is given to anyone overweight and is not directly related to the fat that they consume in their food. For one, a majority of circumstances that cause some one to be overweight is not due to fats in the diet at all! In the event that fat is a factor in any overweight condition, it is due to bad fats.
Recognizing the Right Kind of Fat and Eliminating the Wrong Kind
Fats are important in the body. They have very specific functions. Without them we set the stage for digestive problems, loss of tissue integrity (skin, organs, and vessels), hormonal imbalances and neurological disorders.
So how do you balance your fats? You can have a diet full of fat without feeding the body the fat it needs. Bad fats will not turn into good fats (Essential Fatty Acids) all on their own.
As far as bad fats go these can be found in foods that are fried and battered, "fast" packaged, or processed change fats into "trans-fats", also called hydrogenated fats. We'll get into trans-fats later. For now, these are your primary culprits in adding bad fats into your diet which make up the menu for most fast food.
Deficiency of Essential Fats in the body
The body will store most of the fat ingested, hoping someday to be able to convert into a usable fat. When Essential Fats are sufficient in the diet, the body will melt off the layers of fat it no longer needs. So contrary to common thought, eating fat does not necessarily mean you'll gain weight, and eating "low fat" and no fat foods can make you gain weight! The secret is to eat the right kind of fat.
Supplying Essential Fatty Acids
The first and most important type of fats are Essential Fatty Acids. There is no mistake in its naming as they are essential. These fats can only be supplied through our nutritional intake. The body does not produce essential fatty acids.
The bodies cell wall integrity (strength), nerve cell growth factor, smooth flow of nerve impulses from the brain to body parts, hormone precursor (needed for the body to be able to make hormones), part of the body's natural anti-inflammatory mechanism (PG2), and skin resilience (dry skin and hair are indicators of Essential Fatty Acids deficiency) all rely on essential fatty acids!
Where Do I Find Them!
Every Diet Can Supply Essential Fatty Acids
These fats are needed in the diet for proper functioning of the body. They are the building blocks for the development of brain cell and nerves, making them even more essential for your body! If proper amounts of Essential Fatty Acids are provided in the diet, the body will not accumulate other fats (which contribute to obesity).
The columns below are here to give a speedy reference to what foods contain essential fatty acids. From left to right these foods are listed based on the greatest amount of restrictions a diet requires. The diet that serves you best can include anything listed in your column and the columns left to it. So if you have a vegetarian diet you can have avocados (left column items) but not salmon (which is a column item right to it).
Broad Diets
Vegetarian / Vegan
Salmon, Mackerel, and Sardines
Avocados (and it's Oils), Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Raw Nuts and Seeds, Unprocessed Grains and Green Leafy Vegetables
Animal Fats
With a vast amount of the population moving to vegan diets it will be discovered in time whether animal proteins are in fact necessary as it is commonly held to be true at this time. This section applies to traditional or vegetarian diets.
Animal fats are saturated fats and are found to be needed for different functions in the body. "Animal fat" includes fat from all forms of meat (beef, pork, poultry, fish, lamb, elk, deer), eggs and dairy products (cheese, yogurt, milk, etc.), basically anything that comes from an animal. Not all animal fat is the same, however.
Dairy fats that have been heated (pasteurized) do not have the same beneficial effect on the body, and in fact result in significant health challenges.
The health (or lack of health) of fats of all animal meats is dependent upon how they are raised. It's not the fat that is the problem. The real issue is that the toxins from antibiotics, growth hormones and chemicals in the animals feed end up storing in their fat. Animals that are pasture raised and grass fed are much healthier and that benefits us further down the food chain. Game (wild caught) meats are considered the healthiest. Fish should be wild and not farm raised because most farmed fish are fed chemically processed feed.
Eggs can be consumed as desired. However, look for eggs from pasture raised chickens. Since the 1990's we now know that eating cholesterol does not raise cholesterol levels, any more than eating fat makes you fat. That nutritional advice was debunked over 20 years ago yet is still perpetuated as a fact.
Vegetable Oils
These are bad. When the dietary norm was "fat made you fat" around the same time eggs, beef and other fats were strongly discouraged, vegetable oils were introduced. Most vegetable oils such as rapeseed (canola), soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower, safflower, etc. are processed by using chemicals.
These chemicals degum, bleach (pre and post bleaching), emulsify, winterize, fractionate, deodorize, hydrogenate, or plasticize, overheat, and many are petroleum produced or genetically modified as well. There is no place in any diet for these food products.
Trans-Fatty Acids – The Most Dangerous Fat
Trans-Fatty Acids (TFA's) include hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils/fats, margarines, and heated fats or oils. These BLOCK essential fatty acid absorption. These are literally poison (poison is defined as any substance which, when relatively small amounts are ingested...has chemical action that may cause damage to structure or disturbance to function, producing the appearance of being ill, illness, or death).
These, DO NOT belong in the body. Margarine takes almost 600 days - nearly 2 years for the body to process and eliminate. In the meantime, it stresses the liver, and interferes with the pain mechanism (decreasing pain tolerance) and interferes with the body's natural anti-inflammatory process (PG2).
When you heat an oil or fat by frying, cooking, baking, or even how it's processed, you change its molecular structure, and it is no longer healthy for the body. It becomes toxic, not helpful. It no longer works the same in the body. Roasting nuts or seeds, even if oil is not added, becomes harmful because of the naturally occurring oils found in the nuts or seeds. So only eat raw nuts and seeds.
In Summary
The body NEEDS fats! But the right kind is ESSENTIAL - Essential Fatty Acids. If you need a healthy functioning body/brain, especially one in the healing process, Essential Fatty Acids are a must. But it is just as critical to eliminate the Trans-Fats.
To your health!
