Why You Don’t Need to Be Afraid of Eating Fats
Aug 15, 2021
I have been studying the topic of fats and their role in nutrition for over 15 years. My interest began after my dad died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 62. When it comes to putting the best quality foods in our bodies I try and stay on the leading edge.
The low-fat era
A lot of my patients who are over the age of 50 may have grown up in an era where fats were demonized, especially saturated fats. The debate around saturated fats and its role in heart disease began in the 60s. This debate continues today, even amongst cardiologists.
Fats and your heart
There are many specialists who believe that the inflammatory trigger for coronary artery disease starts with excess blood sugar due to the over consumption of carbohydrates and sugar. You must remember that approximately 80% of the cholesterol that’s circulating in your blood right now is produced by your body and only 20% is from your diet.
Many cardiologists are now more concerned with low HDL (the “good”) cholesterol and this is one of the markers for metabolic syndrome which I wrote about previously here.
Research in the last few years has shown that you can reduce LDL cholesterol through carbohydrate and sugar reduction. So this means that most people can safely consume certain amounts of saturated fats without it negatively affecting your blood chemistry long-term.
Not all fats are created equally
We also have to look very closely at the types of plant-based fats that we use in our diet (spoiler alert - not all plant-based fats are healthy). Almost all of the processed foods that you find in stores use the cheapest and most shelf-stable types of fats available. Some of these are chemically manipulated so they can last longer on the shelves.
My question to you is would you rather eat small amounts of saturated fats that your body knows how to process, or would you rather a “Frankenstein food” that has been chemically altered? For our family, we will choose certain types of saturated fats that I know my body can process effectively versus some type of processed oil that has been manufactured and sometimes chemically altered.
Recent research has also shown the benefits of adding certain types of fats to your diet and in next weeks blog I will show you what these fats are and some of my favourites that we use routinely in our house.
Take action
In the meantime, start reading labels and try and minimize the “industrial seed oils” such as canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil and sunflower oil.
The first step is always creating awareness by paying attention to what you are buying at the grocery store. Take the extra second and start reading labels and remember that the least amount of process oils you consume is the thing that is going to be the best for your body.
Good luck and stay tuned next time where I show you some of my favourite healthy fats!