Dietary Fats

Understanding Dietary Fats: What’s Healthy and What’s Unhealthy? (Part Two)

Although saturated fats are often described as the “bad” fat or “unhealthy” fats, new science and deeper research into this topic has shown us that is NOT the case. Unhealthy fats do exist; however, they are the industrially produced ones that are designed to never expire (non-perishables). These oils include:

Trans-fats
Hydrogenated fats
Most shelf-stable cooking oils

Trans fats and hydrogenated fats are commonly found in processed food and are often termed “man-made fats”. Even though you can find small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats in whole meat and dairy products, it isn’t necessarily unhealthy. We are more concerned about artificial trans fats (lab-made). Artificial trans fats and hydrogenated fats have been shown to cause inflammation and contribute to various health risks. These fats are commonly found in commercial baked goods, margarine, some fried foods, and used in restaurant cooking because it is cheap and has a neutral flavour.

In addition to trans fats and hydrogenated fats, shelf-stable cooking oils are also unhealthy. The most common one is vegetable oil! Although vegetable oils have been labelled as “healthy for your heart” and people have been encouraged to use it as an alternative to saturated fats, such as butter, vegetable oil is a less than desirable form of cooking oil. First, let’s break down what the term “vegetable oil” means. This word is used as a blanket term to characterize oils that have been extracted from seeds. This includes canola oil, corn oil, soy oil, rapeseed oil and safflower oil. In fact, when you buy “vegetable oil” at the store you are likely buying a combination of seed oils. What this term really means is that the oil you are using is not made of animal fat. It says nothing else about the product. However, because the word “vegetable” is often linked with good health, it has made us feel unthreatened by the product, when in fact, vegetable oil is something you should probably never use again if you can avoid it.

The Problem with Vegetable Oil

1 – The Process of Extraction

The most obvious concern with vegetable oils is that these oils are not fit for human consumption. Unlike natural fats, vegetable oils can’t be extracted by pressing or separating. These oils require extensive processing to extract their oils. The process of creating vegetable oils involves chemical extraction, degumming, refining, bleaching, and deodorizing, making them a highly processed form of oil.

2- Polyunsaturated Fat

The second concern with vegetable oils is their high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) are very unstable and oxidize easily. Omega-6s are the PUFAs specifically found in vegetable oils, and although they are essential to human health, in excess they are dangerous and inflammatory. The consumption of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids has increased significantly in the Standard American Diet due in large to the consumption of vegetable oils and products that contain them.

3- How it is used & Stored

Another concern with vegetable oils is how fragile and easily damaged they are by exposure to light, heat, and air. Unfortunately, that is exactly how they are used and exposed in most grocery stores, households and restaurants. Not only are they often found in clear bottles and stored in warm areas near stovetops, but they are also commonly used in deep fryers and sauté pans all over the world.

4 – Chemically Produced

And finally, since vegetable oils are chemically produced it will likely not come as a surprise that they are full of chemicals. Vegetable oils, specifically vegetable oil products such as margarine, often contain added preservatives, emulsifiers, colours, flavours and sodium.

Although some products will simply be labelled as “vegetable oil”, some might be found under more specific names, but they should all be avoided. Common forms of vegetable oil include:

Canola Oil
Corn Oil
Cottonseed Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Rapeseed Oil
Soybean Oil
Safflower Oil
“Vegetable” oil
Margarine
Shortening
Fake butter or spreads

So, What Fats Are “Healthy Fats”?

Healthy fats are those found in their natural form in whole foods and can be found in the form of saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. Healthy fats are minimally processed and responsible for many important functions in the body; they serve as a source of energy; help to absorb fat-soluble vitamins; support cell formation and structure; regulate temperature and are vitally important for brain function the nervous system and hormone development. Moreover, since natural dietary fats are so energy and calorie-dense, they can help to manager hunger cues, balance blood sugar and minimize cravings by providing a lot of energy in a small bite.

Healthy fats are integral for overall health and by eating a wide-variety of fat-based whole foods, such as high-quality animal meats, animal fats, fish, seafood, eggs, olives, avocado, nuts and seeds, you can help to ensure that you are consuming a good balance of healthy fats. When cooking at home, avoid using vegetable oils and sprays, instead opt for natural oils such as butter, ghee, olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil, and store the liquid oils in dark bottles away from heat source.

Healthy fats are also a crucial part of your nutrition when you are fasting long-term. When we fast, we are limiting the number of times we eat in a day to 0-3 times, which means you are consistently switching between using body fat as fuel and using glcoygen (food) as fuel. The same mechanism is our body that burns body fat, also burns dietary fat. So if you are just beginning your fasting journey now, ensuring that you are eating sufficient amount of natural dietary fat will definitely help you!

I do want to mention though, that despite the trend of eating high amounts of fat that has gained popularity from the keto diet, and “fat fasting”, there is a certain amount of dietary fat that you shouldn’t be exceeding on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, I don’t recommend things like bulletproof coffee or other “fat bombs” because at the end of the day, it still contains calories that you need to