Decoding the diet dilemma!

Fats are not our enemy!

We have been led to believe from ultra outdated research that fat is a foe and not a friend. It has been completely vilified due to this old research and so there are still many people today who are believers in the “low fat” movement.

But this could not be further from the truth. All dietary fat does not make us fat!

Or sick!

Or unhealthy!

Or increase cholesterol !!

There are other causes of these issues, and this research has likely in part led to a myriad of metabolic health conditions such as heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and many, many more conditions as healthy dietary fats have been replaced as a result, with the overconsumption of carbohydrates.

And the scariest part is that for most of these people, they often still don’t realise (and are sometimes in denial of) what issues they exacerbate in themselves, as they continue to eat this way.

But it is not your fault!

As well as being taught to believe that fat is so bad for us, we had tools provided to us such as the so-called healthy food pyramid, that was (and in some cases, still is!!) completely misguiding us. It was telling us to eat high amounts of carbohydrates (and not whether to eat refined carbohydrates or not!)

Just FYI – the healthy food pyramid has actually been scrapped in many countries due to the outdated information and confusion it provides.

So, for the sake of learning, let’s remove all preconceived ideas about how bad fat is and have a read of this….

It is all relative to how our bodies metabolise and utilise nutrients for energy. You see, when we consume our macronutrients carbohydrates, fats and proteins, they are all metabolised differently. It is within the liver that they go through various metabolic pathways to be used as energy.

Let me start with fat by saying that fat is needed in our body for some extremely important anatomical and physiological tasks such as:

- for the membranes that surround every single cell in every single tissue in our body!!!!!!!;

(I probably don’t even need to go on here, but I will because I can….)

- fat and cholesterol are in the backbone of all hormones in the body and are therefore needed for healthy hormone production;

- body insulation and maintaining temperature;

- essential for nutrient absorption in some cases - specifically for vitamins A, D, E and K, but also others;

- protecting our organs;

- providing energy when required.

I think you will agree that these are vital, for a healthy functioning body.

Carbohydrates are our primary source of fuel, however, when we eat more than 60% of our daily kilojoules/calories as carbohydrates, it can increase cholesterol as your liver begins to think it’s time to make more cholesterol.

When there are too many carbohydrates consumed, as well as using them as fuel, our bodies have to convert them into storage for later use in fat cells. However, this storage is limited inside the liver and once that is full, it needs a new storage form and so the liver transforms this into what are called triglycerides (a.k.a body fat!)

With the process of converting excessive carbohydrates to fat running at full steam ahead, what does the body do with all of this excess fat? It packages it up together with specific proteins, and circulates it around the body in the bloodstream. They are then broken down into smaller remnants again, which are later resorbed and released again as LDL (Low Density Lipoproteins). And this is what is classically considered the ‘bad’ cholesterol on your standard blood cholesterol pathology test.

High carbohydrate diets increase blood body fat levels by a whopping 30-40%. The more carbohydrates we eat, the more of the hormone insulin is released, and insulin is what controls our body fat production. Fructose consumption has also been linked to high body fat.

With dietary fat, it is absorbed differently – directly into our lymphatic system where it empties into the bloodstream without first passing the liver. Because of this, it does not require insulin.

So let’s do a quick recap…..

· Fats = essential for many bodily structures and functions and does not require insulin to be metabolised

· Carbohydrates = increases bad cholesterol when eaten in excess, increases body fat when eaten in excess

Fats are not only important to our health, but they are ESSENTIAL for optimal health. Of course, this is also highly dependent on one main influence – the type of fat you consume makes a HUGE difference.

This leads me to the next important point of this blog, that not all fats are created equal when it comes to cooking and your health!

It is important to note that different cooking fats have varying smoke points, which determine their suitability for specific cooking methods and temperatures. The smoke point refers to the temperature at which fat starts to release smoke and harmful compounds, leading to rancidity, a burnt taste and potential health risks.

It is common knowledge that olive oil is one of the most nutritious options, when it comes to choosing a cooking oil, and therefore is used as a “go to” oil by many families for each and every meal and they cook and eat. However, olive oil is heat sensitive and can become rancid over 170°c (however, this depends on quality and the antioxidant content in the oil - the less antioxidants, the lower the smoke point).

Additionally, those who choose to consume the same oil for every purpose will not be gaining the health benefits from other nutritious fats on offer.

Generally speaking, there are only a handful of fats available that I recommend consuming. Some more than other.

Refined fats such as soybean, canola, sunflower, safflower I do not recommend consuming due to the high levels of processing (and therefore denaturing) that occurs with these crops.

Additionally, they are commonly sprayed with pesticides and herbicides during the growing process and you will want to avoid these sprays too (but that is a different blog post for a different time!).

But most importantly, it is super imperative to be educated in which fats are best for each cooking method or use, for you to gain the maximum health benefits from that fat source for you and your family.

So here I have created a general guide to cooking fats, with the most common varieties, and their best usage at different temperatures.

Some of this list you may find surprising:

Oils such as rice bran oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil or sunflower oil, I absolutely do not recommend consuming. Basically, if its not on this list - avoid it !

Of course, I absolutely recommend the use of organic fats products, where possible, as chemicals from crop spraying or animal feed love to live in fat cells, which you then consume!

Has this blog post helped you understand dietary fat better? I would love to have your feedback.

Have you got a question regarding this blog post? Please feel free to contact me via the chat box.

Bec