Before I get to the bad stuff – Fat is not bad…

Back in the day (say 1950’s), our parents were told that heart disease was caused by high cholesterol which was caused by increased saturated fats in our diets. Now, we know unquestionably that this is WRONG, but back then, the good old lards like beef tallow and duck fat that they used to cook with, were banished in replace of seed oils. These experts told us that if we replaced these old fats with low fat options (this is where the low fat food craze came into effects), we would lose weight and have more energy and most of all reduce our risk of heart disease.

The Truth about fats in our diet

The early trailblazers of heart disease had limited knowledge at the time.Dr Mercola has summarised this nicely on his website. That’s a quick way for you to understand the low down on our history and why Statins are not the answer. In fact Statin medications are a far more dangerous drug then having a high fat diet.
And here another great site summarising the story in particular with regards to weight loss.

Oils (fats) are an essential part of your healthy balanced diet. Without these fats, we cannot survive. Dietary fats and oils are the most concentrated form of energy, containing vital essential fatty acids that act as carriers for fat soluble vitamins and hormones. This is why it’s vital for children to have good fats in the diet not LOW fat crap.

Your body is actually very good at making it’s own fat from your excess muffin tops (if you have them). Mostly we get our fats from foods… some found in plants (monounsaturated fats) and others found in animals (saturated and polyunsaturated).

Healthy vs Bad Fats

Now whilst fats are important, it’s also important to choose the healthier versions over the not so healthy versions. Whilst we have understood over the last decade or two that fats are not necessarily the reason for CVD, it does still contribute to these diseases in combination with a high sugar diet. So I’m not advocating a High Trans Fat diet or lifestyle. On the contrary, I am by no means endorsing the Low Fat diet and convenience lining the supermarket shelves. It’s about the right quantity and quality of the fat….
Too many of us have bought into the marketing ploy that vegetable oils are good for us. The truth is these vegetable and seed oils are anything but healthy. This study is one of many others concluding that a lower ratio of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of many of the chronic diseases of high prevalence in Western societies, as well as in the developing countries.

Good Fats are great for you, such as;

• Avocado,
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil,
• Coconuts & Coconut Oil,
• Macadamia Oil and
• Organic / Grass fed Butter.

Many companies however blend Sunflower or Canola oil into products. And while this process is cheaper for them, it comes at a serious cost the health of us consumers.

David Gillespie, author of “Toxic Oil” states;

“A seed oil is something like canola oil, sunflower, grapeseed or rice bran oil – these are the oils that we should avoid and the reason we should avoid them is they’re very high in a type of fat called omega 6 which was extremely rare in our diets prior to about 1920 and the reason that we’re consuming vast quantities of these oils now is because they’re cheap. It is very much cheaper to make an oil or a fat out of applying an industrial process to a waste products like seeds than it is to raising and slaughtering an animal to get its fat which is what we did as humans for millenia prior to about 1920.


The problem with these fats is that our bodies can’t tell the difference. Our body sees a fat – it’s a fat, it treats it exactly the same way as any other fat. What our body does with fat is it incorporates it into our cell membranes.


Every cell in our body is constructed from cell membranes which consist largely of saturated and mono-unsaturated fat in normal conditions, animal fats, we’re animals, we make animal fat. When we start to replace those fats in our diets with fats that have been manufactured from seeds, we significantly increase the amount of these harmful omega 6 fats that get incorporated into our cell membranes.


Now the reason that’s a problem is that these fats oxidise, they are very prone to oxidation and oxidation leads inevitably down a pathway to cancer and heart disease. That’s not just me saying that, there’s well established evidence that says that. If we incorporate something into every cell in our body which oxidises more easily then we are putting ourselves on an inevitable pathway to cancer and heart disease, which is why we are seeing both of those things reach epidemic proportions only since we’ve introduced these fats into our diet in significant quantities.”

So, the high consumption of toxic seed oils pushes our omega 6 to omega 3 ratio 25% higher than it should be. This elevated omega 6 intake is linked to an increase in all inflammatory disease (basically every illness in human society). The optimal dose or ratio of omega-6/omega-3 varies from 1/1 to 4/1 depending on the disease under consideration.

High Omega 6 oil can also affect damage the cells in our pancreas impacting our blood sugar levels, impact your metabolism, impair digestion and over burden your liver.

Where are Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils in our diets?

The highest forms of Omega 3 fatty acids are (Good for us):
1. Flaxseed oil
2. Fish Oils
3. Chia Seeds
4. Walnuts
5. Seafood
6. Soybeans

Where you find Omega 6 fatty acids (Bad for us):
1. Vegetable oils – Corn, Soybean, Safflower, Grape seed oil, Sunflower, Margarine, Canola oils.
2. Salad Dressings and Mayonnaise
3. Nuts and Seeds – Sunflower, Pumpkin, Walnuts, Pine Nuts, Almonds, Sesame seeds, Pecan, Peanuts, Hemp.
4. Snack foods – Corn Chips, Potato Chips.
5. Fast foods – fried foods, hot chips.

Omega 3 fatty acids have potent anti-inflammatory activities, of which EPA/DHA from Fish Oils are most potent. Unlike Omega 6, which are pro-inflammatory by nature. There have been a number of clinical trials assessing the benefits of dietary supplementation with fish oils in several inflammatory and autoimmune diseases in humans, including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, lupus, multiple sclerosis and migraine headaches.

Cholesterol

Before you go out and start eating tablespoons of fats, please consider that a large percentage of the worlds population (29-75%) carry gene’s sensitive to fat intake, thus predisposing them to elevated LDL cholesterol. This is why quantity is just as important as quality.

This Cholesterol is the one responsible for clogging arteries, making them less flexible and increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Also, some genes called ADIPOQ and APOA2 mean that you can actually put weight on when an increase in saturated fats is consumed. Approximately 1-10% of the world’s population who carry the APOE4 gene just can’t metabolise saturated fats, and are super sensitive to all fat intake in their diets, resulting in significant health issues.

So – keep your fat consumption balanced and moderate and be mindful that not everyone can go on High Fat diets (Keto) to lose weight. Saturated fats from meat, poultry, animal fats, nuts, seeds, avocados, coconut, olives and full fat dairy products should be the foundation of your fat intake and treated with respect.

If you are not sure what gene you are carrying, we can test for this using SmartDNA – along with 99 other genes. To find out more you can contact me.

No Canola Please

What else should we be aware of when it comes to vegetable or seed oils?

Let’s take a look at what is widely recognised as a healthy oil, Canola oil, which is used in everything from baking, to dips, to marinates… its everywhere just like Soy (Don’t get me started on Soy!).

Back in the mid 1980’s, America was hot off the band wagon promoting Ancel Key’s theory that saturated fats was the reason for the increased heart disease across the plant. Numerous American government agencies had been promoting polyunsaturated oils as a heart-healthy alternative to “artery-clogging” saturated fats. Unfortunately, it had become increasingly clear that polyunsaturated oils, particularly corn oil and soybean oil, cause numerous health problems, including and especially cancer. So they were really clutching at straws.

The great Olive Oil, re-emerged as the best alternative. The problem for the industry was that there was not enough olive oil in the world to meet its needs. And, like butter and other traditional fats, olive oil was too expensive to use in most processed foods. The industry needed a less expensive monounsaturated oil.

To cut a long story short, Canadian farmers came up with a variety of rapeseed that produced monounsaturated oil low in erucic acid and high in oleic acid. The problem with the traditional rapeseed was about two-thirds of the mono-unsaturated fatty acids in rapeseed oil are erucic acid, associated with Keshan’s disease, characterized by fibrotic lesions of the heart. So they came up with a new blend lower in eruric acid.

They named this new oil blend called “Canadian Oil”. Through clever marketing at the time, they advertised Canola Oil as a perfect match for health–very low in saturated fat and rich in monounsaturate, plus containing about 10 percent omega-3 fatty acids (and we all know how much we need omega 3 balance).

However, most of the omega-3s in canola oil are transformed into trans fats during the deodorisation process; and research continues to prove that the saturates are necessary and highly protective. So all the good has been manufactured out.

By the late 1990s, canola use had soared, and not just in the US. Today China, Japan, Europe, Mexico, Bangladesh and Pakistan all buy significant amounts. Canola does well in arid environments such as Australia and the Canadian plains, where it has become a major cash crop.

The story of Canola gets better: Canola was the first seed oil to be created through genetic manipulation – GMO. GMO engineer genetic material from other species which is inserted into the seeds in order to magnify certain traits in the plant. Herbicide-resistant GMO canola now comprises a large portion of the total canola crop and claim that the GMO variety means less spraying of herbicides, less chemical runoff and a boom to farmers. Here in Australia, seed company Monsanto posted in 2014 a 55 per cent jump in sales of genetically modified canola seed in Australia.

The company says it’s sold more than 600 tonnes of GM canola seeds in Western Australia, 125 tonnes in New South Wales, and about 90 tonnes in Victoria.

ABC interviewed the Monsanto Australia managing director Daniel Kruithoff, who stated he expects GM canola will account for 20 to 25 per cent.
“What we expect over the next three to five years is to see that market share will steadily grow up to somewhere between 40 to 50 per cent of the market place,” he said.
“We understand that to use herbicide tolerant technology sustainably it needs to be used within a rotation and there are several herbicide tolerant options on the market and Roundup Ready will be used as part of that.”

In recent years, we’ve learned some very disturbing truths about glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup, which is generously doused on genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready crops.

In March 2015, The Lancet published a WHO report, which said after reviewing scientific literature it was classifying glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
“There are a number of independent, published manuscripts that clearly indicate that glyphosate … can promote cancer and tumour growth,” said Dave Schubert, head of the cellular neurobiology laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. “It should be banned.”

Want to know more about Canola? You should… because if you look carefully at the back of most of your shopping items, Canola is ubiquitous. It’s important to understand that the glyphosate sprayed on conventional and genetically engineered crops actually becomes systemic throughout the plant, so it cannot be washed off. It’s inside the plant. For example, genetically engineered corn has been found to contain 13 ppm of glyphosate, compared to zero in non-GMO corn.

Dr Mercola is one of the worlds greatest champions for raising the awareness of GMO foods, and has a detailed summary of the affects this has on your health. Ranging from Autism to Alzheimers, Nutrient deficiencies to gut dysbiosis.

So, this comes down to a proactive consumer like you and me to be super duper weary of the ingredients in foods. If you take a look at your garden variety dip on the shelf, Canola oils are in ALL of them. Even the boutique ones contain Canola. Then go across to your marinated fetta or your marinated olives or sundried tomato’s. Pretty much your Anti-paster platter will be literally Canola oil based.

How to avoid Canola? If you eat as close to nature as the food has come from then you avoid all the unnecessary additives in our foods that can be linked to some pretty nasty health issues. I’m pretty sure that a home-made guacamole is hand s down 100% better then a store bought one. Yes, convenience does pay a price in the end.

What Oils to cook with?

Martin Grootveld, a professor of bioanalytical chemistry and chemical pathology, said that his research showed “a typical meal of fish and chips”, fried in vegetable oil, contained as much as 100 to 200 times more toxic aldehydes than the safe daily limit set by the World Health Organisation.

In contrast, heating up butter, olive oil and lard in tests produced much lower levels of aldehydes. Coconut oil produced the lowest levels of the harmful chemicals.

Professor Grootveld, of De Montfort University in Leicester, who carried out a series of experiments, said:

“For decades, the authorities have been warning us how bad butter and lard was. But we have found butter is very, very good for frying purposes and so is lard.

“People have been telling us how healthy polyunsaturates are in corn oil and sunflower oil. But when you start messing around with them, subjecting them to high amounts of energy in the frying pan or the oven, they undergo a complex series of chemical reactions which results in the accumulation of large amounts of toxic compounds.”

So, it’s important that we don’t over heat oils to a point beyond their smoking point. This means, it’s too hot for them, rendering them unstable and the ability to oxidize and do more harm than good.

According to Laurence Eyres, a Food Industry Consultant in New Zealand, smoke point is actually a function of the “Free Fatty Acid” (FFA) level – and not of the origin of the oil or fat. An oils FFA is a direct measure of the oil’s quality and reflects care taken from harvest to extraction to sale and consumption. It also affects the oils smoking point ie: it’s stability.

Based on Baileys Industrial Oil and Fat products – The Bible of the Oils and fats Industry:

1. Olive oils: Imported European olive oils have acidity levels of 0.8% FFA smoke point is <180 degrees (around 165 degrees Celsius). Australian and NZ fresh oils have acidities around 0.2 % FFA , smoke point is 200 degrees C.
   
2. Quality butter has a smoke point around 180 degrees C.
   
3. Lard depends on its quality but if around 0.5 % FFA will have a smoke point of 185 degrees C.
   
4. Aus Macadamia nut oils have a smoke point of 210 degrees C.
   
5. Refined coconut oil has a smoke point of 177 degrees C.
   
6. Fully refined Australian canola oil has an FFA of 0.05% and an FFA of 225 degrees C.
   
7. Fully refined tallow frying fats have smoke points around the same high region, that’s why they have been traditionally used in take away bars.

Not all oils are the same

The benefits of the Mediterranean diet all centre around the use of extra virgin olive oil. But, the oil consumed in Mediterranean countries is freshly produced, with the rest being shipped off as export to other countries. Fresh extra virgin olive oils are oxidised, which is full of antioxidants (polyphenols, Vit E), thus contributing to it’s reported health benefits.

Sadly, the oil many of us consume (if imported) is largely oxidised and doesn’t contain the benefits we had hoped for. A clue to potentially oxidised oils, are those in clear bottles.

Light and Pure labelled oils are also refined and blended, which means they hold little of the antioxidant value. A true extra virgin olive oil will be in a dark bottle and labelled appropriately. So choose your olive oils wisely. A handy tip on what the names all mean:

1. Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This is the highest grade of olive oil with a free fatty acid level of below 0.8%, produced through the physical pressing of olives.
2. Virgin Olive Oil: Like extra virgin olive oil, virgin oils have also been produced without any chemical treatment, but have a slightly higher acidity.
3. Refined Olive Oil: Refined olive oils are those made from natural oils, but through a chemical process.
4. Refined Olive Oil Blend: These are blends made from refined and natural olive oils, with a slightly higher acidity than refined olive oil.
5. Olive Pomace Oil: This oil is produced from the residue left from the mechanical pressing of olives. It is the lowest grade of edible olive oil.
6. Pure Olive Oil; is actually a blend of extra virgin or virgin olive oil and refined olive oils, so it is really not as ‘pure’ as the title suggests. It is used mainly when extracted olive oil, is of poor quality and the refining process helps to give it a better flavour.
7. Light or Lite Olive Oil: This is certainly not a low calorie option, as the name might imply. It has the same calories or energy as all other oils. It is simply termed ‘light’ because it is light in colour.

What do I think?

Don’t use Coconut oil for frying! It’s not as heat stable as everyone has been going on about. If you see it a smokin, then your cells will be a chokin…(Okay, even I’ll admit…that was pretty lame)

You can use virgin coconut oil for most mid-temperature cooking (such as melted into your baking goods). Good old Aussie extra virgin olive oil seems to still have a pretty high stability point at 200 degrees C.

But, my go to in the kitchen is Macadamia nut (smoke point 210 degrees C). This is ideal for searing meats and frying in a Wok, the downside is its super expensive. Dr Damian Kristof says to cook in no fat or use a little bit of water to avoid sticking. You can then choose your oils to dress your food after cooking has been done.

A quick look at Low Fat foods

A recent review published in the European Journal of Nutrition of the existing research on dairy fat came to some surprising conclusions: People who eat full-fat dairy are no more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes than people who stick to low-fat dairy. When it comes to weight gain, full-fat dairy may actually be better for you, the review found.

“In terms of obesity, we found no support for the notion that low-fat dairy is healthier,” says Dr. Mario Kratz, first author of the review and a nutrition scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Of the 25 studies included in his team’s review, Kratz says 18 reported lower body weights, less weight gain, or a lower risk for obesity among full-fat dairy eaters. The other seven studies were inconclusive. “None of the research suggested low-fat dairy is better,” he says.

In fact, if you’re trying to lose weight then fat may be the one thing you need to include – not cut out!

It’s a “shock’ I get day in, day out when I walk into gyms or and hear people being told to calorie sacrifice and to cut out their fats – move to a LOW FAT yoghurt, or Milk, or Cheese. ARRRRGGHHHHH! And this comes from Nutritionists and Dietitians supporting these people in various weight loss challenges or giving advice.

In Summary

1. What Oil’s you’re using to cook and bake with – you will want to have and Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil for all foods being baked or cooked at lower temperatures (<200) and also as an oil for dressings. Maybe also have a Macadamia Nut oil for hotter temp cooking like Stir Fry’s.
   
2. Check the back of all your packaged foods; Mayonnaise, Dips, Pesto, Food in oil like Fetta or Olives, Sundried Tomatoes. It will also be in your baked goods and chips and also Nut Milks!
   
3. Use Butter or Ghee – not the spreadable type either as they has been blended with seed oils, the type that is wrapped in paper.
   
4. Find alternatives that are not using a seed oil or vegetable oil. or make from scratch