Weight Loss, Dieting & Obesity

Should I Adopt a Low Fat Diet? Part Three.

<- Continued from Part Two

Fats you need & Fats you need to avoid

As mentioned in Part One of this article, there are both good fats and bad fats.

We'll commence this section by pinpointing the major "fat faults" in the typical western diet today (not listed in specific order), then look at how to address these faults in your diet:

1. Excessive Omega 6 oils
2. Insufficient Omega 3 oils
3. Presence of Hydrogenated Oils / Trans Fats
4. Presence of Oxidized fats
5. Lack of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
6. Unnatural levels of saturated animal fats

Excessive Omega 6 oils

Omega 6 fatty acids are essential to the human body. Like many other things in life, however, you can have too much of a good thing. Too much Omega 6 is now recognized scientifically as being the cause or aggravator of many inflammatory conditions, weakening of the immune system, cardiovascular diseases and many cancers.

Omega 6 fats are very common in most foods - plant and animal. It is almost always found in combination with other fats in nature.

Experts believe the optimal ratio of Omega 6 : Omega 3 in the human diet should be somewhere between 1:1 and 1:4. (Paleolithic diets are believed to have been around 1:1). The modern western diet is seriously out of whack with a dangerous ratio of around 15:1

Most grain/seed/nut/legume oils are high in Omega 6 oils and low in Omega 3.

Because Omega 6 is readily found in sufficient quantities in plant food, you should do all you can to avoid adding more to your diet. The most common offenders used in cooking and used in almost every manufactured / processed foods are Soyabean Oil (often just labelled as "vegetable oil"), Corn Oil, Peanut Oil, Sunflower Oil & Safflower Oil.

Insufficient Omega 3 oils

The human diet was once strongly oriented towards Omega 3 fats. Those days are, unfortunately gone. These are the most healthy fats available and are essential to human health.

Unlike Omega 6 oils which have grown in popularity over the past fifty years due to mass production techniques and low costs to consumers, Omega 3 oils are generally more expensive. For that reason, they have become scarce in the modern diet.

Another reason for their scarcity in the modern diet is the trend away from fish in the diet. Fish is a strong source, possibly the best source, of Omega 3 oils though has become more expensive compared to lamb, beef and pork. Furthermore, there are ongoing reports of pollutants and toxins such as mercury being found in fish, turning people away from this highly nutritious food and Omega 3 source.

If toxins are a concern (and they should be for pregnant or breast-feeding women), taking a refined fish oil supplement daily is advised. Any health food shop and most supermarkets stock them. Be sure to read the label to ensure that they are refined / purified / decontaminated or similarly processed to remove impurities. (If taking an Omega 3 supplement, you should also take a Vitamin E supplement.)

For most people, toxicity should not be a concern so long as you avoid "long life" fish such as shark, swordfish, marlin and tuna. Many of these live for fifty years or more, giving them much longer to accumulate toxins.

The cold water oily fish are the richest sources of Omega 3 oils. Salmon, sardines, herrings, mackerel and trout

Other than eating fish (or other seafood, including seaweeds) at least three days per week, other superior sources for Omega 3 fatty acids include:

1. Spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables and herbs. Perilla and Purslane in particular are great sources, though may be hard to find;
2. Walnuts & Walnut oil
3. Flax Seeds & Flaxseed Oil (same as Linseed Oil)
4. Eggs from organically fed free range chickens (Organically raised chickens whose diet consists of green grass, insects and worms produce eggs with TWENTY times the level of Omega 3 fats than barn-raised, grain fed chickens.)
5. Wild game meats or other organically raised red meats. (Grain feeding of livestock reduces Omega 3 content of their meat to almost zero, and raises the level of saturated fat significantly.)

Some references also suggest beans and legumes as good sources of Omega 3. I recommend against consuming these due to their considerable presence of anti-nutrients (plant chemicals that deplete nutrients from the human body).

Canola Oil is also now commonly recommended as an Omega 3 source. I recommend against this unnatural oil. It is a 1980's invention, a hybrid derived from the rapeseed, and requires considerable artificial industrial processing and chemical deodorizing and preservatives and stabilizers before it can be used as food. Stick to natural foods rather than these artificial, commercial substitutes.

Omega 3 oils are unsafe for cooking, other than as a whole food. (See the following section on Oxidized fats.) If using bottled Flax, Perilla, Walnut or similar Omega 3 oils, add them after cooking, such as in dressings or sauces.

Presence of Hydrogenated Oils / Trans Fats

Although Trans Fats do occur in nature, they occur in small proportions in a limited range of foods. (Mainly dairy.)

Last century saw the development of the artificial hydrogenation of oils. Hydrogenation is the process of taking an unsaturated (or monounsaturated or polyunsaturated) oil and processing it with a nickel catalyst. The result is that it is artificially "saturated" with additional hydrogen molecules - hence the term "hydrogenated".

These artificial trans fats do not precisely mirror the rare naturally occurring trans fats. They are alien to the human cell system.

This artificial process makes liquid oils solid (margarines, for example), while partial hydrogenation makes very viscous (thin, runny) oils thicker. Another "advantage" of hydrogenation is that the oil becomes more stable and has a much increased shelf life. This makes them popular for commercial, rather than health, reasons.

The health consequences are severe. Although in the short term, serum cholesterol levels may appear to be reduced, hydrogenated oils raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol levels, and raise triglyceride levels - even though these adverse effects may be hidden by the apparent overall reduction in serum cholesterol levels.

Hydrogenated oils also displace REAL and essential oils from human body cells and are now well known as major causers of cancers.

It is also strongly believed that cellular malfunction caused by hydrogenated fats is a major contributing factor to the present era obesity epidemic.

In short, hydrogenated oils or trans fats are poisonous, dangerous and should be avoided at all times. This may be difficult because almost all of the main cooking oils on the market today are partially hydrogenated. Almost every manufactured / processed food - everything from biscuits to ice creams to tinned foods and sauces - contain hydrogenated oils. All your take-out foods from fast food outlets fry or deep fry using hydrogenated oils. And they are killing people.

("So why are they still legal?" I here you ask. Maybe you should ask your Congressman about the political and economic power of the so-called 'edible oils' industry.)

Never buy a processed food without checking the label. Do not buy any product with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils or trans fats.

Presence of Oxidized fats

Oxidation is a serious hazard with fats. Oxidized fats in the human body release free radical particles with the potential to cause cancers. (Think of oxidation a bit like how steel turns to rust when exposed to water.) There are two common ways for fats or oils to become oxidized:

Prolonged exposure to air. Oils have a limited shelf life once the bottle or jar has been opened after which they gradually become rancid. Rancid oils may change color and begin to emit a stench, but the process will be well underway before the human eye or nose detects it. Many commercial oils are partially hydrogenated to extend their shelf life - a health problem in itself. Others include chemical preservatives and deodorizers.

Heat. Despite being labeled as "cooking oils", most oils used in cooking today are not suitable for high heats, such as frying.

The two most stable oils for cooking, wrongfully maligned in times past, are avocado and coconut. These oils handle cooking and high temperatures without oxidation better than any of the more common or conventional cooking oils.

Omega 3 oils (flaxseed/linseed and canola oils in particular) should never be used for frying or other high temperature use as they are the most readily oxidizable of all the edible oils.

When all is said and done, though, it is simply better not to even add oils to cooking. Try grilling, boiling or steaming - or stir frying with a small quantity of coconut cream instead.

Also bear in mind that fast food outlets use the same vat of boiling oil all day long. They serve bountiful supplies of carcinogenic oxidized AND hydrogenized fats and thereby are gradually killing their customers.

Lack of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)

CLA is a potent cancer preventative with properties similar to Vitamin antioxidants. It is also a "fat fighting fat". Research has shown that CLA supplementation assists in weight loss. Supplementation is rarely the ideal form of intake for any nutrient, with natural whole foods the preferred alternative.

CLA is, or at least should be, found in dairy products and red meat. Unfortunately, modern agricultural methods have reduced the quality of red meat and dairy today.

Mass agriculture with unnatural grain feeding reduces not only the Omega 3 content of red meat (as discussed above), but also reduces the CLA content to close to zero.

If you are able to hunt your own wild game (deer, rabbits, buffalo, bison, kangaroo, emu, or whatever is available in your part of the world), you will gain far healthier meat than your butcher can sell you.

Some specialist butcheries these days stock game meats - not usual wild, but still raised organically. Look for these, ask for these, and be prepared to pay the extra price they will cost.

It's a similar story with milk. Grain fed and feedlot dairy cattle produce milk with reduced CLA content and elevated saturated fat content. Look for organic milk instead - and best of all seek raw organic milk (not pasteurized). Pasteurization may extend shelf life of dairy products by killing bacteria, but it also destroys many vitamins, changes the nature of the milk proteins and eliminates the beneficial bacteria. In most places, raw milk can only be bought direct from a dairy farm.

Unnatural levels of saturated animal fats

Briefly mentioned under several of the above headings, mammals and chickens are not grain eaters by nature. Farmers long ago discovered that grain feeding raises body weight of their stock - financially important seeing that farmers auction or sell through stock yards based on weight - not nutrient quality of the meat.

Wild or organically raised animal with natural grass diets produce products (eggs, milk, meat, organs) with "natural" levels of saturated fats, the way nature intended for them and for us to eat.

Farmed fish are a similar story. Some fish farms rightfully feed fishmeal to their growing stock. Others take the poorer quality, lower cost action of unnaturally grain feeding their stock. The latter reduces the "good oils" and artificially elevates the saturated fat levels of fish.

If in doubt, ask before you buy.