By Joanna Rushton
Depending on your source of fat you could be either supporting or drastically diminishing your attempts to achieve your ideal body weight. Not to mention balancing your hormones, optimising your metabolism, improving your immune system and regulating your adrenal glands.
Let’s take a look at the four basic groups of fats:
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Polyunsaturated
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Monounsaturated
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Trans fats
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Saturated
The more unsaturated the fat is the more unstable and reactive it is…why does this matter and what are the effects on the body?
Polyunsaturated oils
These are plant and seed oils such as cotton seed, soy bean oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil, etc. When they're heated, they react with oxygen, making them rancid. This is why we should never cook with these types of fats. Yet this is what most fast food stores and restaurants use. Your local fish and chip shop is probably using canola or sunflower oil to deep fry your food - toxic, rancid oil which raises your cholesterol and increases your risk of heart disease.
Unfortunately most polyunsaturated vegetable oils on the market today are heated in the very process that gets the oil out of the seed/ plant in the first place! Therefore they are already rancid before they make it to the supermarket. And there's no labelling requirements for GMO in Australia so most canola, soy and corn oil is genetically modified (unless you choose organic).
The low down: unless you're buying cold pressed organic polyunsaturated vegetable oils that come in a dark bottle and are refrigerated, they aren’t even fit for a salad! Polyunsaturated fats can however be healthily consumed as omega 3 oil in fish such as herring, salmon and halibut.
Monounsaturated oils
Monounsaturated oils such as olive oil, canola oil, almond oil, peanut oil and avocado oil are considered more stable under low to moderate heat. But the problem again is that the extraction process of these oils, just like polyunsaturated oils, is done under extreme temperatures.
The low down: if using monounsaturated oils for low-med heat cooking make sure they're organic cold pressed oils. Choose olive oil that is labelled “extra-virgin” or “virgin”. These oils are produced from the first pressed olives, and are unrefined. As a result, they are more flavorful and healthy. And by the way, eating the avocado is a better option than using its oil.
Trans fats
Trans fats are definitely the "ugly" side of the oil family and are poison to the body. They are created by a process called hydrogenation that’s used by food manufacturers to improve the stability of vegetable oils and convert liquid oils into the solid fats needed for foods such as cakes, pastries, crackers, crisps (all processed foods) margarine and shortening. Be cautious of any food that has "vegetable oils" listed on the label, yet the product is solid (like ice cream) or dry (like crackers or spices). This is a give-away that the fats should not be consumed.
The low down: stay away from ALL trans fats! Don't be fooled by the fake buttery spreads that are touted as healthy, even if they say ”lowers cholesterol” or "no trans fats" on the label. They are still manufactured fats, and are dangerous.
Saturated fats
Saturated fats, my favourite, are the way to go for healthy cooking. They are stable and contrary to popular belief, healthy. So use extra virgin coconut oil, organic pasture-fed butter or ghee, or free-range organic chicken or beef fat, and don't worry about clogging your arteries. These fats are not the problem.
Heart disease was non-existent in the late 1800s when everything had been cooked with these saturated fats for centuries. The first heart attack on record was in 1921, just as the vegetable oil industry was picking up steam, and sugar was becoming plentiful. Since then saturated fat consumption has plummeted while heart disease has skyrocketed. Much of the research on heart disease does not distinguish between the quality of saturated fats - organic pasture fed animal meats and diary, versus trans fats and non-organic meat and diary.
The low down: If you really want to understand fats, oils and lipids and accurately wade through the misinformation, read Mary Enig's Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol
Also by Mary Enig:
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