Let's talk about low-fat diets

The field of nutrition is RIFE with controversy about what diet advice is correct.  I suspect this is for a few reasons.  One, a lot of the information is pushed by a food processing industry who has a vested interest in you buying their products.  But the other reason might be that different people need different diets at different phases of their lives depending on their lifestyle, genetics and climate.

But one topic continues to fire me up... and that is the subject of low fat diets.  LOW FAT!  

Now, I grew up in the age of the low-fat craze.  I graduated from high school in 1987... a very body-conscious teenager who was always dieting and worrying about how I looked.  It was when everyone was drinking skim milk, cholesterol-free foods, dancing to Madonna and living under the umbrella of the Reagan-Thatcher rule.  I tend to refer to this 'low-fat' era as Reagan-Thatcher Nutrition, even though they had nothing to do with it.

Anyway, fast-forward 20 years.  All those women on their low fat diets trying to stay slim got jobs, had babies, lost sleep, didn't have much time to exercise or cook good foods for themselves.  Then they found themselves in my kitchen asking me for nutrition advice.  Here is what I discovered...

Typical 40 year old woman in 2005:

• 20+ years of low-fat diet
• Paying attention to her diet so as not to consume any cholesterol or saturated fats
• Avoiding all foods that contain this including meat, eggs, butter, cheese, nuts, nut butter.
• Eating a lot of carbohydrate-rich foods, often refined carbohydrates.  
• Sometimes eating a lot of vegetables and legumes
• Eating some dairy products, all fat-free
• Continuous snacking and sugar addiction

What is happening?  Well, these women have indeed lowered their cholesterol and saturated fat intake.  But they can't JUST eliminate that.  See, most of our high-quality protein foods come with some saturated fat and cholesterol as part of the package.  As a result, most of these women have also adopted a low-protein diet.  And if you take the fat and protein out of the equation, the result is a high carbohydrate diet.  What does a high-carbohydrate diet get you?  Most of the time, it gets you a spare tire, reduced muscle and bone mass, insulin resistance and diabetes... and it STILL leaves you hungry.  It also can mess with your hormones so that you can't get pregnant.  I won't even start on how unsatisfying the meal is...

Sound familiar?  Let's look at something that has always confused me.  When someone tells you to eat a low-fat diet, what does that mean?  Well, lower than you're eating now?  It's rare that we actually see numbers on this one.  Some of the first recommendations for a low-fat diet were to eat 65 grams of fat per day.  Divide that by three and that's 20 grams per meal and change.  What does this look like?

Each one of these food items has approximately 65 grams of fat in it:

21 slices of bacon, 4 x 3oz hamburgers, 8 tablespoons of peanut butter, ¼ of a 9-inch cheesecake, 6 Tablespoons mayonnaise, 4 Tbls. olive oil, 4 Tbls. lard, 6 Tbls. Butter, 11 egg yolks or 160g cream.

Now, when you look at it this way, low-fat doesn’t look as low as we thought.  It actually includes a moderate amount of fat.

But we Americans tend to say, 'Well, if low-fat is good for me, then REALLY low-fat must be even better!'  Uh.....no.

What does fat do for us?

• Fat helps us feel full. When we eat fat, a hormone is released when it hits the stomach that sends a signal to the brain telling it you are full. Eating a bit of fat with your meal can keep you from overeating. If you have trouble overstuffing yourself on pasta and bread, try adding some healthy fat to your meal!
• Fat slows down digestion. This is important when you go a long time between meals. It can also help slow absorbtion of glucose and give you sustained energy and balanced blood sugar.
• Fat carries the flavor, giving you more pleasure out of your food.
• Fat helps you absorb fat soluble vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E and K are essential for our health. They are best absorbed when eating with dietary fats, because they are absorbed in the micelles created to absorb fat. Very low-fat diets can lead to deficiencies of these nutrients.
• Some fats are ESSENTIAL! This means, we can’t make them, so we have to get certain fats from our food. These are called omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and will be discussed later. They are important to make brain cells, important hormones that regulate immune function, inflammation, pain, water balance, and regulate other hormones.

So let’s start with some facts. What is FAT?

There are 3 main types of fats. Saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat. None of these are bad, or good. They are different. Each type of fat consists of a long chain of carbons.

1. Saturated fat is called ‘saturated’ because each carbon atom is ‘saturated’ with hydrogen. Each carbon has a single bond to the carbon next to it, and a few hydrogen atoms. Saturated fats are stable. This means, when you subject them to heat, they don’t react chemically, but stay the same. This is why we traditionally use saturated fats to cook with.  For example: lard, butter, ghee, coconut oil and palm fat. Other examples are cream and crème fraiche. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature.
2. Monounsaturated fat is called such, because there is one double bond between 2 carbon atoms. Because of this double bond, there are fewer hydrogen atoms, and therefore the molecule is not ‘saturated’. It is ‘unsaturated’ in one (mono) place. Monounsaturated fats are chemically in between saturated and polyunsaturated fats. They are fairly stable at high temperatures, but not as much as saturated fats. You can do a stir-fry with them, or bake, but if you get it too hot, it will burn and smoke and the fat will be damaged. Examples of monounsaturated fats are olive oil and peanut oil, olives, peanuts, avocados, sesame seeds. These are liquid at room temperature, but solid in the refrigerator. Again, notice some of the more traditional cooking fats here like olive oil and peanut oil.
3. Polyunsaturated fats are ‘unsaturated’ in more than one place. That is, they have more than one double bond in the strand of carbon molecules. These double bonds are very chemically reactive and they make the fat fragile, and more susceptible to oxidation, which is what happens when the fat goes off (also called rancid). It is for this reason why we have not traditionally cooked with polyunsaturated oils, but consumed them in their ‘whole’ form as nuts and seeds where they are protected by a shell from oxygen and light as well as antioxidants like natural vitamin A. Another reason to eat whole foods!

Oxidation and Free Radicals: Oxidation is when oxygen reacts with the fats to create free radicals. Free radicals are damaging to your body, as they can damage your blood vessels, promoting atherosclerosis and heart disease. Generally, we should avoid eating sources of free-radicals whenever possible. When a polyunsaturated fat is exposed to oxygen, this oxidation process (and formation of free radicals) happens slowly. But in the presence of light and heat, the chemical reaction takes place much more quickly. For example, during the processing of vegetable oils, oils are exposed to high temperature and oxygen, thus causing the formation of free radicals. Similarly, when we cook with them.  You can be certain that the bottle of 'Vegetable Oil' standing in a clear bottle on the shelf of the supermarket is just a bottle of free radicals ready to do harm.  Don't buy it.

How to avoid Free Radicals and damaged fats: Now most of us have heard the message that polyunsaturated fats are good for our hearts and we should eat them instead of butter and lard. But from what you’ve just read, this might be confusing now. Polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) are indeed good for us. But they are fragile molecules and need to be handled carefully. Sources of PUFAs include sunflowers, safflower oil, linseeds (flax seeds), hemp seeds, borage oil, evening primrose oil and other foods. The best way to ensure you get the goodness out of PUFAs and not the free-radicals, is to eat them in their whole food source (the seed), or to buy high quality oils which are cold expeller pressed and stored in dark bottles in the refrigerator.  If it is cold expellar pressed, it will say so on the bottle.

Cholesterol: Cholesterol has received a very bad reputation over the last 50 years. Again, this is undeserved

Where do we get cholesterol from:

Only animal foods have cholesterol. Eggs, meat, chicken, fish, dairy fat like cream, cheese and yogurt.

Our bodies make cholesterol too, just in case we need more. It’s THAT important.

What we need cholesterol for in the body:

• To make hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, cortisol. These hormones regulate our metabolism, energy, waking times, immunity and fertility in addition to other less vital things.
• To make cell membranes
• To make bile, which removes toxins from the body and helps to metabolize fats.

Cholesterol, like polyunsaturated fats, is sensitive to oxidation so must be handled carefully. Exposure to oxygen in the presence of heat and light will damage an otherwise healthy food. Eggs, for example, protect their precious cargo with a shell. Eating dried milk products and powdered egg products expose your body to damaged cholesterol. But eating poached free-range eggs, fresh dairy products and whole cuts of meat and seafood are healthy sources of cholesterol.

So how many eggs can I eat?

A healthy person can eat 10-12 eggs per week without raising their serum cholesterol. A vegetarian can rely heavily on eggs, as they otherwise have a low intake of other fats and cholesterol. A meat-eater will naturally eat fewer because they will use meat as a protein source some of the time.

Enough about you, let's talk about MEAT

All this talk about eating more fish and chicken and less red meat because they are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol is really bullshit.  It all depends on what the animal eats.  After that advice came out, people started demanding cheap chickens so the farmers had to deliver.  They used these crazy chickens that ate themselves practically to death, fed them high octane fuel (grain-based diet high in corn) and ended up with a meat that was pretty high in saturated fat and cholesterol.  The same is true with beef.  But if you take a chicken or cow and feed them their natural diet... which for a cow is GRASS and other herbs... you get a MUCH more favorable fatty acid profile that is lower in saturate fat and cholesterol and higher in polyunsaturated fats because THAT IS WHAT THEY WERE EATING.  So I don't feel it matters that much what species you eat... it matters what you food ate.  Chickens, by the way, are omnivores.  While they LOVE corn (the way we love cotton candy) they eat grass, herbs, small rodents, snakes and many, many grasshoppers.  A well-fed chicken will pass all that goodness on to you in their eggs in the form of a yolk with lots of omega-3 fatty acids.  It's in the bugs and grass.

What kind of yogurt should I buy?

Oh brother.  Have you tried to buy yogurt lately?  The number of varieties of fat-free, low-fat, full-fat, low-carb, sugar-free yogurts is mind-numbing.  You can make your own easily and cheaply... we'll talk about that later.  But I would only buy the full-fat yogurt plain.  You can flavor it how you like later.  But if you must, buy one flavored with sugar, honey or maple syrup.  The fat in yogurt is really balanced with the protein and sugar and your body can metabolize it very easily.  And you'll like it better.  Nobody I know who eats full-fat dairy products is fat.  Not a one.  When I buy it, I like Nancy's, Stonyfield, Brown Cow... oh, I can't remember them all now.  And Greek yogurt is just regular yogurt with the liquid (whey) drained out so it's thicker.  That's why it costs more.  It's also very good.

Harmful Fats

What are the fats we shouldn’t eat? All natural fats are good for you, in moderate amounts. Highly processed fats should be avoided. Many are quite harmful to your health. Here are examples of 2 that are known to be harmful:

1. Rancid vegetable oils: These are the polyunsaturated fats that have been processed under high temperature and pressure. They have been allowed to go rancid during processing, and the processes may continue during storage in clear plastic or glass bottles on the supermarket shelves. They have no nutritional value left in them, and can be harmful due to the presence of free radicals. Examples are: sunflower oil, safflower oil, ‘vegetable oil’ stored in clear bottles in the supermarket at room temperature. If it doesn’t say ‘cold expeller pressed’, it probably means it was processed in a way that damaged the fat. Avoid them.
2. Trans fats: Trans fat is the product of a chemical process called hydrogenation. During the war when butter was expensive, scientists learned how to turn cheap vegetable oil into a solid, spreadable ‘food’ that looked like butter. We call it margarine. To manufacture ‘hydrogenated fat’, they start with vegetable oil, which is usually rancid to begin with. Then they put it through a chemical reaction that adds hydrogens to it turning it solid. This creates a unique chemical structure called ‘trans fat’ that is not functional in the human body. Some studies have even shown it is harmful and may contribute to heart disease. Sources of trans fat are margarine, vegetable shortening and many biscuits and cakes. Look on the ingredient label for the word ‘hydrogenated vegetable oil’. And avoid it. Even margarines without trans fats are not as wholesome as butter and should not be looked upon as a health food, but as a default spread if very sensitive to dairy.

That's it!!!  The other fats are alright... in moderation.  Have some fat at each meal.  Try to make some of them the essential type omega-3.

Healing Fats

There are 2 types of fats that we NEED to eat. Our bodies need them to make cell membranes, hormones and prostaglandins. Because we can’t make them, they are called ESSENTIAL fatty acids. They are omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Both of these are polyunsaturated fats, so they must be obtained by either a whole-food source, or a cold expeller pressed oil that is stored properly.

1. Omega-3 fats: These are thought of as anti-inflammatory oils. They are thought to promote prostaglandins responsible for controlling inflammation in the body. . The brain, being 60% fat, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Some studies have shown that increasing omega-3 intake improves symptoms of depression, learning difficulties, eczema, premenstrual symptoms and dry skin. It is thought that most of us do not get adequate omega-3 fats in our diets. Sources of omega-3 fatty acids are cold-water fish like mackerel, tuna, herring, sardines, salmon, free-range egg yolks and cod liver oil. Vegetarian sources are linseeds (flax seeds), pumpkin seeds, walnuts and hemp seeds. Buy a bag of linseeds (flaxseeds) and grind up a week’s worth to keep in the fridge. Put on your porridge and salads and aim to eat 1-2 Tbls. per day!  Take a teaspoon of cod liver oil now and then, especially in the winter time to get your vitamin D along with it.
2. Omega-6 fats: While it is essential to get omega-6 fats in our diets, it is thought that most diets are quite rich in them, provided you haven’t been on a very low-fat diet for the past 10 years, as many people have. Sources include most nuts and seeds, eggs, meat, poultry and dairy fat. Some people supplement with omega-6 fats in the form of evening primrose oil and borage seed oil (starflower oil).

How to supplement your diet with essential fats:

• Eat more food sources. Most of us need more omega-3, as omega-6 sources are plentiful.
• Take a supplement: Fish oil: take 600-1200mg of DHA/EPA combined or take 1-2 Tablespoons cold-expeller pressed linseed (flaxseed) oil each day if you eat a vegan diet.  But know that the body has to convert the vegetable version to the fat that we need, and that's not always an efficient process.  Some people only get results from the fish oil.
• Omega-6 supplements borage oil or evening primrose oil. Take 200-400 mg GLA per day.  Remember, we usually get enough in our diet.

How to start your healthy fats lifestyle:

If you are aiming to improve your overall health and maintain a healthy weight, focus on completely eliminating the harmful fats from your diet, and add back moderate portions of natural fats to your diet, not worrying about cholesterol. Blood cholesterol levels have very little to do with how much cholesterol you eat. In fact, they are more likely due to: High blood sugar, eating too much sugar or refined carbohydrates, stress, eating harmful damaged fats. Finally look into supplementing.

1. Eliminate bad fats.
2. Add back healthy, natural fats to your diet in moderate portions.
3. Increase your consumption of omega-3 sources
4. Supplement if you think you have deficiency symptoms.

What fats should I be buying, cooking with, and using as salad dressings?

Putting all this into practice is easy. Just go back about 50 years and you’ll get it right.

• Cooking: For high-temperature frying, use primarily saturated fats: Ghee (made from butter), coconut oil or lard are all fine. If you like, you can use high-linolenic safflower oil, which is high in monounsaturated fats.
• For lower temperature cooking like sauté, or baking: You can use saturated fats, or monounsaturated fats like extra virgin olive oil, peanut oil or sesame oil.
• Polyunsaturated fats should never be cooked. Use them in salad dressings or eat them in their whole food sources.

DON’T BUY

Margerine, ‘vegetable oil’, any vegetable oils sold in glass bottles at room temperature (olive oil is OK) vegetable shortening, vegetable ghee.

Whew.  That was a rant.  If you made it this far, thanks for coming along and I hope you found this informative and you're getting set to make a few eggs for your breakfast tomorrow morning.  I cut and pasted some old articles from 7-8 years ago, so please forgive the US/UK spelling combinations.