Health Quiz: Which Fats are Healthy and Which are Deadly?The study of healthy and deadly dietary fats has progressed far beyond what the average doctor and the media have been telling us. Fat biochemistry has come a long way since saturated was declared “bad,” unsaturated “good,” and cholesterol the all-time villain. Here's a test of your knowledge of some recent health discoveries: TRUE or FALSE: low-fat DIETS are healthy.False: Fat is a necessary nutrient needed for the structure of each cell.The brain is made of 60% fat, and fat is also needed for the digestion and absorption of many nutrients.• If you don’t eat enough fat, vitamins will pass right through the digestive tract without doing a bit of good, especially the fat-soluable antioxidants. Low fat diets can speed the process of degeneration and aging. • Healthy fats help regulate digestion and absorption of blood sugar, thus helping to prevent insulin resistance and diabetes. • Healthy fat helps satisfy hunger so you don’t eat as often, thus helping you eat fewer calories and lose weight. • Unhealthy trans fats, hydrogenated and most vegetable oils create havoc, disease and obesity. • The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Based on the Diet of the Island of Crete * The Mediterranean Prescription: Meal Plans and Recipes to Help You Stay Slim and Healthy for the Rest of Your Life * How to Eat Fat and Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats * Better Omega Oils for Heart Disease Prevention, Psoriasis Eczema, ADHD and Arthritis TRUE or FALSE: walnuts are better than olive oil for preventing heart disease.True: According to Spanish researchers at the Lipid Clinic at Hospital Clinico in Barcelona, walnut are better.By using ultrasound examinations they were able to see that both the olive oil and walnuts decreased the onset of inflammation and oxidation in the arteries following a high-fat meal, but the walnuts preserved the blood vessels' flexibility while olive oil did not.Lead researcher Dr. Emilio Ros, director of the clinic attributes the beneficial effect to the alpha-linolenic acid found in walnuts which is similar to the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish. TRUE or FALSE: High cholesterol and high blood pressure best predict future heart disease.False: inflammation, or C-reactive proteins are most predictive.Cardiologist Mora Samia, MD, at Brigham ad Women’s Holspital in Boston, checked 34 different “biomarkers” in women who had no sign of heart disease. The “biomarker” that gave the most clues about future heart disease was peoples’ level of C-reactive proteins, or CRP, with high levels leading to heart problems.• CRP is an indication of INFLAMMATION. Fortunately, when USDA researchers instructed 18 men and women to add about 50 pitted cherries to their diet daily for a month, their CRP fell by 25%. Tart cherries in particular have been found to have anti inflammatory benefits for pain and are helpful for sleep as well. TRUE or FALSE: vegetable oils are better for you than saturated animal fats.False: Both the media and doctors have promoted this line for the past 50 years, though most researchers now know it's totally simplistic and FALSE.• The human body is constructed of many types of fats, both saturated -- like coconut oil, beef fat, palm oil -- and unsaturated -- like fish and flax oil -- and each is used for different functions. Your body uses SATURATED fats for structure, for example, as the foundation of every CELL MEMBRANE.• A natural SATURATED fat like beef fat or coconut oil or palm oil or butter is HEALTHY because these are relatively STABLE at moderate to high temperatures and do NOT form free radicals which are bad for your health. • Saturated fats are NOT bad for your health. Even a fat like lard, which is a monosaturated fat is healthy in small amounts. • “NEW” SATURATED FATS are being found to be amazingly HEALTHY: There is a class of SATURATED fat that is a unique group called “medium-chain fatty acids” in tropical oils, e.g. coconut oil. These fats metabolize differently than BOTH saturated and unsaturated fats. The old studies that found coconut oil to be bad for your health were using HYDROGENATED coconut oil. ANY hydrogenated oil is damaging. • Researchers have found a wide range of health benefits in coconut oil, including helping with weight loss, inflammation, thyroid function, heart disease etc. • UNSATURATED omega 3 fat is important especially for healthy brain function. BRAIN SYNAPSES, for example (the nerve to nerve connections) contain around 50% DHA which is an omega 3 fat -- think fish oil and walnuts. Extra fish oil is usually recommended for children, especially those that are hyperactive; anyone with ADHD, people with Multiple Sclerosis and for protection against Alzheimers. TRUE or FALSE: vegetable oils are linked to cancer, PMS, auto immune diseases and wrinkles.True: Having more than 10% of total calories from polyunsaturated oils leads to: blood disease, cancer, liver damage and vitamin deficiencies.• Think cookies, pastries, donuts, muffins, crackers, fries, chips, mayo, salad dressings, etc.• In an eight-year experiment conducted in a Los Angeles veterans’ hospital, a group of patients whose diet contained four times as many polyunsaturates as a second group had 60% more cancers. • Early Death: Studies have shown an increase in mortality in rats increased with the degree of UNSATURATION in the fats they were fed. This effect was seen only when overall fat intake was moderate, 20%, but not when low, 5 to 10%. • Parkinsons and Alzheimers Disease: Free radical damage can age the brain faster than the body. Several studies have shown the relationship between refined vegetable oil consumption and free-radical damage to the central nervous system. One possible means of decreasing the rate of degeneration in the central nervous system and elsewhere, would be to decrease the intake of vegetable oil. • Excess consumption of polyunsaturates is associated with increasing rates of cancer, heart disease and weight gain; excess use of commercial vegetable oils interferes with the production of prostaglandins leading to an array of complaints ranging from autoimmune disease to PMS. Disruption of prostaglandin production leads to an increased tendency to form blood clots, and hence myocardial infarction, which has reached epidemic levels in America: • Vegetable oils are more TOXIC WHEN HEATED. One study reported that polyunsaturates turn to varnish in the intestines. A study by a plastic surgeon found that women who consumed mostly vegetable oils had far more wrinkles than those who used traditional animal fats. • A 1994 study appearing in the Lancet showed that almost three quarters of the fat in artery clogs is unsaturated. The "ARTERY CLOGGING" FATS are NOT ANIMAL FATS but VEGETABLE OILS. C V Felton, et al, "Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Composition of Human Aortic Plaques," Lancet, 1994, 344:1195 • Know Your Fats : The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol TRUE or FALSE: Eggs are bad for you because of the cholesterol.False: Eggs are especially good for young children and for the elderly.The cholesterol in eggs does not impact the small, dense LDL-3 through LDL-7 particles that are the greatest threat for cardiovascular disease risk,” according to researcher M. Luz Fernandez from the University of Connecticut.• "Prior to one year of age, egg yolks, dairy products (such as butter, yogurt and kefir), and liver should serve as the primary fatty animal foods,” according to Mary Enig, PhD, a world expert on healthy fats who has mapped out our needs in her book Know Your Fats. • The elderly in particular need egg yolks to stay healthy. Why? The lutein in eggs is better absorbed than the lutein in supplements. Lutein protects the eyes against Macular Degeneration, or AMD. Eat More Eggs to Lower Your High Cholesterol? TRUE or FALSE: Eating cholesterol-rich foods is bad for you.False: Cholesterol is needed by the brain, especially for the young and old.• Cholesterol is important for healthy brain development in infants and plays a role in how neurons work in adults.• Researchers found a link between naturally occurring HIGH CHOLESTEROL and modestly BETTER MENTAL FUNCTION in areas such as visual organization, memory, attention, and concentration in the elderly. (Boston University researchers Penelope Elias and Merrill Elias, professors of mathematics and epidemiology) • Dietary cholesterol plays only a minor part in raising blood cholesterol levels – most of our cholesterol is made by the liver to make hormones etc. Lowering Cholesterol Without Meds How I Lowered My Cholesterol Naturally High Cholesterol? Doctors Deny Side Effects of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs TRUE or FALSE: Trans fats are bad but vegetable oils -- corn, soy, sunflower, safflower and cottonseed -- are healthy.False: While trans fats are terrible for your health, most vegetable oils are not much better for you.0 Tolerance for Trans Fats AND Hydrogenated Oils:• Trans fats are terrible for your health. Trans fats have been found damaging even in very small amounts. When the FDA instructed scientists to set the allowable limit, the answer came back as NONE, in that they are dangerous even in very small amounts. • Trans fats are strongly implicated in heart disease, depression, autism, immune dysfunction, obesity, diabetes---you name a disease, trans fats are probably involved. • BUT any product that says "HYDROGENATED" or "PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED" should be avoided even if it says "trans fat free". TRULY HEALTHY OILS—RATHER THAN JUST TRANS-FAT-FREE ONES: • Public pressure has forced many manufacturers to remove artery-clogging trans fats from their products. • Some companies are replacing the trans fats with SOYBEAN, SUNFLOWER, SAFFLOWER, OR CORN OILS, which INCREASE the activity of proteins that TRIGGER INFLAMMATION. • Canola oil is better, but extra virgin olive oil is the best. • The kinds of oil you want to see listed on the label and cook with yourself are stable at high temperatures such as BUTTER AND COCONUT OIL. The average American diet has an IMBALANCE of way too much omega 6 fats (vegetable oils) and too little of the omega 3 fats (fish, flax, certain seeds and nuts). What is the problem? The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats is said by some to be 2:1 or 1:1. Our ancestors evolved over millions of years on this ratio. TRUE or FALSE: Dairy fats are bad for you.False: Children need the fats in milk for brain development and proper absorption of vitamins. Adults can also benefit.• The vitamin D and fatty acids in milk may help reduce inflammation, according to two research studies. The first from Tufts University found that nonsmokers with the highest levels of vitamin D were 20% less likely to have bleeding gums—a sign of inflammation—than those with the lowest levels.• Another showed that a type of fatty acids in dairy products may help inhibit proteins from creating an inflammatory reaction. If you don’t like to drink milk, you can eat healthy yogurts with healthy bacteria and vitamin D added. TRUE or FALSE: Being overweight causes inflammation.True: Fat cells secrete all kinds of inflammatory compounds.People who are over weight are much more likely to have a high level of inflammation.When Dr. Mora, the cardiologist at Brigham Hospital in Boston, studied 27,000 healthy women, she found that “being overweight was worse for inflammatory markers than being inactive.” GOOD FATS: Best Fat Loss for Belly Fat Loss and for a Diabetes Diet Recommendations for Diet and Supplements Against Inflammation:What Fats to Eat and Which ones NOT to Eat:In general, NATURAL fats from a wide variety of sources are healthy -- animal, nut, coconut, olive, dairy, fish---in their most unprocessed state, are best for your health.DECREASING polyunsaturated fats -- corn, soy, safflower, etc. is recommended for health. • INFLAMMATION is increasingly seen as underlying virtually every disease, including aging. The role of fats in inflammation is still being unraveled, with the main culprits being “unstable” fats that “oxidize” or go rancid, thereby causing inflammation and damage in the arteries, nervous system, brain etc. • The whole story of fats is not being covered by the media or by doctors who are still following a “protocol” for putting you on cholesterol-lowering drugs instead of the simple, inexpensive and effective ways of staying healthy. • The REAL STORY of “healthy” and “deadly” fats is being written by brilliant but independent doctors and scientists. They say that simple diets, supplements and exercise rather than pharmaceuticals "for the rest or your life" and costly surgeries with questionable benefits, are best for staying healthy. Here is what some of these experts are saying: Links:Know Your Which Fats are Good and Which Are Bad Which Fats Are Best for Toddlers and Young Children? Better Predictor of Heart Disease Than Cholesterol and What You Can Do About Them How To Lower Cholesterol Without Meds Resources: BooksFats That Heal, Fats That Kill: The Complete Guide to Fats, Oils, Cholesterol The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do Dr. Sears, The Anti-Inflammation Zone: Reversing the Silent Epidemic That's Destroying Our Health Eat Fat, Look Thin with Coconut Oil: A Safe and Natural Way to Lose Weight Permanently The Inflammation Cure: How To Combat Hidden Factors of Disease Recent Health Discoveries Quiz: Which Are Healthy Fats and How Bad are Cholesterol, Saturated Fats, High Cholesterol and Vegetable Oils?
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