Fat:Facts vs. Fiction

Fat is the satiety macronutrient which means that it's responsible for keeping you full and bringing pleasure to what you eat. Fat and cholesterol is a major component of every cell in the body and crucial to the backbone of healthy cholesterol, hormones (all made of cholesterol), nerve health, brain function, cardiovascular health, and on and on! Without adequate fat in the diet we can suffer from hunger, cravings, depression, wrinkles and poor skin health, joint breakdown, anxiety- you name it. Nature doesn't make bad fats!

The only fats to be concerned about eating are those coming from highly processed, unnaturally sourced and improperly heated plants and animals. There are endless studies and research to support this concept, but really just thinking logically about how products like margarine or corn oil are produced are enough to realize what you should be putting in your body! For more, readDeep Nutrition by Cate Shanahan, M.D.

Old thinking:

Fat = clogged arteries & overweight

Fat Fact:

• Fat is 1 macronutrient out of 3 (protein, fat, carbs)

• It keeps us full and satisfied when we eat so we don’t have to rely on too many carbs/protein

• Fat becomes deeply integrated in your cells and eating bad fats reduces the quality of structures. It may take 6-12 months to eliminate them!

THESE ARE THE POLYUNSATURATED FATS

Omega 3 fats (all areessential fatty acids we need to eat) are:

• ALA (Alpha linoleic acid)

• DHA (Docosahexanoic acid)

• EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid)

Omega 6 fats are:

• LA (Linoleic acid)- essential fatty acid we need to eat

• ARA (Arachidonic Acid)

• GLA (Gamma linoleic)

• CLA (Conjugated linoleic acid)

Bad Fats & Where They’re Hiding

“Bad” fats sounds a little childish, I know, but we’re just going with it here! It means the same thing to all of us: fats that are the real culprit for disease and cardiovascular disease. Simply put, they are seed oils that are extremely highly processed which damages their fat structures. We then put them in SO many foods products, use them at high heats and consume them in amounts that’s unbalancing the “healthy to unhealthy” fat ratios. This causes low-grade systemic inflammation in our bodies. How? We are made of fat, like a lot. Every single cell membrane is made of fat and cholesterol. Our brains are mostly fat, our hormones all have a cholesterol backbone, etc. Sooooo….the fat you eat becomes the fat you’re made of and it damages our cell structures and therefore tissues, causing things to work poorly and eventually leads to disease.

They are cheap fats so you’re going to find them in almost all packaged foods, fast food, restaurant foods, “health” foods and even drinks. Here are the guys you want to avoid:

VEGETABLE OILS

• Canola oil

• Soy oil

• Sunflower oil

• Cottonseed oil

• Corn oil

• Grapeseed oil

• Safflower oil

• Non-butter spreads (margarine and the like)

Download the handoutfor more details. Also- consider avoiding conventionally raised animal meats and their products as much as possible. These fats are also damaging. Sorry to be a bummer. That’s why all my handouts recommend grass fed, pasture-raised, organic, etc. products- the fats are at a higher omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. They actually improve your HDL to LDL ratios! Woot woot! ♀️ I know!

Healthy Fats & Essential Fats

Healthy fats that should be a part of your regular diet but aren’t essential

Omega 6 sources:

• Nuts & seeds (dry roasted or raw- not fried in veg oil)

• Avocado

• Grass-fed meat and dairy (high in CLA)

• Poultry, organic & pastured

Essential fats that you need to eat in order to have adequate supply of

Omega 3 sources:

• Salmon, sardines, anchovies, mackerel, herring, tuna

• Omega 3 supplements

• Grass-fed red meat

• Grass-fed dairy products

• Eggs, pastured

Omega 6 sources:

• Walnuts, english

• Tofu

• Hemp seeds

• Sunflower seeds (not fried)

Grand fat finale

如果你看下面的视频,它将几乎all of what I wrote above in it. The last slide says this: you really don’t have to stress out to much about the “good” and the “bad” if you just follow these simple guidelines in your life (which really help with more than just eating healthy fats):

1. Cook at home, from scratch, most of the time. This gives you control of what ingredients you use in all your cooking adventures.

2. Keep a supply of safe fats to cook with so you never need to stress about it. The handout above gives a list of the fats to keep in the kitchen and their cooking temps.

3. Decrease sugar intake because sugar + unhealthy fats are a super villainous combination

Thanks for reading, I seriously appreciate you

FOLLOW ME!Keto Katzis an Instagram page where me and my friend Anna will be doing IGTV (instagram TV) episodes of easy to prepare keto foods (and cocktails, lol). Of course you can apply these recipes to any diet- they are low carb and plant-centered as this is always the healthiest way to eat, for most people.