Essential fatty acids must come from our diet, our bodies do not make them on its own. Fatty acids, as defined by the Journal of Evidence-based integrative medicine, "are major components of cell membrane structure, modulate gene transcription, function as cytokine precursors, and serve as energy sources in complex, interconnected systems". So, what does all that lingo mean? It means they are super important to our overall health and wellbeing.
Fats have been given a bad rap and low-fat diets and foods labeled low-fat have filled our grocery market shelves and are detrimental to our health. Many products labeled low-fat contain high levels of sugar, salt and other fillers to replace the taste of the missing fat. This notion we are to avoid fats has led to many health concerns. We need fats, but healthy fats; not all fats are created equal! Let's explore this further.
We need both Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. For optimal health we should look for this to be a 1:1 or 1:2.5 ratio, meaning our intake of both types of these essential fatty acids would be nearly equal or Omega-3's slightly higher. Do you know what the average American ratio is? It is a staggering range of 12:1 to 40:1. We are out of balance, and it shows by the amount of illness and chronic disease we see today.
I am not going to do a deep dive here into the structure of these fatty acids, but it is important to understand we need both. Omega-6's are pro-inflammatory, and Omega-3's are anti-inflammatory. So, you can see in our standard American diets that are way out of balance, consuming much larger quantities of omega 6's, why we see so much inflammatory diseases. We see the effects chronic inflammation is having on people and it is being linked to Crohn's disease, to cancer, to heart disease and more.
Omega-6's are in grains. Not only are we eating too many grains, but we are getting exposed to grains through the animal products we eat from grain fed animals. There is controversy here; some argue that the grains and antibiotics fed animals do not come into the food we eat from these animals, and some argue it transfers without a doubt.
Trans fat is the one we so often hear about, and it truly is bad for us. The United States banned trans fats in 2018, but because it has a long shelf life there may still be some products that contain it such as in baked goods, processed foods, microwave popcorn, vegetable oils, shortenings, etc.
Fried fast foods can still be subject to creating trans-fat when vegetable oils are heated to high temperatures the risk of creating trans-fat is a concern. Also, each time the oil is reused the trans-fat content increases. It is best to avoid fried foods.
Our brains are said to be 60% fat and many of our hormones and vitamins require fat for them to be produced and used properly in our bodies. This is why it is very hard for those following a vegan or vegetarian diet to maintain their health. It can be done, but great attention must be paid to the diet and B vitamin supplementation is key as well. One of the healthiest sources of fat is from red meat, grass fed to finish, organic meat. This isn't an invitation to eat as much of it as we want however, 1-3 servings a month is good. We are going to focus on other foods to get our omega-6 and omega-3's in.
Foods high in omega 3's are fatty fish, such as Mackerel, Salmon and oysters, flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, eggs, and green leafy vegetables like spinach. Omega 6's are found in meat, poultry, fish and eggs, nuts and seeds.
When we focus on whole foods you can see we get these essential fatty acids our body needs.
When cooking with oils and fats you need to be sure to use oils at proper temperatures. It is important when using oils, you know which can be heated and which cannot be heated. Heating oils beyond their appropriate temperature or exposing them to light can cause them to oxidize. When oils oxidize, they can produce harmful compounds and toxic byproducts.
For medium to high heat, it is recommended to use the following:
* Butter (organic /grass fed only)
* Ghee
* Coconut oil
* Pork lard
Best for cold or very low heat, it is recommended to use the following:
* Olive oil
* Avocado Oil
*Almond oil
Store these oils in opaque glass bottles, out of light
Never expose these oils to heat:
* Sesame oil
* Walnut Oil
* Flax seed oil
Store these oils in an opaque botte in your refrigerator
Avoid altogether:
* Canola oil
* Soybean oil
* Cottonseed oil
* Corn oil
* Vegetable oil
* Grapeseed oil
* Sunflower oil
* Safflower oil
* Peanut oil
* Palm oil
I will break this down a bit further in my next blog where I will talk about the specific health benefits of Coconut oil and flax seeds in particular. I will also be talking about the importance of cholesterol to our health and how cholesterol lowering medications are so concerning.
As always, I am here if you would like to learn more about functional nutrition. You can contact me via my contact page on my website here or send an email to: JocelynMoglia@TrueNorthFunctionalNutrition.co
Cheers to healthy living and learning as much as we can on how food impacts our health!
Jocelyn Moglia
Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor
True North Functional Nutrition, L.L.C.
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