Saturated Fat, Friend or Foe?

There is a lot of negativity in the news today regarding saturated
fat. There are other reasons not to eat dairy, ice cream and butter
such as pasteurization and the fact that dairy is meant for cows, not
humans, but what about the saturated fat in animal protein or coconut
oil, is it bad? Well for frying or sautéing a saturated fat is
definitely more heat stable than a polyunsaturated oil such as canola,
peanut or soybean where heating leads to the possibility of free
radical production. Also heating and consuming trans fats of any kind
lead to free radical production and other chemical stress in the body.
I am not saying to consume large amounts of meat, eggs, dairy or
coconut oil. What I am saying is that using 1 tablespoon of coconut
oil or 1 tablespoon of butter in cooking or on whole grains is not
terrible and probably in the long run preferable to using
polyunsaturated fats and definitely trans (anything partially hydrogenated
which is an unnatural process) for the same purpose.

Studies of the Masai, a nomadic tribe in Kenya and Tanzania, show that
these tribes who live on a diet of 60% saturated fat have some of the
lowest incidences of heart disease in the world. Granted, they are
nomadic, so they move around (which most of us don't) and they don't
live here in America where they would supplement this high fat diet
with cheetos (please read the ingredients of cheetos before you eat
them, this is not food!). I cannot believe that the saturated fat
alone is to blame. The Masai moved to Nairobi and then to London and
all of a sudden as their diet changed and they began to eat more
processed/prepared food with polyunsaturated fats, sugar and omega 6 heavy
trans fats they developed more heart disease - go figure.

I promote everything in moderation in my practice with my clients,
however, if you are going to have a balanced diets of carbohydrates,
fats and proteins - make sure those foods (and they are foods that
contain these molecules) are as natural, whole and unprocessed as
possible. The process of making skim milk is an unnatural process and
actually causes the cholesterol in the milk to be oxidized which makes
it more absorbable by the body than the natural dietary cholesterol in
one egg or 1 cup of full fat yogurt. So have one egg for breakfast
with one slice of bacon and a cup of berries and gasp some salad or
sautéed greens. Even add a cup or one half cup of quinoa with some
(unpasteurized if you can get it) whole milk (about 1/4 cup), cinnamon
and perhaps some raw honey (1/8 of a cup, just a little, maybe 1
tablespoon) and maybe 4-8 raisins if you really need some extra
sweetness. Just make sure those raisins are minimally processed and
don't contain sulfur dioxide. They should be Hunza raisins if you can
get them.

Starting your day off with a breakfast like this will start your day
in a good direction where you'll be less hungry for lunch and dinner
and you'll have a great deal of energy. You won't even need a cup of
coffee!

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