Health Tip

Our bodies function just like automobiles: we need oil, water and food to keep our 'engines' running smoothly and effectively.

Today's focus is FAT. Not all fats are villains; in fact, we need fat for good health.

We relate fat in our food to fat on our body, and that’s just not true.

As strange as it sounds, eating fat can actually aid weight loss. Not only that, one's memory and immune system will benefit from eating fat. It is an extremely bad idea to eliminate fat completely from the diet. "Good" fats are absolutely essential.

We need fats not only to keep our arteries healthy but also for prostaglandular activity. Prostaglandins are an important family of hormones that help control things like fertility, inflammation, immunity and communication between cells. That means, when fat is drastically cut from the diet or wrong fats are consumed, the body suffers.

Society took a wrong turn a few decades back, with popular diets extolling the benefits of eating fewer fats. The problem was that while many of the food products being hyped as healthy were lower in fat, they were made up of the worst kind of fats for our bodies: trans fats.

Did you know? It's possible to be skinny on the outside, but fat on the inside? Bad fat deposits that clog our arteries and get caked around our organs and under the skin is the result of poor fat intake. Fat percentage is more important than the reading on a scale. Paying adequate attention to the fat percentage will have a natural knock on effect on the scale reading.

More research shows that it isn’t low fat that is so important. Rather it is the TYPE of fat in our diet that is key to good health.

Functions of Fats:
*Fat insulates the body. A layer of fat under the skin prevents heat loss from the body.
*Fat protects the delicate organs such as the kidneys and nerves. A layer of fat surrounds them.
*Fats provide the body with heat and energy. This helps to keep the body at the correct temperature (37o C).
*Fat is a source of the fat-soluble vitamins.

If SATURATED AND UNSATURATED FATS are the good guys, then TRANS FATS are the villains.

GOOD FATS:
Saturated fats come from animal meat, dairy products, and tropical plants (such as coconut oil). They tend to be solid or semi-solid at room temperature, and are stable so they do not easily become rancid. Saturated fats like those in cheese, beef and chicken and milk should play smaller roles in our diet. Meat fats, like pork fat, lard and bacon, should be avoided, along with partially hydrogenated oils in things like margarines and snack foods. Old oils of any kind are also bad for you.

Unsaturated Fats originate mainly from a vegetable and fish source and are divided into 2 groups: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. They differ in make up; the former having one double carbon bond, while the former consists of two or more double carbon bonds. Bascially, they are liquid at room temperature. They include corn oil, fish oil, flaxseed oil, hemp oil, pumpkin seed oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil.
Polyunsaturated fats are further divided into two types: omega-6 and omega-3 oils. Since the Western diet supplies plenty of omega-6, it’s usually not necessary to supplement those Omega-3 essential fatty acids derived from fish, fish oil, and nuts and seeds are often left out and lack in most diets. Supplementing the diet with omega-3 will help create the necessary healthy balance of these two essential fatty acids. High-quality fish oil supplements, wild Alaskan salmon, minimal-mercury tuna, organic flax meal, and sprouted nuts and seeds are some healthy sources.

BAD FATS:
Trans Fats are produced when vegetable oils are heated under pressure with hydrogen and a catalyst, in a process called hydrogenation. Therefore, these fats are often referred to as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

We need to do a little detective work while choosing to purchase products from our local grocery stores. The easiest way to tell if a product has trans fat is to look for the words "hydrogenated oils" or "partially hydrogenated oils" on the label. Heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen produces hydrogenated oils. It makes fat more stable, which helps in the preparation of processed foods, but it’s not something our body particularly likes. Unfortunately, it is often an ingredient in things we like to eat — crackers, cookies, potato chips, French fries, margarine — and contributes to the heart disease and obesity that is sweeping the globe.

In the past few decades, many food manufacturers have added trans fats into processed foods to prolong their shelf life, and to replace the regular saturated fat that has wrongfully gotten a bad rap, thus making their products appear more healthy. Trans fats are commonly found in processed foods including commercially baked goods, icing, margarine, “snack” foods (potato chips, cookies, crackers, microwave popcorn), and fried foods like french fries and fried chicken.

We should aim to get between 25 percent to 35 percent of our calories from fat. Of that, less than seven percent should come from saturated fat. That would be fats from meat and dairy origin. Less than one percent should come from trans fats, and that would be primarily from partially hydrogenated fats and a little bit from animal fat. And then the rest should really come from mono and poly unsaturated fats. And that would come from liquid vegetable oil.

MOVING FORWARD:
*Forget yesterday's mistakes. Today is a new chance for a fresh start.
*Resolve to change your outlook on fat. Fat can be fantastic!
*Focus on reducing saturated fats and eliminating transfats from the diet.
*Be smart when preparing and choosing food:
grill rather than fry
use vegetable oil instead of hard fats for frying
remove visible fat from meat
look for hidden fats in the diet e.g. pastries and crisps
use low fat milk, cheese, yoghurt and mayonnaise
*Include a daily dose of Omega 3. A tablespoon of organic flaxseed / linseed oil is ideal. Olive oil, cold-water fish, walnut oil, wheat germ oil and flax/linseed capsules are other options.

Next tip focus: Water