Good Healthy FatsGood Healthy Fats

If you haven’t already, read my blog on vegetarianism vs. animal fats to see why your body needs good fats. We also talked about good fats in my teleseminar with renowned holistic dentist, Dr. Hal Huggins.

Since this is SUCH a maligned topic, I’m gonna keep talking about it!

Remember, the cell membrane is 40% fat – what does that say to you about your body’s need for fat? And of course, it has to be bioavailable fat, in the right forms, that your body can use. Here’s my video where I show you which fats to eat and how to work them into your diet:

More Evidence

Dr. Joe Mercola once posted an excellent article on this topic (it has long since been archived), but here’s the summary:

  • The hypothesis that saturated fat causes heart disease was based on cherry-picked statistics that have long since been refuted and proven incorrect, but the dogmatic belief that fat is bad for you still persists with nearly all physicians and the media
  • Saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources provide the building blocks for your cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances that are essential to your health. They also act as carriers for fat-soluble vitamins, and are required for mineral absorption and for a host of other biological processes
  • There are more than a dozen different types of saturated fat, but you predominantly consume only three: stearic acid, palmitic acid and lauric acid. It’s been well-established that stearic acid (found in cocoa and animal fat) has no effect on your cholesterol levels. The other two, palmitic and lauric acid, raise “good” cholesterol as much or more than “bad” cholesterol; thereby actually lowering your risk of heart disease
  • Healthful fats include olives, olive oil, coconut oil, butter from raw grass-fed milk, raw nuts, organic eggs, grass-fed meats, and avocados, just to name a few

Here are the forms of fat that your body CANNOT use:

  • Hydrogenated vegetable oils
  • Transfats
  • Margarine
  • Olein
  • Regular Mayonnaise

And here are the good fats your body NEEDS:

  • Butter
  • Saturated animal fat – Yes! Imagine that – the processed food industry is wrong! Your body actually needs natural fats from animals. Just like we’ve been eating for thousands of years. BUT when you eat animal fats today, they must be from organic, pasture-fed animals – otherwise there are too many toxins stored in the fat.
  • Cold-pressed olive oil, hempseed oil, flax oil, Udo’s oil – again, make sure all are organic.
  • Unrefined coconut oil
  • Fish Oils – this includes cod liver oil and other omega3 oils
  • Mayonnaise made from cold-pressed oils – here’s the best mayonnaise recipe I’ve found.

Lastly, if you’re still paranoid that eating good fats will make you gain weight, then check out the book and eating program: Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig PhD. There are some excellent recipes there you can get going with immediately.

healthy munching,
Jini

p.s. I received this question on the video from a YouTube viewer and I’m sure some of you have similar questions, so here it is:

Hi My name is Barbara,

I watched your video. I found it very interesting. I have a few questions.

For the butter I buy Organic Meadow Cultured butter unsalted is that a good one to use? My olive oil is President’s choice Extra Virgin olive oil First cold pressed from organic Italian olives. If this is not a good brand, I would love to know the brand of your olive oil. My Cocomut oil is by Omega Nutrition Certified Organic, it is solid white but mine does not have a coconut smell like yours does. Again if mine is not a good one I would like to know where I can buy your coconut oil and what brand it is.

My next question. I take Nutra Sea Omega 3 oil. and Flax oil. I would like to try the Udo’s organic seeing that it has the three oils in in 3-6-9. Could I just take that instead of my two oils? Also your Cod oil chewables, do you eat it only in the winter time or all year round? Where can I buy that paticular brand?

Thank you for your time. I will be buying your book, Listen to your Gut. I am having alot of problems with my stomach. My doctor says it’s IBS, then he said it could be allergy related I am (Asthmatic)..ECT. I don’t believe he really knows. So I am trying to fix this myself. I have had this pain in my stomach for over three years and it seems to be getting worse. I can’t even enjoy a glass of wine with my husband and now even foods effect me. Maybe your book will be able to help me out as it did Crohnsboy. 🙂

PS Have you ever heard of Dr. Mercola? I get most of my information on health and food from his website and also Dr Bob’s website.

Hi Barbara,

Your olive oil and butter look good.

Re. the coconut oil, here’s what Omega Nutrition’s website says about why theirs has no smell:

7. How is Omega Nutrition’s Coconut Oil made?

Omega Nutrition’s Coconut Oil is cultivated and processed using the strictest organic standards and practices. The meat from the ripe coconuts is separated from the outer shell and dried. This dried coconut meat is called “copra” and it is the part of the coconut that contains the oil. The coconut copra is then expeller pressed and the resulting oils then goes through an additional step to remove the coconut flavor.

8. What is involved in the process to remove the flavor?

The coconut flavor for Omega Nutrition Coconut Oil has been removed to create versatile cooking oil perfect for all baking and cooking needs. Some other coconut oils have very strong flavor and odor. Depending on how you plan to use the Coconut Oil, a full flavor product may not be appropriate. Many customers have told us they want the nutritional benefits of coconut oil but without the predominant coconut flavor. The flavor is removed by distilling the oil with a vacuum process. The heat involved in this process does not create trans fatty acids, and the beneficial fatty acids are not affected. In their natural tropical environments, coconuts and the oil inside are commonly exposed to high tropical temperatures. One of the chief benefits of Coconut Oil is that it is one of nature’s most heat stable oils. It is naturally saturated and is not easily damaged by heat, which is why Coconut Oil is a good choice for higher temperature cooking (375º F/191ºC).

To be honest, I’m not enough of an expert to evaluate these statements. But if you do a search on:
http://www.westonaprice.org/sitemap.html

And go through the articles on coconut oil, you should find your answer.

Yes, you can take the Udo’s in place of the two you’re currently taking – and it provides a few more excellent oils as well.

We take Cod liver oil year round – but we take more and take it more regularly in the winter months. You can get Nordic Naturals at most health stores, or online from my LTYG Shoppe (ditto for the Udo’s).

Regarding the Listen To Your Gut book: You can get lots of free stuff on my site (lots of reports, mini-course, etc.) so you can investigate whether what I’m doing fits with you first, before buying. Of course there’s an ironclad guarantee, so it doesn’t really matter, but just so you know.

Lastly, yes, Mercola is a good site and a good source of information. The only thing we disagree significantly on is probiotics. Although he does seem to be cherry-picking data lately to support whichever product he is selling, which makes me sad.

all the best,
Jini