Could This Be It? Let’s See!

5/5

Hello,

So let’s see if we can wrap this up, okay?

But, before we do, you can follow along with Dr. Dave by doing this >> CLICK HERE!

Alright, here’s another one:

Fats and Oils

Having read Max Lugavere’s Genius Foods, (hint, hint, hint) you probably don’t need for me to discuss oils and fats, but, as a quick review, there are 3 main categories of fats: saturated, unsaturated, and trans-fats.  All fats are comprised of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in some type of unique formation that gives them their unique properties.

Saturated Fats:

Saturated fats are called so because they have a saturation of hydrogen molecules. As a result, saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature.

What foods contain saturated fat?

Mainly animal products including:

• milk
• cheese
• butter
• meats such as pork, beef, lamb, and poultry
• coconut and palm oil.

Unsaturated Fats:

Have no hydrogen molecules and as such tend to be liquids at room temperature.

There are basically 2 categories of unsaturated fats:

Monounsaturated fats

Polyunsaturated fats

The difference between the two depends upon the type of bond present between the carbon elements in the fat. Mono has one double bond, Poly has many double bonds.

Monounsaturated fats include:

• avocados and avocado oil
• olives and olive oil
• peanut butter and peanut oil
• macadamia nuts
• fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines
• nuts and seeds, such as almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts
• beef-nearly 50% is monounsaturated fat

Polyunsaturated fats include:

• Canola Oil
• Corn Oil
• Soybean Oil
• Vegetable Oil
• Peanut Oil
• Cottonseed Oil
• Safflower Oil
• Sunflower Oil
• Rapeseed Oil
• Grapeseed Oil
• Rice Bran Oil

The most well-known polyunsaturated fats are Omega 6 and Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids, called so because they are essential to our health and wellness, but we do not make them in our bodies so we have to get them from our diet.

Ideally, the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids is 3 or 4:1- that is 3 or 4 omega 6 fatty acids to 1 omega 3, or possibly 1:1!

It is thought that our ancient ancestors ate about a 1:1 ratio, while it is believed our modern diets are around 25:1- that means for every 1 gram of omega 3 we are eating 25 grams of omega 6 fatty acids.

Grapeseed oil for example, which is found in many salad dressings and other products, is an omega 6 to omega 3 ratio of 700:1 !!!!!!!!!!!

The problem? Omega 6 fatty acids tend to be highly inflammatory, and associated with many health problems. In fact, if you’ll recall in an earlier blog of this series, polyunsaturated oils are used to make trans-fats by adding hydrogen! That ain’t natural!

Here is a list of great sources of omega-3 essential fatty acids:

Salmon and Sardines

Pastured or omega-3 eggs

Grass fed-beef

Fish oil supplements

Walnuts, Flax and Chia Seeds

Please know that this is not an exhaustive list by any means, and you really should pick up a copy of a book like Max Lugavere’s Genius Foods and find out for yourself.

I have a very limited amount of space and time to hold a person’s attention in these blogs, so I really cannot go into great detail on all subjects. I’m hoping to help you pick better foods at the grocery store and restaurant menus by knowing a few things.

I can assure you there is WAY more to learn.

In my opinion, one should absolutely start reading labels!!!!!! And limit or possibly even eliminate heavily processed foods. Where one can eat nutrient-dense whole foods, and add healthy oils and fats such as avocados and olive oil as much as they can, they will be on a better path than they might be at the moment!

Simply eliminating processed foods such as those listed in one of the first blogs of this series will steer a person clear of many, many, many of the nasties!

At least one time a day I try to have a shot glass of extra virgin olive oil- it kind of burns, so I hope it is doing me some good! A person knows they have the “good stuff” if the olive oil tastes grassy and peppery.

Alright, so let’s cover one last topic- kind of a poly topic if you will.

You might think of many more, so let me know and I will discuss them.

There are a number of other categories that we encounter when selecting the food we eat. Each, while considered superior to other choices, always comes with the other side, which always has to be considered. Terms like organic, free-range, wild-caught, cage-free, and grass-fed all have their plus points, but also their minuses as well.

All too often consumers have misconceptions about these terms, like, organic always means a small farm, locally grown, humanely harvested- the whole Old McDonald had a farm thing, and while the advertisers want you to think this, this is not always true.

Most of the misconceptions come from implications and assumptions- the producers and advertisers implying that theirs is healthier and better for you, and therefore worth the extra money you will pay, and you assuming that this is true!

A number of years ago my dad raised chickens for a major chicken operation here in the United States.

One day I was talking to him about all this stuff, you know, organic, steroid-free, free range and he just laughed.

Perhaps the standards have changed, but at the time free range meant that he only had to leave the doors open on his coops for 3 hours a day. If the chickens went outside, fine; if not, they were still considered free range.  They never left the coop.

See? Implication and assumption- the implication being that the chickens were not in a coop and allowed to roam freely, while Mrs. McDonald hand-fed them organic vegetable scraps; and the assumption being we thought this bucolic scene we conjured up in our heads is what was actually happening.

Wild caught is often not humanely caught, and many populations of fish have nearly been fished to the brink of extinction.

Yeah, but farmed raised and GMOs are always worse, right?

Again, I am not going to dive down any rabbit holes and get called a whole bunch of bad names, but not always….

One must always look at the process and its impact on the environment and the future of our planet and our future ancestors, not just our bellies today.

Free-range, grass-fed cattle require a lot of land to raise, and much more time than farm-raised cattle. The pasture lands come at the expense of felling forests and trees, and habitats that other animals need to survive.

So, what I’m saying, and you knew I was going to get to it, you are simply going to have to study- read labels, study growing and farming practices, call foul where fouls are being committed, support those growers and farmers who do so in the manner you consider appropriate and participate in understanding where our food comes from.

It all comes at a trade-off, and the best decisions are those where the most benefit or the fewest are harmed.

Support those practices where the food we eat experiences only “one” bad day in its life if you get what I’m saying.

Ultimately something has to die, even a celery stalk, if you are going to continue to live- it all comes at a very dear price so wake up and participate.

Well, okay!

If anyone can think of other label entries or raising practices they would like to know about, please let me know, and I’ll tell you what I know.

As usual, I hope these last few blogs have been of some help to you, and thank you for reading along!

Take Care,

Dr. Dave