omega 3s Archives - Fusion Health and Wellness

Supplements Everyone Can Benefit From, Pt. 2

In case you missed it, here’s the first post.

In a perfect world we wouldn’t need to consume supplements – everything would taste like pizza while being super healthy. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Omega 3s – Control inflammation, improve joint function, lower weight, improve heart health, ward off depression and improve the quality of your skin

It’s starting to seem very likely that the root cause of modern day chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis and more, is inflammation.

Inflammation is an important and beneficial process within the human body, helping to heal the body from infection, wounds and other sorts of damage. This is all well and good unless the inflammatory process goes into overdrive, which is all too often the case in today’s world and largely due to overconsumption of Omega-6 fatty acids and consuming too few Omega 3s.

As you can see from the image above, sources of Omega 6 fatty acids, mainly vegetable oils, lead to the production of pro-inflammatory compounds, an excess of which can start to wreak havoc on the body. GLA is an Omega 6 fatty acid that is actually anti-inflammatory (and very beneficial for the skin and hair), but be aware that GLA can be converted first to DGLA and then AA, which is pro-inflammatory, so don’t assume that simply supplementing with foods high in GLA is wholly beneficial. It’s important to note that most restaurants use corn and soy oils for frying and cooking, and that they’re also ubiquitous in processed, packaged food. Further, the majority of meat, eggs and dairy sold in stores and restaurants come from animals fed corn and soy products, so they too are high in Omega 6s. In short, Omega 6 fatty acids are everywhere.

Omega 3 fatty acids, on the other hand, are entirely anti-inflammatory. Some plants such as flax, walnuts, chia seeds, hemp seeds and dark leafy greens are good sources of ALA, which can further be converted into EPA, and then DHA. These all have anti-inflammatory effects.

Meat, dairy and eggs are pro-inflammatory if they are conventionally raised and fed corn and soy based foods – if they’re free-range and grass-fed, they have a much more natural balance of Omega 3s to 6s. Meat, eggs and dairy from grass-fed and pasture-raised animals still contain the inflammatory Omega 6 Arachidonic Acid, but it is balanced out by Omega 3s.

And that’s what’s important – the proper balance between Omega 3s and 6s.

Change in Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratios over Time

Human Population	Ratio	Diet Features
Hunter-gatherers (400,000 to 45,000 years ago)	1:1	Wild plants, animals, and fish
Western cultures at onset of Industrial Revolution (150 years ago)	8.4:1	Greatly increased vegetable oils along with animals raised on cereal grains
Present-day Western cultures (70 years ago)	10.3:1	Increased fats, oils, vegetables, and nuts

Source: Kris-Etherton et al. 2000.

As you can see, our diet consisted of a (likely) 1:1 ratio of Omega 6s to 3s for the majority of our existence. Nowadays most people average 10 times as many pro-inflammatory Omega 6 fatty acids in their diet than anti-inflammatory Omega 3s, with some estimates as high as 15:1. Is it really any wonder why we’re seeing such widespread occurrences of inflammation-related diseases?

Omega 3s also improve cardiovascular health and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as ensuring proper nervous system and brain development in infants. There’s also quite a bit of evidence that Omega 3s improve depression, skin conditions and cognition in general.

In order to get back to a healthy balance of Omega 3s to 6s, simply cut out consumption of vegetable oils – check labels on food products for corn, soy, safflower, peanut, sunflower and grapeseed oils, as well as avoiding margarine, mayonnaise and almost every salad dressing out there. Make your own mayonnaise, and use olive oil as the base for your homemade salad dressings. You’d do well to remember that most restaurants cook with these cheap vegetable oils to cut costs and also use them in salad dressings – the occasional serving of french fries won’t kill ya, but it’s something to keep in mind.

At the same time, increase consumption of Omega 3s coming from cold water fatty fish – mackerel, tuna, salmon, sardines and cod – and from plant sources such as hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, walnuts and leafy greens. As I noted in my post for Vegans and Vegetarians, the plant-based Omega 3 ALA has quite the difficult time converting into DHA within the body, which is critical for proper brain development and warding off depression, so don’t rely on just plants for your Omega 3s. You can also choose to supplement (I do) with a quality cod liver or fish oil supplement, but make sure it’s high quality, is cold-temperature extracted and comes with antioxidants to protect the delicate Omega 3s. Barlean’s makes a fish oil “swirl” that is insanely delicious, and there’s also algae-based DHA is that is vegan friendly.

Iodine – Boost metabolism, improve thyroid function, ensure healthy fetal development, boost energy and motivation, detox at the cellular level and improve endocrine functioning

Iodine is definitely in my top 10 if not top 5 nutrients I wouldn’t want to be without.

Let me start by saying no, you are not getting adequate iodine from your table salt. The potassium iodide added to refined table salt does not come close to the amount needed by the human body, but is just barely enough to prevent goiter. Much of the iodine evaporates during storage, and what little is left when you do consume it has to compete for absorption with the chloride in sodium chloride, or table salt.

The Great Goblin from The Hobbit could use some iodine. — The Great Goblin from The Hobbit could use some iodine, look at that goiter..

Further, while we used to get some iodine from our food, there’s very little left in today’s over-farmed, nutrient-depleted soils, and thus in the foods we eat.

Iodine is necessary for the production of thyroid hormones. This is really bad news if you’re trying to lose weight and have ample amounts of energy, as the thyroid is the main gland in the endocrine system responsible for controlling metabolism. No iodine, no thyroid hormones.

Iodine is a type of molecule known as a halogen. Other halogens include fluoride and bromide, both of which interfere with the body’s absorption and utilization of iodine. Bromide is found in most breads and refined grain products, and fluoride is in the majority of the US’s water supply and in most toothpastes. These other halogens fit into the same receptors as iodine would, blocking it from doing it’s job. The good news is that consuming iodine-rich foods is an effective way, and some say only way, to detox excess fluoride and bromide.

According to this article, “Dr. Kenezy Gyula Korhaz states that iodine chelates heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium and aluminum and halogens such as fluoride and bromide, thus decreasing their iodine inhibiting effects, especially of the halogens.” Chelation is the process by which a molecule binds to a toxic substance and draws it out of the body.

Iodine is also pretty damn important for the brain and nervous system. The chapter Soils and Iodine Deficiency from the textbook Essentials of Medical Geology (exciting stuff huh?) states

However, while these two diseases are easily recognizable, perhaps the more insidious problem is that iodine deficiency impairs brain development in children even when there is no obvious physical effect. Many researchers have suggested that a relatively low degree of iodine deficiency during fetal development can result in a significant reduction of IQ in children. Indeed it has been suggested that iodine deficiency is the most common preventable cause of mental retardation.

Clearly iodine is of prime importance, not just to fetuses (feti?) but to the neuronal health of everyone.

Iodine is also critical to proper dopamine production and utilization. I talk about dopamine quite a bit because it’s crucial for proper levels of motivation and experiencing pleasure, two things that at least I personally never want to be short on. As I already stated, iodine is essential for the production of thyroid hormones. If the thyroid isn’t producing enough of these thyroid hormones, the hypothalamus produces thyrotropin-releasing hormone, which in turn releases thyroid-stimulating hormone as well as prolactin. Prolactin is antagonistic to dopamine, and thus low iodine results in low dopamine, leaving you feeling unmotivated and getting very little pleasure out of life, even in the presence of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Interestingly, this is also the reason guys experience a “refractory period” after sex, and why it’s the best time to cuddle – cuz you’re high on prolactin.

The pineal gland is a tiny endocrine gland located at the base of the brain, shaped like a pine cone the size of a grain of rice. It produces melatonin, a hormone that helps you fall asleep, sets circadian rhythms, and is a powerful antioxidant that is anticancer and promotes neurogenesis. In short, the pineal gland, along with melatonin, are pretty important.

Unfortunately, your pineal gland is likely calcified.

The above is an image of the calcified pineal gland, in a two-day old, no less. The overconsumption of fluoride from water, toothpastes and mouthwashes causes it’s accumulation in the pineal gland. This impairs the pineal gland’s ability to set circadian rhythms and convert serotonin into melatonin. It’s even been found that a calcified pineal gland worsens one’s sense of direction. Again, the only way to detoxify the body from halogens such as fluoride is by consuming adequate amounts of iodine. Some Vitamin K2 will also probably help remove calcium deposits from the pineal gland, but this is just a hunch.

There’s one reliably good source of iodine – seaweeds. Hijiki, kelp, kombu, dulse, nori and others are concentrated sources of nutrients, especially iodine. I simply buy these Kelp flakes and shake them onto most of my meals – a quarter teaspoon provides plenty of iodine and you won’t taste a thing. Most wild-caught seafood also has a fair amount of iodine. Increase your consumption of iodine-rich foods slowly, as some can experience detox symptoms pretty quickly.

If you’re looking for fluoride free toothpaste, I use this brand, but you can also likely find different varieties at your local health food store.

Important note for those with thyroid disorders – if you’re going to be consuming iodine-rich foods, talk to your primary care physician first. Iodine will likely help but may interact with your thyroid medication.

By the way, the fluoride in your water and toothpaste is a waste-product of fertilizer companies, and likely doesn’t even protect your teeth from cavities.

“By recovering by-product fluosilicic acid from fertilizer manufacturing, water and air pollution are minimized, and water authorities have a low-cost source of fluoride available to them.” (Rebecca Hanmer, EPA, 1983)

Bone Broth – Heal your digestive system, improve your skin and hair, detox your liver, bolster your joints, improve your sleep, reduce inflammation, boost the immune system

More a food than supplement, bone broth is one of the best things you could spend time making and consuming. Bone broth is my very top pick for improving your skin and hair, for improving your digestive system, and improving the quality of your joints. On top of this, it boosts your immune system, detoxes your liver, improves sleep and reduces inflammation. Oh yeah, and it’s pretty damn tasty. All this from just boiling some bones in water.

Think that sounds gross? Remember that in France, no kitchen is considered complete with a pot of “stock”, or bone broth, quietly boiling in the corner. Have you had French cuisine? Delicious.

Bone broth is a “hydrophilic colloid” – a substance that attracts and holds different substances, in our case minerals and digestive juices. Because it attracts digestive juices and enzymes, it bolsters out digestive power, making meals easier to digest. It’s also chock full of minerals phosphorus, silicon, calcium and magnesium, in the exact ratios our bodies need, helping to build up our bone tissue.

Bone broth is also extremely rich in easy to absorb collagen, which has numerous benefits within the body. Most importantly, collagen helps to “seal and heal” the mucosal lining of our intestinal tract, a boon for people with Crohn’s disease, leaky gut syndrome as well as your average Joe. As you already know, a properly functioning gut is the foundation of vibrant health.

Collagen is a main component of connective tissues, such as skin, joints and hair. The reason an 18 year old girl has beautiful skin compared to an 80 year old woman is because the 18 year old still has healthy levels of collagen, which helps give skin lift. Why do Asian and French women have such beautiful skin? Both diets use a lot of bone broths or “stock”, which are the base for many of the sauces in these diets. Less collagen means skin is more prone to wrinkles, sagging and cellulite. Don’t want saggy skin, wrinkles or cellulite? Hope you’re consuming some source of collagen.

Collagen is extremely rich in two amino acids that are sorely lacking from the modern diet : glycine and proline. While proline’s main benefit is enhancing “youthful, non-sagging skin”, glycine is necessary for the production of glutathione, our body’s “master antioxidant”. Glutathione

is a powerful antioxidant
has the ability to regenerate other antioxidants – after an antioxidant gets used, it becomes inert, or worse, an oxidant itself
helps to detoxify the liver and kidneys
reduces “photo-aging” of the skin, and reduces build up of melanin
boosts the immune system
helps prevent cancer
attracts and eliminates toxins from the body

Glycine itself helps to detoxify the liver, improves sleep and anxiety, enhances the secretion of digestive juices, helps heal wounds, and is necessary for the synthesis of DNA and RNA.

Bone broth is replete with joint repair substances as well, namely glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). You may know a few of these by name – glucosamine and chondroitan. These are sold in pill form to help relieve pain in the joints of those with rheumatoid arthritis. Another is hyaluronic acid, a popular ingredient in facial creams and skin care products. Hyaluronic acid is one of the best ways to give skin extra lift and smoothness, as well as to help it retain moisture.

Best of all, bone broth is simple to make. Go to your local co-op or health food store and ask the meat department if they have any soup or marrow bones. You can also throw in knuckle and neck bones, as well as chicken feet (wash ’em first) as they’re extremely rich in gelatin. Buy a few pounds of bones and throw them in the crockpot with some water and a tablespoon or two of vinegar, letting them simmer one day for chicken bones or two days for beef bones. At the last hour you can add onions, carrots and celery to give the broth some extra flavor, and then just strain and enjoy.

It may gel up when you put it in the fridge – this is normal and actually a good sign that a lot of collagen has dissolved into the broth.

You can use bone broth as the base for soups, you can drink it with a little salt and pepper (works great for people who do intermittent fasting), or you can boil some of it down to make a delicious reduction. Have a little before or with meals to aid in digestion.

You can buy collagen from grass fed sources, glucosamine and chondroitan, as well as hyaluronic acid, but why spend all that money? Bone broth will cost you $10 tops, and is mighty tasty.

Fats – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

Alright folks, this one’s a doozy, but I figured I’d put everything in one spot instead of spreading these articles out. Pour yourself a drink and get comfortable.

Interesting things happen in the field of nutrition. It’s really one of the few fields where people can be certified experts and say completely opposite things, and then back these opposing views up with clinical studies that show contradictory results.

Nothing in the health and nutrition world has been more controversial and more vilified than dietary fats – some claim they clog your heart, leading to cardiovascular disease and heart attacks; some claim that extracted plant and vegetable oils are better for you than saturated fats, especially saturated fats from animals; people believe that margarine is better for you than butter; and of course, almost everyone thinks that dietary fats make you fat. Personally, I’ve seen quite a bit of evidence that contradicts every statement above.

The big fat debate started in 1956 with a guy named Ancel Keys, and his Seven Countries Study. As the first international epidemiological study, it “systematically examined the relationships between lifestyle, diet, coronary heart disease and stroke in different populations from different regions of the world.”

So what were the results? This was the graph as it was first published in Time Magazine :

As you can see, as the total amount of fat consumed goes up, it appears that mortality rates go up as well. This was the image and the information that started the entire cascade of events that led to fats and cholesterol being demonized, that led to low-fat diet crazes, and that led to the widespread overprescribing of statins.

However, here’s the original, unpublished plot graph showing the results of the full twenty-two countries he studied :

As you can see, this graph paints a very different picture.

For example, compare Mexico and Israel, numbers 14 and 11 respectively, on the graph. They consume almost the exact same percentage of total calories as fat, yet Mexico ranks lowest for deaths while Israel is in the top 6.

Look at Sweden, Denmark and Norway (19, 6, 17) as well – they consume just as much fat as Americans, yet rank relatively low in the amount of deaths caused by arteriosclerosis and degenerative heart disease.

The truth is, Ancel Keys cherry-picked his data to make it seem as if the more fat you consumed, the more likely you were to die of heart disease.

This is the unfortunate truth about science and the media – the facts can be distorted and the media will run wild with whatever findings prove to be “sensational”.

Turns out, fats are absolutely essential for good health – they are a major component of the membranes of your body’s 37 trillion cells; they are a major component of the myelin sheaths that coat your nerves; fat makes up roughly 60% of your brain by weight; certain fats boost metabolism while others reduce hunger, and some fats reduce inflammation and make you smarter. The truth is you would die pretty quickly if you didn’t consume dietary fats.

Then again, not all fats are created equal. So what exactly is the truth about consuming dietary fats?

Wont Eating Fat Make Me Fat?

To put it bluntly, no. Trans fats as well as rancid omega 6 fatty acids do contribute to the development of diabetes and obesity, but healthier fats will not make you fat.

In fact, it’s becoming more and more evident that increased fat consumption in place of carbohydrates does wonders for weight loss.

A high-fat diet up-regulates the enzymes responsible for burning body fat not only during exercise, but at rest as well. This means your body will be burning stored body fat as you sit and watch t.v.

Consumption of longer chain fatty acids results in the inhibition of the release of ghrelin, the “hunger hormone”, as well as an increased release of CCK, a hunger-suppressing peptide. In short, consuming fat curbs hunger and makes you feel full.

By keeping carbohydrate intake low, insulin levels remain low. This is crucial for weight loss because fat will not be released from fatty acids while insulin is circulating in the bloodstream. By keeping insulin levels very low for extended periods of time, the body enters a state known as ketosis, where it is burning extremely high amounts of fat for energy. How is ketosis achieved? By a diet low in carbohydrates, moderate to low in protein, and high in fat.

Read Ben Greenfield’s two articles on how he became “fat adapted”, allowing his body to burn body fat as fuel during intense exercise, by keeping carbs low and consuming lots of healthy fats. Part 1 here, Part 2 here.

Types of Fat and Why Certain Ones Suck

Let’s start with naming the main types of fats we encounter in our diet – saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. We’ll start with the most demonized of the bunch, saturated fats.

Most everyone has at least heard about saturated fats. These can come from both plants and animals and are so named because the fatty acid molecule is saturated at all points with hydrogen atoms. These hydrogen atoms are able to act as a buffer to light and heat, which have the ability to oxidize the fatty acid, turning it rancid and thus unhealthy. More on this in the polyunsaturated fat section.

Examples of saturated fats include those coming from most cuts of animal meat and wild game, from milk sources, eggs, human breast milk, coconut oil, nuts and from fish, but it’s important to note that none of these sources are 100% saturated fat.

Saturated fat has been made out to be the bad guy, when in reality they’re actually very important to your overall health. A new meta-analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that there was no relationship between consuming saturated fats and increased incidence of heart disease or heart attacks. “My take on this would be that it’s not saturated fat that we should worry about” said Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury, the lead author of the study.

New research published in the journal PLOS ONE shows that doubling or even tripling dietary saturated fat intake does not drive up total levels of saturated fat in the blood, while consuming extra carbohydrates will.

Again, one need only look at the actual results of Ancel Keys’ study above, or at the diet of the traditional Inuit or the Masai in Africa or the Tokelau, all of whom consume very large amounts of saturated fat in their diets all while having much better cardiovascular health than Americans, to understand that simply blaming saturated fats is not the way to go.

As you can see from the following graph, there is an inverse relationship between high saturated fat intake and mortality rate from heart disease – as saturated fat intake increases, risk of death from heart disease decreases.

Further, saturated fats are essential to a wide variety of bodily functions.

Roughly half of the membrane of each one of our 37 trillion cells are comprised of saturated fats;
Saturated fats help white blood cells to recognize and respond to invading viruses and bacteria;
Saturated fats help to prevent and reverse fatty liver disease, as does choline, which is naturally found in fatty foods like liver, meats, eggs, nuts and seeds;
The majority of the brain is made up of cholesterol and fat, with the most of the fat being saturated – the less saturated fat and cholesterol you consume, the less building blocks for your brain;
Because saturated fats are longer fatty acids and take longer to be broken down, they aid in satiety, making you feel more full for longer periods of time, and providing a steady release of energy;
Stearic and palmitic acid are two saturated fatty acids that are found in high concentrations around the heart, and are used by the heart as a fuel source in times of stress

Clearly, saturated fats are not the devil they were made out to be. In fact, there’s very little evidence that saturated fats actually do any harm.

Let’s finish this section out with a little common sense. When a person eats too much sugar and gains weight, their body is converting that sugar into fat. What kind of fat? Saturated fat. Why would your body convert sugar into a toxic substance? Why would the average amount of fat in human breast milk be more than 50% saturated fat, if saturated fat is bad for you? Why is the heart surrounded by two saturated fatty acids, stearic and palmitic acid, which it relies on for energy in times of stress, if saturated fat is bad for you?

Monounsaturated Fats

As the name implies, monounsaturated fats have one point on the fatty acid that isn’t saturated with hydrogen.

This means monounsaturated fats are still fairly stable and most can be cold-extracted, but they’re not ideal to cook with. Examples of monounsaturated fats include olive and avocado oil.

These fats have been touted as being very heart-healthy, mainly because if you aim to increase consumption of monounsaturated fats, you’ll consume less saturated fats. But as we just discussed, saturated fat is not the problem. Monounsaturated fats from avocados and olive oil are no doubt a healthy fat, but they aren’t as essential to proper health as saturated fats are.

Polyunsaturated Fats

That leaves us with polyunsaturated fats, which have many points that aren’t saturated with hydrogen.

As discussed above, the saturation of a certain fatty acid with hydrogen is important for one big reason – once any extraction process begins, a fatty acids are exposed to light and heat. This light and heat can cause the fatty acid to turn rancid if it comes into contact with an unhydrogenated bond. This means that almost all polyunsaturated fats that have been extracted are oxidized, rancid and harmful to your health, and shouldn’t be consumed, heated or otherwise.

Let’s take a gander at the following image :

As you can see, it’s a very long process that involves solvents, heating, degumming, deodorizing and bleaching. Any food that needs deodorizing probably shouldn’t be consumed. Compare this to the steps to make butter – milk the cow, let the cream separate, skim off the cream, and finally stir the cream until it hardens.

Why are polyunsaturated fats harmful? Your body still tries to incorporate the damaged fatty acids into cell membranes, the myelin sheaths that cover and protect nerves, your brain (it is 60% fat after all) – everything the body uses fat for, it now is incorporating rancid fats into.

Further, vegetable oils are almost always extremely high in Omega 6 fatty acids. Humans need adequate amounts of both Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, as both are essential, but a balance of anywhere from 1:1 up to 1:4 Omega 3 to 6 ratio is healthy – anymore Omega 6s in the diet and the body begins to become overly inflamed, which is now believed to be at the heart of all modern day diseases – including heart disease. Again, you need both types, but the ratio needs to be less than 1:4 Omega 3 to 6. Stay tuned for an upcoming post about the Omega 3 to 6 ratio.

Oh yeah, and cellulite? A combination of rancid fatty acids and lack of collagen. Buy quality collagen here.

Monounsaturated fats typically fair well for extraction if they’ve been cold-pressed, but for the most part still shouldn’t be heated to high temperatures, as this causes them to oxidize at their one un-saturated point. That leaves us with good old saturated fat being, in almost all cases, the only type of fat to cook with.

Note – Remember, the above applies mainly to extracted oils. Let’s take corn for example – it’s loaded with polyunsaturated fats. This means corn oil is a big no-no, but the polyunsaturated fats found in whole corn are largely safe as long as the corn isn’t over cooked, because the corn kernel comes with their own natural antioxidants to protect the oils. This also makes it important to buy high quality fish oils, ones that are extracted at low temperatures and blended with antioxidants to prevent rancidity. I recommend Carlson’s, Nordic Naturals or Greener Pastures.

So where do we encounter extracted polyunsaturated fats? All vegetable oils and vegetable oil products are concentrated rancid inflammatory Omega 6 laden fats – that tub that says “Vegetable Oil” in your cupboard is in reality a tub of rancid fat. The french fries and other fried foods you eat when you go out? Fried in rancid fats. The oils used to make almost every food product out there? Rancid vegetable oils. Even most beloved hummus products contain rancid vegetable oils instead of healthy olive oil.

Read ingredient labels – canola, soybean, corn, rapeseed, sunflower, safflower, peanut and grape seed oils should all be avoided. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Crisco, Pam, “Vegetable Oil” and any other fake butter products should all be tossed and avoided. The majority of salad dressings also use these rancid vegetable oils.

What does that leave us with in terms of healthy fats and oils to use? For cooking, I recommend sticking to grass-fed butter, ghee, coconut oil, unrefined red palm oil, duck fat, and lard or tallow from from grass-fed, pastured animals. For salads, dressings and non-cooking needs, I always prefer a quality olive oil, but avocado and macadamia oils work just as nicely.

Cholesterol

There’s also cholesterol, which is a type of lipid molecule known as a sterol. Think it’s bad for you? Cholesterol is absolutely essential for

• the integrity of every cell’s membrane in your body;
• for the creation of bile salts so that your body is able to digest and absorb dietary fats along with fat-soluble vitamins;
• the direct precursor for your body to make vitamin D from sunlight;
• the precursor to sex hormones, steroid hormones and the hormones used to deal with everyday stresses;
• and is a potent antioxidant

Further, according to Dr. Harlan Krumholz of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University, elderly people with low cholesterol died twice as often as those with high cholesterol, from heart attacks!

If you consume less cholesterol from dietary sources, your liver will produce the amount needed by the body. Why would your body be producing something that supposedly clogs the arteries? Nature’s no dummy.

The Truth About High Cholesterol

Having high cholesterol is a warning sign that your body is under too much stress, inflammation or oxidation. The truth is that cholesterol is a major repair molecule within the body. The reason that doctors find cholesterol deposits in the arteries and heart is because it is there patching up damage done by excessive oxidation, excessive sugar intake, trans fat intake or damage caused by other stressors. If you go to the doctor and he tells you that you have high cholesterol, what he’s actually saying is that your body is in an over-inflammed and stressed out state, and is producing extra cholesterol to help mitigate some of the damage.

Let me reiterate that your body will produce its own cholesterol if it is not obtained from the diet, and the body would not produce something that would clog the arteries in the heart.

Trans-Fats

After Ancel Keys’ study came out and saturated fats and cholesterol became the most vilified fats of all, people in the Western world were confronted with a dilemma – what will I spread all over my toast and grease my pans with if butter and lard were out of the question?

Scientists finally came up with a solution. They took extracted oils from plants and added hydrogen bonds to them, which allowed these new Franken-fats to be stable at room temperature. Voila! Spreadable plant fats, known as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats.

Only problem is these new fats are pretty much the worst thing you could ever consume, a main culprit leading to heart disease, increasing the likelihood of diabetes, and inhibiting the metabolism of other healthier fats.

In fact, the New England Journal of Medicine reported in a comprehensive review of trans fats that :

“On a per-calorie basis, trans fats appear to increase the risk of CHD [coronary heart disease] more than any other macronutrient, conferring a substantially increased risk at low levels of consumption (1 to 3% of total energy intake)”.

Let me repeat that – even at 1-3% of total calorie intake, there is a substantially increased risk of coronary heart disease. Talk about truth bombs..

Trans fats are found in things like shortening, Crisco, margarine, and many processed foods. Some restaurants still continue to deep fry with trans fats; for example, Popeye’s hash browns have a full 10 grams of trans fats. Needless to say, this is the one and only type of fat to avoid completely.

On labels, look for any ingredient that says hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated.

In Summary

Other than trans fats, don’t fear fat! It’s essential for many processes within the body, including creating hormones, improving the integrity of your cellular membranes, and as basic building blocks of the brain
Do your best to avoid consuming extracted vegetable oils or products made with them, as they are guaranteed to be rancid by the time you consume them.
Don’t fear saturated fats and cholesterol, they are not the enemy and are in fact quite essential to good health!
Saturated fats are the only type of fat that you should be cooking with
Monounsaturated fats are generally healthy as long as they’re cold pressed and properly extracted, but shouldn’t be cooked with
Try to keep your ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fats as close as possible to 1:1 – more on this in a future post
Avoid trans fats like the plague!!

If you’re interested in….

which fats can make you smarter,
which fat you can use to enhance cognitive power and boost energy levels for a workout
a certain type of fatty acid which suppresses appetite, and another which helps you burn more body fat

As well as other lesser known tricks of the trade on how to lose weight, have less stress and be on top of your game both mentally and physically, contact me.