Following on from milk and dairy, I naturally move on to fat (since milk and dairy products are foods that are high in fats).
The first thing to state is that not all fats are bad – there are good fats and bad fats. In fact, some fats are essential for good health! So, the instruction to follow a low fat diet for good health and weight management is not strictly true and could have the effect of encouraging people to eat ‘low fat’ processed food which is quite often low on nutrients and high in sugar (sugar & starch will be the subject of part 3 of this series).
Bad fats include saturated fats, hydrogenated fats, and trans-fats.
I think most of us have heard of saturated fats – certainly, the official line in the UK on the battle against obesity has traditionally concentrated on this type of fat, and advised us to minimise our consumption of it. Foods such as milk and dairy are loaded with saturated fats (one of the reasons I now avoid milk and dairy). Other foods that can be high in saturated fats are different types of meats, especially red meats, and many types of processed foods, such as pies, sausages, cakes and biscuits. However, the link between saturated fat and obesity (and heart disease) does not appear to be simple, and the way in which saturated fat is processed by the body is quite complicated and seems to depend on other aspects of the diet and on activity levels. At the end of the day, saturated fat is a natural substance that has always been in the human diet, and so it can’t be as simple as saying that any saturated fat is bad for you, period. It certainly isn’t an essential fat since the body can only do two things with it, burn it for energy or store it as fat – there you go, one thing the body can do with saturated fat is burn it for energy (that’s not a bad thing). One thing is certain - on average, our intake of saturated fat has increased to such an extent that the average child now eats the equivalent of 1,314 packets of lard between the ages of 6 and 16 (see The Holford Diet), whilst our intake of essential fats (more on these later) have reduced down to dangerously low levels. And that is the real problem, our modern diet has all but eliminated the fats that are essential for us and replaced them with fats that are not essential – it is this imbalance that is the real problem.
This is explained in an article about Paleolithic Nutrition - it states that the diet during the Paleolithic period (the hunter / gatherer period from 200,000 years ago to approx 12,000 years ago) was 35% – 40% fat and that the modern North American diet is also 35% – 40% fat. However, only 40% of the total fat intake within the Paleolithic diet was from saturated fats, with 60% being from polyunsaturated fat (the ‘good’ or essential fats). Compare this to the modern North American diet where almost all the fat consumption is saturated fat (and hydrogenated fats & trans-fats) at the expense of good fats. This is mainly due to the modern diet consisting of large amounts of milk, dairy, meats (especially red meats) from farmed animals (which are bred to be big and fat, compared to the lean wild animals that Paleolithic Man would eat), and processed foods such as margarines, biscuits, pastries, cakes and desserts, ready-meals, and take-aways. So, it would seem that one problem is that our modern diet has the wrong ratio of essential fats to saturated fats.
What are hydrogenated fats and trans-fats? These are the fats that really complicate the matter, and these are the fats that are potentially more dangerous than saturated fat (at least saturated fat is a natural fat). Hydrogenated fats and trans-fats are polyunsaturated fats (the good fats) and monounsaturated fats that have been processed through hydrogenation - this is the process whereby liquid vegetable oil is heated whilst hydrogen gas is injected into it. This makes the oils more solid (as in the manufacture of margarine), it gives baked products a longer shelf-life, and it gives cooking oils a longer frying-life. The result of this process is both hydrogenated fat and partially hydrogenated fat. Fully hydrogenated fat is basically an artificial saturated fat (the ’saturation’ of a fat refers to the number of hydrogen atoms in it), i.e. a non-essential, non-natural fat (doesn’t sound much like something we should be putting into our bodies). Worse still are the partially hydrogenated fats (trans-fats) where the atomic structure of the fat is such that our bodies cannot process the fat properly. It is suggested that trans-fats have all the bad attributes of saturated fats and are also toxic in that they block good substances (including essential fats) needed by our bodies.
Food processors use hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats mainly because they are cheap (as well as increasing shelf-life), and due to the confusing labelling-laws (which vary in different countries) it is difficult to work out how much hydrogenated fats and trans-fats are in our foods. The only way to be certain that your diet is low in these types of fats is to stay away from processed foods as much as possible, and stick to whole foods (natural, unprocessed foods) for the bulk of your diet. If your diet consists mainly of processed foods and take-aways, it is a good bet that you are consuming lots of trans-fats. Check out this article for further explanation.
Let’s move on to the good fats – these are the essential fats, the fats that we actually need. Our bodies cannot produce these fats, therefore we must get these fats from our diet – so, if you are not consuming these fats within your diet then your body is missing out on vital nutrients! These fats are more correctly named, essential fatty acids (EFA’s), and they are specifically Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. There is also Omega 9, but this is not deemed ‘essential’ since (unlike Omega 3 & 6) the human body can actually synthesise this fat as long as Omega 3 & 6 is already present in the body (however older people and people with liver problems may not produce enough Omega 9).
Why do we need EFA’s? There are many reasons, and the more you read about EFA’s the more you realise that a nutritious diet should be rich in them. First of all there is your brain function (which influences mood, intelligence, behaviour, reactions, vision, etc). Our brains are 60% fat, and excluding water 25% of the brain is Omega 3, so your system can’t work properly without EFA’s. Other benefits of EFA’s (and in no order of importance) are: Increase in energy & stamina; strengthen the immune system; a lowering of risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease; regulate the organs and glands; speed recovery and healing; improves digestion; protects genetic material and can inhibit tumour growth; improves the health of skin, hair and nails; aids with the strengthening of bones; can help in the regulation of blood sugar. Amazing really that a substance can do all of that , and yet many of us choose not to include it in our diets.
Of particular interest to people trying to lose weight, EFA’s (especially Omega 3) can help in this process – this is because they help to keep energy levels up (important for exercise) whilst suppressing appetite (which I’ll explain next). Recent studies have also found that they help to block the genes that produce fat in the body and they produce a ‘thermogenesis’ effect in the body (this is where the body produces heat by increasing the metabolic rate, which has the effect of the body burning calories faster). I am certain that my (new found) love of sardines (Omega 3 source) had a great effect in helping me lose the stubborn pounds that I had acquired since the age of 30, and had been largely unable to shift, until now!
The thing to learn is that because of the EFA’s that the body needs, we naturally hunt out fats – our taste buds love fats. We also have ‘fat sensors’ in our mouths to tell us when we have struck gold, so when you eat EFA’s these sensors tell the brain that your essential fat needs are satisfied and so we can now stop hunting for fat (appetite suppressed). However, if you eat saturated fats, hydrogenated and trans-fats, our taste buds will be satisfied, but our fat sensors will not (no, or very little EFA’s), therefore you will be craving fats again very quickly (probably the same day). This becomes a real problem for 2 reasons:
1) If you don’t get the right amount of EFA’s then you are harming your health – the human body was designed in such a way that EFA’s are essential in making it function properly.
2) If you don’t get the right amount of EFA’s, you will continue to crave fat – this can spark a spiral of people eating more and more junk-food (e.g. burger & chips, pies, doughnuts, kebabs, etc) as they subconsciously search out the fats they need (but each time, consuming the wrong fats). This is a big reason why more and more people become addicted to junk & processed foods.
The sad thing is, in modern times, the total intake of fat has increased but the intake of Omega 3 (the best fat!) has decreased to levels that make it almost non-existant in many people’s diets. You may be surprised to learn that the consumption of Omega 6 has actually risen during this period (reflecting a switch from butter to margarine) – the natural balance of EFA intake in the Paleolithic diet was such that the Omega 6 / Omega 3 ratio was less than 4; this ratio is greater than 10 and probably higher than 20 in the modern diet. The increase in Omega 6 does not make up for the Omega 3 deficiency since Omega 6 is an inferior EFA, and also since a major source of Omega 6 in the modern diet is polyunsaturated vegetable oil which has been hydrogenated (i.e. a synthetic fat that the body doesn’t like!). Could this imbalance be linked to the massive increase in so-called lifestyle diseases in the West?
Sources of EFA’s include:
Omega 3 – Fish, especially salmon, mackerel, herring, tuna, sardines; flax seeds; pumpkin seeds; walnuts; the oils of these seeds & nuts; omega 3 eggs (laid by hens with a high omega 3 diet).
Omega 6 – Sunflower seeds; sesame seeds; pumpkin seeds; the oils of these seeds
Omega 9 – Olives; almonds; walnuts; the oils of these; avocados
I aim to eat lots of foods from the Omega 3 list (especially sardines, pumpkin seeds, and Omega 3 eggs). My super-food is the sardine – a good source of EFA’s (especially Omega 3), suppresses appetite, a good source of calcium (if variety with bones left in), encourages the body to get into fat-burning mode.
So, if you want to get healthy, lose weight, stay healthy, and keep the weight off, you need to review your fat intake. Increase the foods which contain EFA’s (especially Omega 3) and decrease the foods which contain bad fats (basically processed foods for hydrogenated and trans-fats, and milk & dairy for saturated fats).
My next article in the nutrition series will tackle sugar & starch – stay tuned folks.
. However, the last time I used (12kg + bar) dumbells for first 2 sets, before changing down to (10 kg + bar), therefore, I think next time I will move back up to the heavier weight and see if I can stick with it for all 5 rounds.
