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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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Is the paleo diet all it's cracked up to be?

24/12/2015

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The Paleo diet seems to be all the rage these days, if you watch or hear the media. So is it really that good?! Or is it unhealthy, as some health and media commentators suggest?

Firstly, paleo is a really bad name for this "lifestyle". It is NOT a diet! It is a way of life, a lifestyle. Diets are too hard to stick to, restrictive in nutrients, very unhealthy, and the body will adapt and change to the lack of nutrients and actually start putting ON weight! But that's another topic...

Critics of the paleo lifestyle get carried away with the name, saying that our paleolithic ancestors were lucky if they lived for 30 years, and this shows that paleo is useless and just another dangerous fad diet.

So what really is paleo all about? The main ideas behind this lifestyle are:
1) Eat organic foods (uncontaminated by toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers etc)
2) Buy or get foods locally, fresh from your own garden, or farmers markets - so you know they have not been in storage for 2 years or lacking in nutrients, and don't have a high "carbon footprint" by needing to be transported long distances
3) Eat seasonal foods - they are cheaper and fresher, again not likely to have been in storage
4) your money goes direct to farmers, not a pitiful percentage that the supermarkets pay them
5) sustainable production of foods.


That all sounds good right?! Yes!

What is confusing is that there's no one paleo diet either! There are many variations on this theme. The is also a misconception that paleo is high in protein (ie, meat), or low in carbs - which is also incorrect. Generally, however, what is true is that the foods allowed in this lifestyle include:
1) grass-fed meats
2) organic and fresh vegetables and fruits

3) eggs
4) nuts and seeds (except peanuts which are actually a legume!)
5) healthy fats and oils.


This is a "whole food" lifestyle!


Foods that are not recommended include the following:

1) grain-fed meats
2) whole grains and any grain products (breakfast cereals, breads, bakery products, pasta etc)
3) legumes (beans, lentils, soy, peanuts)
4) dairy products
5) sugar 
6) potatoes
7) processed foods (and packaged foods)
8) refined vegetable oils (canola, margarine, and other nut/seed-based oils).


There are no set rules about this lifestyle, as it is flexible, and you can occasionally have other foods without feeling guilty about it! Critics of the paleo lifestyle (ie dietitians in particular) jump up and down that you can't remove a whole food group (such as grains) from their unhealthy, corrupt and industry-funded food pyramid model! With paleo, you don't miss out on any nutrients, as the lifestyle allows for substitution of common foods with healthier alternatives, such as nut milks instead of dairy, and healthier nuts and seeds instead of grains. There's nothing in grains that you can't get from other foods or food groups! Actually I don't necessarily recommend cutting all grains as some are better than others. It's mainly wheat and corn that I recommend avoiding.

There are very good reasons why paleo is a good nutrition lifestyle to follow, but it does depend on which variation you look at. Paleo can improve your health, help you to lose weight and reduce various symptoms that you may be experiencing.

The reasons for the exclusion of certain foods will take too long to explain but some are found in my blogs or articles here. More information on the paleo lifestyle will be coming in early 2016 as I am putting together a paleo seminar and workshop where you can find out more! Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about the paleo lifestyle in my upcoming seminar or workshop!

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healthy fats do not make you fat!

28/11/2015

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For decades we have been informed from health advocates, governments, doctors, dietitians and the like, that low fat diets are healthy. It may seem to make sense on some level that if we don't eat foods with fat, then we won't actually get fat! Unfortunately more recent scientific research does not agree with this idea.

Firstly, our bodies break down our food into the smallest particles in order to be absorbed through our digestive system, and into our body. Then those particles are rearranged, packaged and delivered to cells to be used for many purposes. Fats and oils from our foods will get used in many ways:
  1. To absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, & K
  2. To make hormones and neurotransmitters
  3. To make the cell walls for every new cell - we make 100's of millions each day!
  4. For fuel for cellular activities and functions
  5. To produce energy and enable us to do things during the day
  6. For weight loss!
  7. For proper functioning of nerves and the brain
  8. To maintain healthy skin and membranes
  9. And many other uses!
Fat storage from fats we eat is the last option, if it gets there at all! Coconut oil, for example, will get used for energy, and will not contribute to body fat at all!

Secondly, there are some fats we MUST eat regularly, as they are called "essential fatty acids", or just "essential fats". These are omega-3 and omega-6 fats - and they are essential because our bodies cannot make them! We need to eat these fats in our diet! Good sources of omega-3 fats include fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, trout, sardines etc, with the skin on!), raw nuts and seeds, eggs, avocados and grass-fed meats (not grain-fed!). Good sources of omega-6 fats include some vegetable oils, raw nuts and seeds, butter, eggs, and dairy products.

Thirdly, the other issue with fats is which ones are safe and healthy to cook with. Without getting into too much chemistry, plant-based oils should never be used for cooking with! The only exception is coconut oil, which is a healthy saturated fat oil. The reason is that all other plant-based oils contain mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated oil, but when these are heated, they change their fragile structure and become oxidised, full of health-damaging free-radicals and other toxic breakdown products such as aldehydes.

A recent experiment was performed in the UK where various cooking oils were heated to normal cooking temperatures to see what effect this had on the oils. The allegedly "healthy" sunflower and other vegetable oils produced aldehydes at levels more than 20 times the World Health Organisation's safe levels! Olive oil fared better, but it still isn't recommended for heating and cooking with. Butter and other animal fats were stable and the safest for cooking! Coconut oil is also stable when heated and is also recommended. The plant-based oils are ok as a dressing on foods only, or for massage! I recommend olive oil as being the healthiest for dressings on foods - mix it with various herbs and spices, and Balsamic or other vinegars for a tasty and healthy dressing!

While most fats can be healthy, the exception is trans-fat, which is found in fried foods, processed and packaged foods, and margarine. It is trans-fat, and oxidised vegetable oil (from heating and cooking), which causes inflammation in the body and this is a leading cause of all chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, weight gain and obesity, diabetes, infertility, and even cancer.

For your overall health, you need to eat the right fats and oils, and avoid the wrong ones!


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new Australian food star ratings - a joke!

11/10/2015

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The new health star rating system for Australian food products is a joke, or it would be funny if it weren't so serious!

The health stars are supposed to show you which foods are healthier - the more stars, with 5 being the maximum, the better... allegedly! The star rating is mainly based on the amounts of sugar, saturated fats, salt and fibre in foods.

The health star system was funded by the government, in partnership with the food industry (which would be a conflict of interest, like sugar manufacturers telling you that sugar is good because it's natural)... The doctor's association (AMA) was also involved, even though they have no training in nutrition or the effects of food on the body! And retailer associations were also involved in the system - why? what do they know about what's healthy or not?!

I agree that foods high in sugar are given  low rating, because sugar causes weight gain, diabetes, dental issues, and inflammation, which is the cause of most chronic health conditions including cancer. This is why a lot of popular breakfast cereals only got 1-2 out of 5 star ratings, because of their high sugar and salt content, such as Nutri-grain, frosties, fruit loops, and crunchy nut corn flakes and many more.

However, the most interesting ratings occur in foods with fats, with all-natural and healthy butter only receiving a 1/2-1-star rating, and highly processed, chemical-laden, inflammation-causing, trans-fat filled margarine getting a whopping 5-star rating! How is this possible? Apart from the industry bias already mentioned, it's because they are still using pre-1960s dodgy research that said saturated fat causes heart disease when what was actually found as the cause was trans-fat! Hence anyone who says that saturated fats should be avoided hasn't read the much more recent research (as I have) which says the opposite - that saturated fats reduce inflammation, reduce body fat, and protect the heart, amongst many other benefits! However the saturated fat found in meats depends on what the animal actually ate - grain-fed animals will have a high content of inflammatory omega-6 fats (which cause weight gain and heart disease), while grass-fed animals will be high in omega-3 fats, the same healthy fats found in fish!

My qualified recommendation is to ignore the new food star ratings, and certainly don't base your choice of options from this ridiculous system, as it doesn't accurately identify healthy foods from junk foods. Remember that the best and healthiest foods you eat do not actually have labels or star ratings - vegetables, fruits, grass-fed meats and healthy fats/oils such as olive oil (not for cooking), coconut oil and butter!

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The Facts on fats!

6/3/2015

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The message regarding which fats/oils in our diets are good or otherwise is still being incorrectly given by the media and often by those who really should be more informed of current scientific research - your doctors, dieticians and health standards organisations!

I can show this in just a couple of examples of recent research:

1) In a 2010 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition – A 5-23 year follow-up of 347,747 people, concluded that: “An intake of saturated fat was not associated with an increased risk of Coronary Heart Disease, stroke, or Cardio Vascular Disease”. (ie, Saturated fat does NOT cause heart disease)

2) In a very recent study in 2014 in the Annals of Internal Medicine – covered a review of 32 studies on 530,525 participants, concluded that: “the evidence does not support cardiovascular guidelines that encourage high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of saturated fats”. (ie, low consumption of saturated fat is NOT healthy, and a higher consumption of polyunsaturated fat (ie in vegetable oils) is also NOT healthy)

3) In a 2013 study published in the prestigious British Medical Journal – which was a review of many studies on saturated fat, concluded that:
- A reduction of saturated fat INCREASES cardiovascular disease,
- Saturated fat is actually cardioprotective (protects the heart!),
- Saturated fat reduces inflammation,
- In a study of different groups of people eating 90% fat, 90% protein or 90% carbs, the largest weight loss was in the fat-consuming group!
- Low fat diets cause insulin resistance (ie pre-diabetes), and unhealthy blood cholesterol levels, leading to increased heart disease.


So why are these studies (and many more that confirm this) completely the opposite of what the general public are being told? Basically poor science combined with great marketing, greed for money, or scientists wanting fame and fortune? Or maybe other reasons...

So what does actually cause heart disease, if it's not saturated fat? Many research studies have confirmed that the following are the main causes of heart disease:
1) trans fat - in processed foods, margarine and bakery products,
2) sugar, grains and other processed carbohydrates (which break down into sugar in the body),
3) certain fats and oils (mainly vegetable oils) which are used for cooking when they shouldn't be, as they become oxidised and turn rancid or toxic when heated,
4) environmental or other factors such as stress, inflammation, and more...


There are many things you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease, and I'd like to help, if you would like more information or assistance on this topic.

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    All articles here are Copyright (c) to Ross Walter Nutritionist & Naturopath (2015-2020). 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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