Nutrients

The skinny on fats and oils by Christine Keeth

The problem with most American diets today is that they are too high in fat especially saturated fat and the fat is of poor quality. A typical American consumes 30-35% of calories from fat while health experts recommend no more than 20%. In a modern society, where our physical activity is drastically different than our ancestors, we need to re-think the fat equation.

Read More about fats and oils

Fats and oils are essential to healthy living and weight management. Fat is important for insulation from the cold and it protects our vital organs. They keep our skin supple and our hair healthy.
Fats and oils must be present for the assimilation of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and your body needs fat to make linoleic and linolenic acids in your body. These acids are critically important in the immune system; for anti-inflammatory properties and they guard against heart attack and stroke, support brain function and the nervous system among other things.
There are four types of fat:

monounsaturated
polyunsaturated
saturated
trans fats

The trick to getting the fat equation right is to tip the scale to the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated types; limit the saturated fat and totally avoid trans fats. Monounsaturated fats are found in olives and olive oil, nuts and nut butters and avocados. Polyunsaturated fats are in vegetable oils and fish. Saturated fat is found in animal foods (meat and dairy), coconuts and coconut oil. Trans fat is a man-made product. Food chemists figured out how to take vegetable oil, hydrogen gas and nickel to create a solid vegetable fat. So, how did trans fat become so popular and why should you totally avoid it? This fat was easy to transport and could be used in prepared foods, keeping them moist and extending their shelf life making it a cost effective choice for food manufacturers.
Trans fats lower good (HDL) cholesterol (not even saturated fat does that) and increase bad cholesterol (LDL). It makes blood platelets (used for blood clotting) stickier and they lodge in the vascular system of the heart, brain and elsewhere. They contribute to inflammation causing overreaction of the immune system that then leads to terminal or debilitating diseases like stroke and heart attack. Trans fat is seen on ingredients lists as “hydrogenated” or ” partially hydrogenated” vegetable oil or “vegetable shortening” and in the nutrition label in grams of trans fat. Be wary even of labels that say “0 trans fat”.

In the U.S., it is legal to have a half-gram of trans fat and still carry the zero trans fat label. It turns out that there are some fats that your body needs to function normally and they can only be found in polyunsaturated fats you eat. These fats are commonly referred to as omega-3 fats; one is ALA (alpha-linolinec acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). These fatty acids make up cell membranes especially in the eye brain and sperm cells. They are the building block for some of our hormones such as blood clotting and artery wall relaxation. These fats have shown to play a role in the prevention of heart disease and stroke because they act like street sweepers in the circulatory system cleaning them of cholesterol and fat deposits. They also encourage blood flow in tissues previously damaged by lack of blood circulation. DHA and EPA are most abundant in salmon, mackerel and sardines but significant amounts are also in herring, anchovy, pilchard, butterfish, lake or rainbow trout and tuna. Stay away from farm raised fish; they don’t have the high levels of fatty acids wild fish do and they’re wrought with environmental issues. It is also prudent to limit consumption of bigger fish like tuna and mackerel to avoid toxins, mercury and PCBs. Eating fish two times a week will provide the healthy benefits of these EFAs.

If you’re not fond of fish, contact your health practitioner about the right oil supplement for you. If you want to be more environmentally conscientious, you can get a listing of the over fished populations to avoid and which ones are ok (www.audubon.org or www.msc.org). ALA is found in substantial amounts in the following nutrient rich foods: Dark greens and winter cold climate crops, grass fed animals Nuts and seeds including almond, flax, hazelnut, pecan, pine nut, squash, sesame, sunflower and walnut Grains, legumes and fruit including avocado, buckwheat, corn, garbanzo, millet, miso, oats, olive, quinoa, rice and soybeans Refined vs. Unrefined Refined oils are usually solvent extracted at high heat with harsh chemicals such as hexane. They are bleached and chemically treated to ensure colorless, tasteless oil for providing a long shelf life. The ability of the oil to taste rancid is now gone but its harmful effects remain. Other refined oils are expeller pressed; a mechanical process so they don’t have traces of any harmful chemicals. Still, they are further processed with high heat and alkaline chemical solutions. These processed oils are missing vital nutrients like lecithin, chlorophyll, vitamin E, beta-carotene, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorus. When re-used in restaurant frying or brought to temperatures greater than 320 degrees, these oils begin to create trans fats. Unrefined oils are expeller cold pressed (under 160 degrees) and sometimes filtered once to remove residues. They should have taste, aroma and cooler and can be cloudy. Their vitamin E is intact, which preserves the oil and reduces free radicals in the body. Some oils will use the term “cold pressed” but can still use chemical processes. Most quality brands will now use the term expeller pressed and give a temperature as well.

It is also very important to see the word “un-refined” on the label as some refined oils are expeller pressed as a part of their processing. Recommended monounsaturated oils are olive and sesame. Other oils may be more common but it is hard to find a good quality source. Remember, oils are not a whole food. Therefore, limit consumption of oils and go for the whole foods that contain them; except when needed for supplementation or medicinal use. Healing with Whole Foods, Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, Third Edition, Paul Pitchford Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy, The Harvard Medical School guide to Healthy Eating, Walter C. Willett, M.D. with Patrick J. Skerrett, co-developed with The Harvard School of Public Health The Mediterranean Diet, Marissa Cloutier, M.S., R.D., and Eve Adamson

Resveratrol by Steven D'Antonio

Exciting research continues to emerge concerning the powerful polyphenol resveratrol, which is found in peanuts, berries, the skin of red grapes, red wine, and in the Japanese Knotweed plant also known as Polygonum. Resveratrol is produced by certain plants to act as a natural pesticide. In the case of grapes, it concentrates in the skin and protects the plant from mold and bacterial infection. Resveratrol research has proven it to provide very potent antioxidant protection, estrogen protection, cardio-protection, cancer protection, viral protection and neuron protection.
But probably the most exciting news on resveratrol is that researchers at Harvard Medical School are hopeful that resveratrol may actually be capable of increasing human lifespan dramatically! They discovered that resveratrol acts as a sirtuin activator, meaning it activates the SirT1 gene, which when turned on slows the aging process. It is believed that the trans-resveratrol form is responsible for this anti-aging effect. And . . .

Resveratrol has the same anti-aging effect has cutting calories

A recent study by the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging shows that a high dose of resveratrol lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other fat-related ill effects in obese mice by mimicking the well know life extending effect produced by calorie restriction. On mice fed a high-fat diet fat-related deaths dropped 31 percent for obese mice on the supplement, compared to untreated obese mice. Treated mice also lived much longer than expected. The treated obese mice were just as agile on exercise equipment as lean mice.
Also, “the organs of the fat mice that got the resveratrol looked normal when they shouldn’t have”, said study lead author Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. Resveratrol is also being researched by this group for the treatment of diabetes. If you are looking to start taking this powerful nutrient we recommend Resveratrol Synergy.