The Truth About Fats and Industrial Oils
The Truth About Fats and Industrial Oils Fat, fat, fat, seems to always get a bad rap! Let’s get this straight now, FAT isn’t unhealthy! The brain loves fat and hormones (especially sex) love fat! Fat is also essential for the human body to work optimally. What happens when women of post pubescent age don’t have enough fat? They lose their menstruation by way of something called hypothalmic ammenorhea. And also that thing called cholesterol; we need healthy fats, or high density lipoproteins (healthy cholesterol) to carry low density lipoprotein (undesirable cholesterol) away from the arteries and back to the liver where it’s broken down and passed from the body. Fats are also important in heart health, blood sugar, inflammation, hormone balancing. They also help keep us satiated, so if you’re not eating enough fat, chances are you are eating more than your body needs in carbs and sugar. And if you want gorgeous skin and hair, you need fat for that too. That being said, some fats are better than others. The best fats to consume are ones that are cold pressed and least processed, like olive oil, avocado, coconut, ghee. These are the best and cover almost any use you have for at home, for cooking it’s better to avoid using extra virgin olive oil, reserve that for salad dressings and what not. The others just have a higher smoke point, avocado being the highest. Now, the worst oils; coined as the ‘Hateful Eight’ are called industrial seed oils and are typically vegetable oils, very confusing, right? It is confusing, for so long we’ve heard that saturated fats are ‘bad’ for us but is polyunsaturated better? No, this actually couldn’t be farther from the truth. These oils are marketed as ‘heart healthy’ but research is showing us that the high Omega 6 in them throws the delicate balance of Omega 6 and Omega 9 off and can actually contribute to heart disease. In addition, these oils oxidize easily, contain harmful additives, toxic by products and almost always come from GMOs. What are industrial oils? What does that mean? It means that the oil isn’t readily available so we have to use high heat and solvents to extract it. Once extracted they are then refined and sometimes chemically altered. That process completely destroys the molecules and any antioxidant benefit we might have gotten from them. Why does that matter? Won’t we just expel it? Actually no. The cell membranes that wrap each cell in our body is comprised of lipid (fat) and protein, if the lipid is unnatural then that cell can’t function properly, so industrialized oils destroy our cells. What are the Hateful 8? Here you go: Canola, Corn, Cottonseed, Soybean, Sunflower, Safflower, Rapeseed, and Rice bran If industrial oils are so bad, why are they in everything? Simply put. It’s cheap. It’s way cheaper to process these oils than say ghee or olive oil. As a result they are in most processed foods, so read your labels. And that also means most restaurants use them as their preferred source for cooking, frying and even in their salad dressing. Eating them during an elimination diet (or anytime really) will make things more difficult since they cause cellular inflammation and toxic load. Another reason is because of marketing geniuses. If you’d like to go down a rabbit hole, the history of how it all started with cottonseed oil for soap making is fascinating. As research is being released, things are changing, new companies are popping up with unique cold press technology without solvents or chemicals which also retains the nutrient qualities of the seeds. Two of these companies are Andreas Seed Oils and Zero Acre Farms. But for now, try your best to stick with the basics; olive oil, avocado and ghee.
Feeling inflamed? Eat like this!
Feeling inflamed? Eat like this! Inflammation does not discriminate! We all fall victim to it at one point or another. Low back pain, neck pain, joint swelling, even stomach issues like anything that ends in an -itis is otherwise known as inflammation. Try this way of eating to reset your body and bring down the inflammation in your system. Steamed vegetables: Steamed vegetables are more easily digested and this can help increase the availability of nutrients in order to enable healing of the gastrointestinal mucosa. Minimize usage of raw vegetables. Eat a variety of vegetables (except nightshades including tomatoes, potatoes (no sweet potatoes), bell peppers and eggplants), especially the lower carbohydrate type. Lower carbohydrate vegetables include asparagus, bean sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Swiss chard, kale, beet greens, cucumber, endive, lettuce, mustard greens, radish, spinach, watercress, arugula, string beans, beets, Brussels sprouts, chives, collards, kohlrabi, leeks, onion, parsley, pumpkin, rutabagas and turnips. The higher carbohydrate vegetables include artichoke, parsnip, green peas, squash, carrots. Grains: Eat 1-2 cups of cooked grains per day and avoid wheat-derived grains. Examples of allowed grains include amaranth, barley, buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, quinoa, basmati or brown rice, rye, teff (note, Teff bread at the local Ethiopian restaurants are usually made with wheat). Legumes: Eat a variety of any legumes that you are able to tolerate. It is best to use dried organic beans, soaked overnight, then cooked to taste. Examples include split peas, lentils, kidney beans, aduki beans, mung beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans. Fish and Eggs: Deep-sea ocean fish (vs. farmed in which fish are commonly fed corn and cement)) is preferred. Ask the person behind the counter at the supermarket! Avoid shellfish. The best types of fish include salmon, halibut, cod, sardines, mackerel. The fish should be poached, steamed, baked or broiled (poached or steamed is best). Organic, free range eggs are best and pouched retains the nutritional value. Milk products: Only organic, raw milk is acceptable. Organic Greek yogurt is also a good milk protein. Meat and Poultry: Eat only the meat and not the skin of free-range or organically grown chicken or turkey. Bake, broil or steam the poultry. Beef, buffalo and lamb in smaller portions are acceptable. Fruit: Eat 1-2 pieces of seasonal fruits with the exception of citrus. Like vegetables, try to eat the low carb fruits. Low carb fruits include: cantaloupe, rhubarb, strawberries, melons, apricot, blackberries, cranberries, papaya, peach, plum, raspberries, kiwi. Higher carb fruits include apple, blueberries, cherries, grapes, mango, pear, pineapple, pomegranate, banana, figs, prunes, dried fruit. Sweeteners: Use very small amounts of maple syrup, rice syrup, barley syrup, honey or stevia. Do NOT use sugar, NutraSweet, Sweet and Low, Splenda or Equal, never. Seeds and Nuts: Grind organic whole flax, pumpkin, sesame or sunflower seeds and add to steamed vegetables, cooked grains, smoothies, etc. Consume at least 1 T whole flax or 2 T ground flax per day to modulate inflammation and promote detoxification of harmful substances in the body. Nut and seed butters are allowed but peanut is absolutely forbidden. Butter/Oils: When cooking, do not use extra virgin olive oil. You may use oils such as coconut oil (especially for higher heat), rice bran oil, butter or ghee (clarified butter). We recommend you avoid canola oil at any temperature. Extra virgin olive oil is fine for any other situation requiring oil. Refrigerate all cooking oils. To Drink: Please consume a MINIMUM of 6 to 8 glasses of spring or reverse-osmosis water every day. We recommend you use different sources regularly. Small amounts of rice, oat or almond milk are allowed. For the time being, avoid the following foods: All wheat products (including breads, white flour) Tomatoes Potatoes Corn products Peanuts/peanut butter Any processed food Coffee Alcohol Colas Fried foods No Calorie Sweeteners, (NutraSweet, Sweet and Low, Equal) Use glass or ceramics whenever possible to store food and water. Heat up your food using a glass or ceramic bowl covered with dish. When plastic is heated, it diffuses very rapidly into food. Use a simple detergent with less chemicals; Nature Clean is a good choice for both laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent. Simple Soap is a safe choice for shampoo and body soap. Use natural pest control not pesticides. Avoid Synthetic Chemicals – Healthy Living in a Toxic World by Cynthia Fincher PhD. is a good place to start. Buy hormone free meats to eat. Buy “Organic” produce, produce grown without pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizer or hormones. Do not use microwaves. The very important changes to make are do NOT eat or drink out of HOT plastic. (ie: Water bottles left in the car, microwave your food in plastic)
