All Fats Were Not Created Equal

Weekly Focus: Natural Fat( monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated)  vs. Unatural Fat (hydrogenated trans fat)

If I was to ask you what the four main kinds of fat were, what would you say?  Honestly, it’s not something I used to give much thought to.  I thought I was supposed to eat as little as possible. But it turns out that eating that way increases your appetite for refined carbohydrates (like donuts), and sugar (again found in the donut.)  I’m going to make a true confession here. I love donuts.  When I was pregnant with my first child I had a donut so large and full of cream that it had to be eaten in the box with a fork.  I didn’t know then that the partially hydrogenated, or trans fat used in commercially baked goods increases heart threatening cholesterol (LDL) while at the same time lowering the heart healthy choletsterol (HDL) levels.  LDLs are the ones that stick to my arteries when there are too many of them in the blood stream, while HDLs collect the extras and take them away.

On the other hand, natural sources of fat like the kind found in avocados not only don’t raise the heart threatening blood cholesterol level (LDLs),  but lower it instead.  So I’ve moved on to avocados lately… about one a day with a fork. (haha)  I saw a teenager picking avocado off her salad the other day to make it more healthy.  How can eliminating all fats be good when they can lower my blood cholesterol level and are also absolutely vital for the transportation of fat soluble vitamins A,D,E, and K in the bloodstream? 

As you can see, your body needs fat, but which kind you choose will have a dramatic effect on your health.  Check the label of all baked or fried foods and avoid them if they are made with hydrogenated oil (trans fat),  but don’t be afraid to eat the good stuff.  My favorites are avocado, olives (and olive oil), walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, beans, grass fed beef, coconut oil,  and salmon.

Dr. Mercola discusses the dangers of heating non saturated oil for cooking and describes the many benefits of coconut oil in this video clip.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txWk1vWJjJM&NR=1

“Even small amounts of trans fat in the diet can have harmful health effects. For every extra 2 percent of calories from trans fat daily, about the amount in a medium order of fast-food French fries, the risk of coronary heart disease increases by 23 percent.”  http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-full-story/index.html#intro

USDA Guidelines- go to pages 29 and 34:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2005/2005DGPolicyDocument.pdf