Fats are one of the important macromolecules we need to consume daily. For years the ‘low fat’ craze has been destroying our health, one low fat cookie at a time.
Fat is the primary building block of your cell membranes and it also makes up a large percent of our brains and nervous systems.
This is one of the reasons why eating the right types of fat is so important for your health and longevity. While most nutritional experts blame the epidemic of chronic disease on the increase in sugar consumption, the role of sugar is relatively minor when compared to the impact of seed oils.
There are two basic types of fatty acids, based on how many of their carbon bonds are paired with hydrogen: saturated fats and unsaturated fats.
Unsaturated fats are further subdivided into monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), depending on how many pairs of hydrogen atoms they are missing. Because your tissues are made up mostly of saturated and monounsaturated fats, your body requires more of them than PUFAs
The main dietary PUFAs are omega-3 (fish oils) and omega-6 fats (seed oils), and while your body does need both of these, it needs them in relatively small quantities.
Over 200 years ago our intake of Omega 3: Omega 6 was 1:4, however, now with the subsidizing and increased use of canola and soy oils, it is now closer to 1:20
While sugar definitely causes a great deal of inflammation in our bodies, it is generally used up relatively quickly for energy. However, fats are more readily incorporated into our cell membranes, and therefore ‘become us’ faster than sugars.
Which food did you choose to be the healthier choice? If you said cotton candy you would be right!
One of the most toxic foods in the modern diet, and the fat you need to minimize consumption of, is the omega-6 fat linoleic acid (LA). LA makes up 60% to 80% of omega-6 fats and is the primary contributor to chronic disease.
The oils to avoid are: canola, cotton seed, soy, safflower and excessive sunflower.