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which fats/oils are the best for your health or cooking?

27/9/2016

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In the 1970s-80s we had the "low/no fat" scare campaign, because all dietary fat was apparently evil, as what fat we ate became the fat that we put on... which is a total lie! Because of this scare marketing, almost all homes and restaurants changed from using lard or animal fats (ie, saturated fat) for frying or cooking, and replacing with "cheaper" and "healthier" vegetable oils, or more correctly called seed oils. What the seed oil companies didn't tell the restaurants or home cooks was that the seed oils went rancid quicker and didn't last as long, which meant that you had to buy them more often! While seed oils were initially cheaper, buying them more frequently meant it actually cost you MORE money, and made the seed oil companies MORE profits!
 
Many plant-based oils can be very good for you, such as olive oil, coconut oil, and others. But again like some other foods on this list, the devil is in the details... Many of these same plant-based oils can be incredibly damaging to your health in certain circumstances.
 
Oils and fats do not contain just one type of fat - they are mixture of several different types, as shown in the picture below.

  A definition of the different types of fats and oils is needed here:
- A monounsaturated fat has one (ie, mono) double bond in its chemical structure
- A polyunsaturated fat has two or more (ie, poly) double bonds in its chemical structure
- A saturated fat has no double bonds
- Double bonds make the oil or fat more liquid but less stable, or in other words, more unstable in the presence of oxygen or heat
- By definition and having more double bonds, polyunsaturated fats are the most unstable and tend to oxidise very quickly when exposed to heat, or even at room temperature
- Oxidised fats and oils become rancid very quickly, being very sticky and having a "not right" smell
- Oxidised fats and oils are very inflammatory to your body
- Oxidised fats in your blood is what causes atherosclerotic plaques in the walls of your blood vessels and increases your risk of heart disease or heart attacks
- Saturated fats are stable in the presence of oxygen, tend to be more solid at room temperature (ie, lard, butter and coconut oil), and are much more stable when heated or exposed to oxygen
- The "smoke point" of an oil is irrelevant as to whether it is a healthy oil or not!
 
One of the worst things you can do with some oils or fats is to HEAT them! This exposes them to more oxygen, breaks the unstable double bonds and turns the oil into an oxidised, rancid and inflammatory oil. As you can see from the figure above, the oils to absolutely avoid for cooking are the polyunsaturated seed oils - those with a higher % of blue or orange shown in the figure above. Amazingly enough, this includes many oils which we are told in their marketing (aka "lies") are "healthy" for you - canola, sunflower and soybean oil and others!
 
Do NOT use polyunsaturated seed oils for cooking! Especially not canola, safflower, sunflower or olive oils. In fact, with the exception of flaxseed oil, all of your polyunsaturated oils should be thrown away as they are already likely to be rancid and oxidised and causing you adverse health effects.
 
Monounsaturated oils are not that much better - they will still oxidise and become rancid when heated or exposed to oxygen. So these oils having a high % of yellow in the picture, should NOT be heated either. With the exception of olive oil and perhaps flaxseed oil (which is only kept in the fridge - because it oxidises far too quickly), all the other monounsaturated oils should be thrown away.
 
Saturated fats on the other hand are stable when heated (as they have no weak double bonds) and do not oxidise as quickly as the other types of oils. Hence ONLY saturated fats should be used for cooking! This means butter and coconut oil. Lard is ok, but has a high polyunsaturated fat % which can oxidise to be rancid.
 
For making dressings on your salads or vegetables, use olive oil or flaxseed oil. Flaxseed oil can be very healthy as it has a very high % of a plant-based omega-3 oil, which is an anti-inflammatory oil. But this oil is VERY unstable to heat and oxygen, must be kept in the refrigerator and used quickly. Olive oil is very healthy (preferably organic and extra virgin) but for dressings only!

I hope this explains which oils are good for you and why, and which to only use for cooking!

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Are Nutritionists the same as DIETITIANS?!

24/9/2016

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Dietitians and Nutritionists are not the same! We aren't even in the same century, or even in the same galaxy, when it comes to giving the same advice on food and nutrition for your health!

Nutrition is becoming more of a topic of interest in reality TV shows, people wanting to cook their own great meals or to have dinner parties, or for those who want to improve their health. But there is a lot of misinformation about what foods are healthy or not. Which side should you believe?

Dietitians are registered with the Dietitians Association of Australia, who "control" how the Dietitians can practice or what advice they are allowed to give. Dietitians who step outside the DAA guidelines, such as recommending a low processed carbohydrate diet for diabetes (which is actually ideal) are de-registered and kicked out of the association as seen in one case in 2014: http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2015/10/jennifer-elliott-vs-dietitians-association-of-australia/

The DAA have claimed on their Facebook page on 23-9-2016 that they are "the only nutrition professionals recognised by the Australian government, Medicare and the National Disability Insurance Scheme". Recognised for what? The Australian Government recognises Nutritionists and Naturopaths too, our courses are government approved, and health funds recognise us enough to offer you rebates on our consultations! At this stage, yes, Medicare only recognise Dietitians for bulk billing of consultation fees, because Dietitians are in bed with the medical profession and the Australian government and have been for a long time. Due to their lobbying, they are trying to keep this situation the same.

Dietitians, through the DAA, are also in bed with food and supermarket corporations and various food industry groups too. Such corporations "sponsor" the DAA with funding, in much the same way as corporations and industries sponsor the government - for favourable decisions and profits. The DAA show some of their sponsors on their website for all to see - Campbells, Arnotts, Nestle, McDonalds and many more. These are hardly health food companies! This is a major conflict of interest or bias at its worst. See some of the corporate sponsors in the picture for an idea how bad the DAA has been penetrated...

As a result of this corporate sponsorship, the DAA advice is still the same old "low fat", "low calorie", "food pyramid", and "everyone is the same" approach which they have been spewing forth for about 60 years - AND IT'S NOT WORKING! As a nation, we are getting unhealthier as a result, with higher rates of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and many other chronic health conditions - all affected by poor nutrition advice from the government, the DAA and dietitians.

Nutritionists and Naturopaths (like me!) on the other hand are independent health professionals, not controlled by any association or dictated to as to how they can practice or provide treatments. These modalities are very much evidence-based on current scientific research, and are personalised to the individual client, as everyone is different!

Our general advice is that your foods need to be unprocessed, whole and fresh, and without being exposed to toxic chemicals. We are also far more than advisors on your food choices, but holistic health practitioners who are trained and educated on improving your lifestyle, sleep, stresses, digestive system, immune system, and many other areas, and able to treat all manner of health conditions. Sometimes we can recommend certain pathology tests and supplements to give your body a boost when needed. We work with many other medical practitioners and allied health professionals too!

For the best health of your family and friends, ignore the biased and corporate sponsored food and nutrition marketing from the government and it's associated bodies. Trust the government?! No way! Get your nutrition and health advice from an experienced and independent health professional, who is more interested in improving your health than keeping the corporate sponsors happy.

Good health to you!

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is fruit as bad as sugar for your health?

22/9/2016

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We hear frequently that processed sugar is bad for us, causing everything from acne to weight gain! The truth is that sugar is a lot worse than that! It can also cause diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, cancer and many other chronic health conditions.

Does this also apply to the sugar found in fruit? Lets find out!

The fruit sugar is called fructose, which is different to the glucose found in vegetables. These different types of sugars are absorbed and used differently i...n the body. The good news is that the fibre in fresh and whole fruit slows down the absorption of fructose! So it would be hard to overdose on fresh whole fruit! Although this may not be ideal to do if you have diabetes, cancer or heart disease.

Fresh, whole fruit provides an abundance of vitamins, minerals, fibre, antioxidants, and many phytonutrients to improve your health. The best fruits are those that are organic, in season, and locally grown - for the highest nutrient content.

In small amounts, up to 60% of fructose is converted to glucose to be used for energy by the body's cells, and any excess is stored as fat. However in concentrated forms of fructose like dried fruit, soft drinks, fruit juices, and corn syrup, honey, maple and agave syrups, fructose is converted by the liver directly into fat.

High intakes of concentrated fructose has been shown in research to increase blood sugar and cholesterol more than other types of sugars, causing weight gain, fatty liver, and inflammation of the blood vessels, leading to diabetes and heart disease and many other health conditions.

For your future health and prevention of health conditions, stick to fresh whole fruit regularly in your diet, but avoid the concentrated forms of fructose as these will make your health worse.

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Is medicinal cannabis beneficial to your health?

20/9/2016

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There has been much debate and many internet memes or posts in recent times on the benefits of cannabis for your health as well as for the environment. I'd like to look at some of the facts...

The natural hemp plant (Cannabis sativa) (which is NOT psychoactive and not the same as the highly hybridised plant variety used as a recreational or medicinal drug) is a fast-growing and renewable resource, which can be farmed and used for making foods, clothes, material, toilet paper, plastic substitutes (and non-petroleum based as plastics are), bio-fuel, oil, and many other products. Hemp can produce 2-4 times the amount of paper per acre as trees, in a few weeks and without the huge amount of pesticides and herbicides used for cotton. It's obvious for many reasons that this plant should be used as a sustainable and very useful crop!

There are 2 key compounds found in cannabis:
1) THC - the psychoactive component which causes the "high" or hallucinogenic effects in the recreational drug, but which can lead to psychosis and mental health conditions
2) CBD - "cannabindiol" is just one of 60+ non-psychoactive medicinal components which can help with many health issues such as epilepsy, autism, cancer, chronic pain, and more. CBD can actually reduce the euphoric effects of THC.

Industrial hemp is very low in THC but higher in CBD. Marijuana for drug use is much higher in THC but very low in CBD. Yet the government and police see hemp, marijuana and medicinal cannabis as all the same thing and you can be charged, fined or jailed for possession...

The recent debate over using cannabis or cannabis oil for health conditions has caused a lot of confusion. Victoria has recently approved the use of medicinal cannabis for patients in "exceptional circumstances" from early 2017. Queensland is undertaking clinical trials at present for medicinal cannabis. NSW has approved the use of medicinal cannabis for "compassionate use" to adults with a terminal illness, although this may change to non-terminal patients. Hence it appears that the states are not talking to each other and all developing different schemes...

There are a couple of issues with cannabis:
1) for the medicinal benefits, you need the specific medicinal cannabis, such as the cannabis oil, NOT the typical marijuana or pot you may know of
2) smoking marijuana does not give the medicinal benefits safely - it's still smoking and harming your lungs and getting more of the euphoric THC and less of the beneficial CBD components
3) here's the kicker - while the governments appear to be doing the right thing for the public on this issue, they aren't telling you that the medicinal cannabis being trialled or approved for use is the SYNTHETIC version...

Synthetic cannabis, just like all synthetic prescription drugs, will never be as beneficial as the real thing, and can (and has) been shown to actually make your health worse... Research has shown synthetic CBD can cause high blood pressure and heart attacks, higher levels of psychosis (ie, schizophrenia) and mental health conditions than even THC causes, anxiety and panic attacks, seizures, reduced memory and cognition, and many other adverse effects.

Unfortunately, the government and medical authorities will appear to be doing the right thing, but actually making the situation and your health worse if you choose to use the legal medicinal cannabis. Why can't they just do the right things and it would be so much easier and better for everyone who needs this to improve their health?!

At present, there are no legally available medicinal cannabis products available in Australia. But there are many available, but this needs to be the medicinal grade, not your average marijuana! And don't ask me where to get it from...

I guess that's the lesson for today - look into the details of everything, and don't trust the government or medical authorities when it comes to your health and wellbeing.

I wish you the best in health.
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The FDA bans antibacterial soaps, but is it enough?

9/9/2016

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The USA's governing body for health and medical products, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in the last week that antibacterial hygiene products will not longer be allowed, because of safety issues to your health. The risks of these antibacterial products outweighs any benefits.

Antibacterial products (including liquid, gel and bar soaps, and body washes) containing triclosan and triclocarban and some other chemicals, have not been shown by their manufacturers to be any more effective than ordinary soaps in the prevention or spreading of illnesses or infections. The FDA advise that ordinary soap and washing products are good enough!

The FDA ruling does not go far enough - it only applies to soaps used with water, but not hand sanitisers or wipes, or the many other uses of these products.

There are many other facts about triclosan which can affect your health and the environment, most of which were not mentioned in the FDA press release, but are far more serious than they make out:
  • Research shows triclosan can cause antibiotic resistant bacteria, and reduce the effectiveness of antibiotic medications
  • Triclosan is also used as a pesticide in farming, added to clothing, kitchenware, plastics, carpets, furniture and toys
  • Your skin is covered with bacteria all the time, with most of them actually being beneficial to you as they can prevent infections by bad bacteria. By killing off these bacteria with antibacterial washes, you can open your skin to infections
  • Triclosan gets into the environment and has antibacterial effects on animals, the soil and waterways
  • Triclosan can alter the effect that your hormones work in your body. Anything that does this is dangerous for your health
  • Triclosan is also found in toothpastes, mouthwashes, hair products and cosmetics
  • Triclosan has been known to irritate the skin
  • Triclosan impairs muscle function, including being linked to heart disease and heart failure
  • Triclosan used can lead to liver problems,and even depression
  • And lastly, it is suspected that triclosan can cause cancer - that sunlight can transform triclosan into carcinogenic dioxin.
I encourage you to look at all of the types of products mentioned above which you might have at home and work, and if you see triclosan or triclocarban in their ingredients, that you throw them away, and replace with alternative products. There are some much safer and healthier products in your local health store.

For the health and safety of your family, friends, animals and the environment, please share this article to spread this message!

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    COPYRIGHT

    All articles here are Copyright (c) to Ross Walter Nutritionist & Naturopath (2015-2022). You are welcome to share these articles in your personal or business marketing, in full and referencing this website.
    If you wish to have specific health articles written for your business, please ask via email to ross@rosswalter.com.au  

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