Fats Can Be Good For You!
Fat Quiz (True or False)
1. Excess fat in the diet is a major cause of heart disease.
2. Saturated fats raise cholesterol levels.
3. The saturated fats in butter and coconut oil contribute to weight
gain.
4. Polyunsaturated vegetable oils like canola oil are healthy fats.
5. Margarine is healthier for you than butter.
6. Animal fats are harmful to human health, so you should eat lean
meats.
7. If you want to lose weight you should eat less fat and more
carbohydrates.
8. When a vegetable oil says “cold-pressed,” it means that it has been
extracted without using any heat.
Weston Price
• In the 1930s examined the dietary habits of fourteen
isolated traditional cultures that enjoyed superb physical
and emotional health
• Found the healthiest peoples ate fatty seafood, dairy
products and organ meats liberally
• They valued animal fats as absolutely necessary to good
health
• Typically 40-50% of their caloric intake came from fats!
• These diets had 10 times more fat-soluble vitamins like A,
D, E and K, in their diets than did their modern
counterparts
• Dr. Price’s research shows that much of modern “wisdom”
about fats is completely wrong
Fats are Essential to Health
• Are good fuel for sustained
energy and weight loss
• Are necessary for cell
membranes
• Are a major component of
brain and nervous tissue
• Are needed for adrenal &
reproductive hormones
• Are burned to keep the
body warm
• Are needed for soft and
moist skin
Some Fat Facts
• Fats are necessary to properly utilize animal proteins, fats
keep meat moist and tender, a lack of fats makes meat dry
• Fats are important for hormone balance, especially in
women, low fat diets can cause infertility, PMS and other
glandular imbalances
• Fat keeps skin moist and healthy and is an important beauty
secret
• Eating fats doesn’t make you fat, eating excess carbohydrates
does
• Growing children need fats, low fat diets are NOT healthy for
young children
• Adding a fat to a carbohydrate, like a potato or slice of bread,
lowers the glycemic load which helps balance blood sugar
levels
Classifications of Fatty Acids
Saturated
Unsaturated
(Short Chain)
Propanoic (3)
Butyric (4)
Capronic (5)
Monounsaturated
Polyunsaturated
(Medium Chain)
Caprylic (8)
Capric (10)
Lauric (12)
Myrisoleic (14:1)
(Long Chain)
Vaccenic (18:1)
Myristic (14)
Palmitic (16)
Stearic (18)
Arachidic (20)
Behenic (22)
Lignoceric (24)
Gadoleic (20:1)
Palmitoleic (16:1)
Oleic (18:1)
Gondoic (20:1)
Cetoleic (22:1)
Erucic (22:1)
Nervonic (24:1)
(Omega-6 or n6)
(Omega-3or n3)
Linoleic – LA – Omega 3 Alpha-linolenic (18:3)
EFA (18:2)
Eicosapentaenoic – EPA
Gamma-linolenic – GLA (20:5)
(18:3)
Docosahexaenoic acid –
Arachidonic (20:4)
DHA (22:6)
Conjugated linoleic acid
– CLA (18:2)
Organic Building Blocks
Hydrogen (H) 1 bond
Oxygen (O) 2 bonds
Nitrogen (N) 3 bonds
Carbon (C) 4 bonds
Illustration from Wikipedia
Carbon Bonding
Carbon atoms can hold four
electrical charges – sort of
like they have 4 hands
Hydrogen has only one “hand”
H
H
C
H
H
Illustration from Wikipedia
Carbon Bonding with Carbon
H
H
H
C C
H
H
Carbon can also hold “hands” with itself
H
Double Bonds
H
H
C O
Oxygen has two “hands,” so it can hold two of a carbon atom’s
“hands”
This is called a double bond
Fatty Acid Structure
Illustration from Wikipedia
Fatty Acid Length
• Short chain (4-6 carbon
atoms
• Medium (8-12 carbon
atoms)
• Long chain (14-18
carbon atoms)
• Very long chain (20
carbon atoms and up)
Illustration from Wikipedia
Saturation
Saturated versus Unsaturated Fatty
Acids
Illustrations from
Wikipedia
Understanding Saturation
Saturated
Unsaturated
• Tend to be more “solid”
• Are more shelf stable
• Are better for frying as they
tolerate higher heat
• Shorter chain fatty acids are
burned as fuel and are used
to fight infection
• Longer chain saturated fatty
acids are more difficult to
metabolize
• Tend to be more “liquid”
• Turn rancid easily and
degrade more easily making
them difficult to store
• Form trans fats when
subjected to high heat
• Are primarily used in cell
membranes and to produce
chemical messengers
(eicosanoids)
Fatty acid structures
Illustration from Wikipedia
Mono- versus Poly- Unsaturated Fats
The Omega Factor
Essential Fatty Acids
Omega 3
Omega 6
Trans fatty acids
• In normal (cis) bonds, the
hydrogen atoms are
missing on the same side,
this causes the fatty acid
to bend at the double
bond
• In a trans bond, the
hydrogen atoms are
missing from opposite
sides, keeping the fatty
acid straight at the double
bond
CIS Fatty Acids
cis fatty acid
oleic acid
trans fatty acid
Illustration from Wikipedia
Trans Fats
• Acts as a “misfit” blocking fatty acid pathways for cis fats
without performing their functions
• Have a higher melting point, one that is above body
temperature, making them difficult to metabolize
• Are more “sticky” than cis fats – they behave more like
saturated fats, even when they aren’t saturated
• Change the permeability of cell membranes causing “holes”
in protective barriers
• European research shows they “short-circuit” energy flow,
inhibiting electrical flow
• They interfere with metabolism of EFAs, thus impairing the
body’s ability to synthesize longer chain fatty acids like GLA,
EPA and DHA
Dietary Fats and Nutrition
Dietary Fats are Triglycerides
G
L
Y
C
E
R
O
L
Fatty Acid
Fatty Acid
Fatty Acid
Unhealthy Fats
• Modern processed fats
are NOT healthy
• These include:
– Hydrogenated or
partially hydrogenated
fats
• Shortening
• Margarine
• Partially hydrogenated
vegetable oils
– Refined vegetable oils
Oils and Temperature
• 300 degrees F – causes fatty acids to start becoming
mutagenic (cancer causing)
• 320 degrees F (trans fatty acids start to form)
• 392 degrees F (substantial quantities of trans fatty
acids are formed)
• Avoid heating oils to their smoke point, as this
produces trans fats and free radicals
• The more you cook with an oil the more trans fatty
acids it forms and the more cancer causing chemicals
you create
• Since the smoke point of oils varies, some oils are
better for cooking than others.
Making Refined “White” Oil
• Extraction (usually using heat as modern expellers
generate heat in the extraction process-the bigger the
expeller the higher the temperature)
• Hydrogenation (adding hydrogen to unsaturated
bonds; also adds impurities like nickel)
• Degumming (removes phospholipids like lecithin and
minerals like iron, copper, calcium and magnesium)
• Sodium hydroxide (found in Drano) is added to remove
free fatty acids
• Bleaching and Deodorizing to remove beta-carotene
and essential oils that give oils their smell
Good Fats
Linoleic EFA (Omega-6)
• Precursor to GLA and AA
• Used to produce chemical messengers
(eicosanoids or prostaglandins)
• Helps energy production, acts as an oxygen
“magnet”
• Component of cell membranes
• Needs vitamins A (carotene), C, B3 and B6 and
the minerals magnesium and zinc to function
properly
Illustration from Wikipedia
GLA (gamma-linolenic acid)
• Formed from linolenic
EFA by adding another
double bond
(desaturation)
• Synthesis may be
inhibited by
18:3, cis-3, cis-6, cis-9
– Nutritional deficiencies
– Alcohol and tobacco use
– Saturated or trans fatty
acids
– Stress, illness, age
Illustration from Wikipedia
GLA Supplementation May Be Helpful
For:
• Regulation of the immune
system
• Health of the joints
• Regulation of normal
blood sugar
• Healthy brain function
• Healthy nerve function
• Monthly female troubles
• Healthy skin
• Healthy circulation
GLA Supplements
• Evening Primrose Oil (7273% Omega-6, 8-10%
GLA, trace Omega-3)
• Borage Oil (35-37%
Omega-6, 20-24% GLA,
trace Omega-3)
• Black Currant Oil (47%
Omega-6, 15-18% GLA,
and 13% Omega-3)
• Super GLA contains all
three of the above oils
Borage photo by Stephen Foster
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
• A special form of linoleic acid with one cis bond and one
trans bond (18:2,cis-9,tran-11)
• More likely to be converted into type 1 prostaglandins and
other anti-inflammatory messengers
• Grass fed animals produce up to 500% more CLA than feed
lot raised animals
• May be helpful for:
–
–
–
–
–
Supporting thyroid health and metabolism
Enhancing muscle development and decreasing abdominal fat
Balancing adrenal hormones
Enhancing and balancing the immune system
Maintaining normal levels of triglycerides and cholesterol
Alpha-Linolenic Acid EFA (Omega-3)
• Precursor to EPA and DHA
• Used to produce chemical
messengers (eicosanoids or
prostaglandins)
• Important for brain and
immune function
• Helps protect cardiovascular
system
• Aids energy
production
• Component of cell
membranes
• Also needs vitamins
and minerals to
function properly
Alpha-Linolenic Acid
• May be helpful for
– Maintaining health of the brain and nervous
system
– Maintaining cardiovascular health
– Increasing prostaglandins that control
inflammatory responses
– Monthly female issues and post menopausal
issues
– Eye health
– Regulation of the immune system
Omega-3 Supplements
• Super Omega-3 EPA
– Fish oil source of omega-3s,
including EPA and DHA
• Krill Oil with K-2
– Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and
DHA) Omega-9 fatty acids
– K-2
– Phosphatidylcholine, vitamin A,
vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol),
astaxanthin
• Flax seed oil
– Contains a proper balance of
Omega-3 and Omega-6 EFAs
DHA-Docosahexaenoic acid
• Derivative of Alpha-Linolenic acid, lengthens chain from 18
to 22 and adds three more double bonds (22:6,n-3, cis)
• Trans fats and nutritional deficiencies can inhibit conversion
• Cannot be derived from plant based foods, so if the body is
having trouble making it, it needs to be supplemented
• Found naturally in fatty fish and fish oil and breast milk
• Most abundant essential fatty acid in the brain
• Important for nerve and eye health
• Supplements:
– DHA
– Sunshine Heroes Omega 3 with DHA
Beneficial Saturated Fats
• Lauric acid (12:0)
– Has antimicrobial properties, helps the body fight viral, bacterial and protozoa
infections
– Coconut and palm (44-53%), milk fat and butter (3%)
• Caprylic Acid (8:0)
– Helps the immune system
– Coconut oil (8%), Palm kernel (4%), butter (1-2%)
– Found in Caprylic Acid Combination
• Short and medium-chained fatty acids are good fuel for keeping the body
warm in winter
• They reduce appetite and can be helpful for weight loss when used as part
of a healthy diet
• Good sources are: butter, cream, whole milk dairy products, coconut oil,
palm oil (organic dairy from grass-fed or pastured animals is best)
Thank you for joining me!