Hi Health Seeker
Firstly I have to say that there are good fats and bad fats and they should never be grouped together as one big problem.
Humans have used fat as a primary energy source since the dawn of mankind, then we became farmers and consumed grains, but in the last 60 or so years the primary energy source has been in the form of processed carbohydrates, most high in sugar or bad fats.
A bad fat can be a good fat but eaten in high levels, but most often it’s the fat used to cook greasy take away foods, or the vegetable oils which are converted to a solid to make baked goods such as cakes and cookies.
Bad are also in virtually every processed food in the supermarket. The simple rule is if it doesn’t look like something that grows then forget it. A couple of exceptions are both olive oil, tahini (check your tahini isn’t sweetened with some form of sugar) and coconut oil, all three have had minimal human interference.
As a general rule avoid the common vegetable oils, either because of excess processing involving chemical solvents or because in general we have far too much omega 6 in our diets.
Good fats include animal fat, especially from grass fed animals. Eggs, butter, ghee, avocado, nuts, avocado oil (good for cooking because of high temperature tolerance) macadamia oil, olive oil. Fish including Salmon, sardines, anchovies and lastly tuna.
Fats such as coconut oil and butter are referred to as MCT’s i.e. medium chain fatty acids. These fats are a ready source of energy and quickly burned. Most fats are long chain fatty acids and are slower to burn and therefore can be deposited in the body
Olive oil is an omega 9 and is able to be consumed in good amounts.
The fish oils are omega 3’s and are referred to as essential fatty acids.
Every cell in our body has a two layered membrane structure and within that layer there are good fats. The omega three fats are divided into two kinds, the EPA’s which aid cardiovascular health and joint health and DHA which is an important part of brain chemistry as are some components of coconut oil.
Coconut oil contains Caprylic acid which is extracted to fight candida, and myristoleic acid which is used in arthritis formulas and in immune support and Conjugated linoleic acid used in weight loss.
For good health we need a variety of good fats and we need to limit bad fats which is easier if you cut out processed fats.
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Wishing you Vibrant health and happiness
Ian Newton ND & Dr Susan Newton