by Tan Li-Anne
Published in Vaidurya Magazine in 2006
It's not necessarily how much fat you're eating, its the quality of fat you put in your body that's important!
More than ever before, low fat or no fat products are ever more prevalent in our supermarkets. People are concerned about how much fat they eat the types of fat they eatóless lard more vegetable oils. They are also considering the differences between butter and margarine, full cream milk and skim milk.
But is all fat bad? And are we eating too much or too little of fat?
That depends on how up-to-date you are with the latest scientific research. Depending on whether youíre adhering to information and misinformation on fats from the 80s, 90s or looking at current research, conflicting stories can emerge.
Separating the misinformation and fact can be difficult but here is a low down on fats based on the latest research:
Myth 1 Consuming Low fat food means you will lose weight
New Finding 1 Even if you cut down on dietary fat, your body produces fat from other food sources like carbohydrates. ìMost of the fat in our bodies and in the food that we eat is in the form of triglycerides...elevated triglycerides in the blood have been linked to proneness to heart disease, but these triglycerides do not come directly from dietary fats; they are made in the liver from any excess sugars that have not been used for energy. The source of these excess sugars is any food containing carbohydrate, particularly refined sugar and white flour,î says University of Maryland research, according to biochemist and nutritionist Dr Mary Enig, one of the worldís foremost experts on fat, in an article ìthe Skinny on Fatî co-written with Sally Fallon.
Myth 2 Cutting down on saturated fats from animal and dairy products and cholesterol leads to improved health.
New Finding 2 American statistics prove this myth otherwise. From 1910 to 1970 consumption of traditional animal fats fell a range of 62% to 83%. Butter use fell from 18 pounds to 4 pounds per person and Americans only increased their cholesterol intake by 1%, yet by the 1950s heart attack were still on the increase
And several other studies published in credible journals bear this out. To just give a few examples:
A multi-year British study published in the prestigious medical journal the Lancet in 1983 showed those on a supposedly ìhealthyî diet had 100% more deaths than those with ìunhealthyî diets. In this study, several thousand men were divided into two groups. Half were asked to eat less saturated fats and cholesterol and have more unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils and margarine. Yet it was this group that had more deaths than the control group that even continued to smoke!
Another study funded by the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute with 12,000 men showed almost similar results. Those who ate less saturated fats and cholesterol and smoked less had a very slight decrease in heart disease but death rates increased for other causes such as cancer, brain hemorrhage, suicide and violent death.
Myth 3 All fats are the same and they are all bad.
New Finding 3 Harvard schools of public health reports that reams of research ìshows that the total amount of fat in the diet, whether high or low, isn't really linked with disease. What really matters is the type of fat in the diet. Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial showed that eating a low-fat diet for 8 years did not prevent heart disease, breast cancer, or colon cancer, and didn't do much for weight loss, either.
All fats are not created equal advises the Harvard school of public health. Some good fats are so necessary that they seriously compromise our health and growth if they are cut out from our diet. These are the essential fatty acids cannot be manufactured in our bodies but can obtained in large doses from certain grains, seaweed and fish.
So just how do we separate the good from bad fat? Most of the bad fats come from processed foodsóand from many modern methods of processing fats and oils. As for the good fats, youíll find them in specific foods rich in essential fatty acids that have been through as little processing as possible.
Trans Fat: The Really Ugly Fat
Itís banned in Denmark and there are legislative proposals to ban it in Canada. Itís totally man-made and lurking everywhere in your snack foods, chips, chocolate bars, cookies pastries fried chicken and other fast foods and even in your margarine. It may even be served to you in your favourite restaurant.
Although touted from 50's as a healthier vegetable oil, trans fats from, partially or fully hydrogenated fats are now getting bad rap. Because of previous lack of research the food manufacturing industry could hype these vegetable based oils as the healthier alternatives to saturated animal fats or high cholesterol tropical oils such as coconut or palm oils. Much of this misinformation is still repeated by consumer groups and health advisories. However reputable and independent research studies now tell a different story. These supposedly ìhealthyí vegetable oils can wreak more havoc on your health.
ìIt's important to understand that trans fats and saturated fats are completely different from one another and actually have opposite effects on health. The food industry's latest trick is to imply that both are "bad" and should be avoided. This is a very dangerous deception, given that the fats in fresh meats and dairy foods are important nutritionally, they lower the most significant risk factors for heart disease Ö and they reduce the risk for inflammatory related disorders such as asthma and arthritis. The only fats we truly need to be worried about are the oils made into margarine and shortening and used for deep-frying. These are added fats, they are not part of any natural food, and they are the only fats ever linked to any disease,î explains research Thomas Anderson Ph.D.
Trans fats have been linked to a whole host of health problems. Here are just a few examples:
•Increases bad cholesterol (also known as LDL or Low-Density Lipo-proteins) while lowering our good cholesterol (HDL or High-Density Lipo-proteins) levels.
US National Institute of health reviewing data on the effects of Trans fat on cholesterol found that most research pointed to the increase of bad cholesterol. This leads to the heart disease and high blood pressure.
•Promotes heart disease, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke;
Apart from British research mentioned early in this article, another Harvard researcher, Dr. Walter Willett's studied 85,000 nurses, as well as other prospective studies. These showed that those people who consumed the most Trans fats had the most heart disease.
•Predisposes people to cancer and obesity.
Other Preliminary research by Dr. Willett's group shows that those individuals who developed breast and prostate cancer had higher intakes of trans fats.
•Increases the chances of getting Type II diabetes
In the 80ís Harvard University followed 84,204 women aged 34-59 that were free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer. Fourteen years later 2,507 of them developed type 2 diabetes. This study found that the most damaging fat was trans fató a 2% increase in trans fat led to 39% increase in risk of Diabetes Type II. Intake of saturated fat or monounsaturated fat could not be related to any significant incidence. However to reduce the risk by 37%, all it needs is a 5% increase in polyunsaturated fat.
•Inhibits the absorption of essential fats such as omega 3 and 6 fats. The body cannot tell the difference between trans fats and these essential fats. Will affect metabolism and brain function.
•when consumed by pregnant women, introduce themselves into the tissues of unborn babies and reduce their birth weight.
German, Canadian and Hong Kong studies found that trans fats led to low birth weight in babies and depresses mild fat production in nursing mothers. The nutrients found in motherís milk contained less essential fats needed for the proper development of foetal and infant tissues, especially brain and nervous system development. Omega-3s affect the brain in ability to learn, mood regulation and development of the visual system.
•Promotes the onset of Alzheimer's disease and accelerate mental decline among elderly people.
A 2003 study published in the Archives of Neurology followed 815 people above age 65 free of Alzheimerís disease. The top 80% of trans fat consumers had about four times the risk of developing Alzheimerís (after adjusting for the effects of other fats), than the 20 percent with the lowest trans fat consumption (about 1.8 grams of trans fat daily). One possibility could be the heavy metals contained in the trans fat. (See box on the trans fat manufacturing process), Other studies have found that those with Alzheimerís have a high level of toxic metals in their brain tissue.
Meat and dairy products also contain a minimal number of trans fats but Dr Enig asserts that trans fats from ruminant animals need to be distinguished from man-made trans fats. Naturally occurring trans fats are structured so that they can be metabolised in our body. But man made trans fats have misplaced hydrogen atoms that disrupts the natural chemical reactions of our cells. Our cells actually become warped and hydrogenated!
So just what levels of trans fats are safe? Just for your perspective, depending on what you eat some nutritionists have calculated that trans fat in a large packet of fries can contain as much as 8g of trans fat. The US
National Academy of Sciences in 2002 recommended that dietary intake of trans fatty acids should be eliminated. The World Health Organization (WHO) is more conservative and advises that trans fat should contribute less than 1% of daily energy intake. If you typical have a 2000kcal diet, this means we should consume no more than 2g of trans fats daily.
Are you Keeping Happy and Healthy with Enough Good Fat?
If youíve been monitoring and cutting down your fat intake like a nazi as a form of weight control think again. You might be depriving yourself of some essential fats to your body.
Low fat or not fat isnít necessarily a good thing, if youíre short of essential fats in your body say the nutritionists. And even if youíre loading up on the fried food you may not be eating enough of the right type of fats.
What are essential fats or essential fatty acids? These are fats that are truly essential to the bodyís function yet these fats cannot be manufactured in our bodies but can only be obtained through the food we eat.
These essential fats are the omega-3s and the omega-6s.
And while many of us are getting some of our omega-6s from sources such as various nuts grains and vegetable oils. Nutritionists such as Patrick Holford and scientists such as Dr Enig say because of modern diets, many of us are short of omega-3
But experts like Dr Enig warn that this has to be eaten and balanced off with that other essential fat omega-6. Too much omega 6 in our diet can cancel out the effectiveness of Omega-3s actions because they act to counter each other.
Just what will Omega 3s do for you?
Briefly, not only are they necessary for health they are mood enhancing and ironically helps to regulate your weight and metabolism.
In more detail here is what omega-3s do:
* Reduce inflammation throughout your body
* Thin your blood and keeps it from clotting excessively
* Maintains the resilience in the walls of all your cells
* lower fats such as cholesterol and triglycerides circulating in the bloodstream
* decrease platelet aggregation, preventing excessive blood clotting
* improves heart health by inhibiting thickening of the arteries and causes arteries to relax and dilate
* reduces obesity helps regulate food intake, body weight and metabolism
* supports type II diabetics in
WholeHeathMD reports that ìScientists made one of the first associations between omega-3s and human health while studying the Inuit (Eskimo) people of Greenland in the 1970s. As a group, the Inuit suffered far less from certain diseases (coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, psoriasis) than their European counterparts. Yet their diet was very high in fat from eating whale, seal, and salmon. Eventually researchers realised that these foods were all rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which provided real disease-countering benefits.î
Psychology Today in 1996 reported and increased risk on depression when there was an omega-3 deficiency. Omega 3s are rich in oily fish, walnuts flaxseeds and some vegetable. ìBritish scientists gave a group of patients with stubborn depression a daily dose of EPA. After three months, over two thirds of the group reported a 50% reduction in their symptoms - particularly feelings of sadness and pessimism, inability to work, sleeplessness and low libido. All of the patients had previously tried other medications, including Prozac, and other antidepressants.î These results were published in the Archives of General Psychiatry it adds.
Although most experts cannot agree on how much omega-3s to take in proportion to Omega-6s. Dr Enig an acknowledged expert in nutritional oils suggests that the proportion needs to be 1:1.
How much omega-3s should you be having daily? Although experts vary in opinion, the range for a healthy amount lies between 2-4 grams per day and should be taken in consideration so the proportion of omega-6s you are eating.
Adding fatty fish such as salmon, cod and mackerel to your diet about twice a week will improve your omega-3 intake. If you are vegetarian you may turn to freshly ground flaxseed or cold pressed flaxseed oils for a good source of this fat.
Although Omega-3s are highly recommended for those with diabetes, heart conditions, lupus, attention disorders, hypertension, cancer and a while host of health conditions The George Mateljan Foundation, a nutritional foundation warns that those who hemorrhage or bruise easily should consult physician before increasing their intake of omega-3s, because of its blood thinning qualities.
For more on these essential fats log on to : www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats.html
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