Good fats and bad fats

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If you run marathons or climb high mountains it shouldn't be an issue since your body is a burning machine that will use anything you put in as fuel. But not everyone is Reinhold Messner or Abebe Bikila, so we must pay careful attention to certain fats.

Fats can be divided into saturated, unsaturated and trans-fatty acids (also called hydrogenated because they are created when an oil that is largely unsaturated, such as corn oil, has hydrogen added to it, causing fat to become more solid at room temperature). Trans-fats are the worst offenders since they are a by-product of processing, and are commonly found in fast-food, deep-fried foods (donuts, french fries, etc.), margarine and vegetable shortenings. Trans-fats will lower good cholesterol and increase the bad cholesterol, boost the acidity of the human body leading to a wide range of health problems and lowered lifespan.

Saturated fats come second in terms of bad fats and are found in animals meats (except fish) and dairy products. Other sources are coconut, cottonseed and palm kernel oils, but contrary to what people may think coconut oil is very good for human health due to its ability to prevent weight-gain or cure obesity, by stimulating metabolism. It is quickly metabolized, and functions in some ways as an antioxidant.

Unsaturated fats, on the other hand, can be further divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Avocado and nuts are monounsaturated and provide health benefits; however, whole grain wheat, cereal, oatmeal are also monounsaturated but are processed and should be avoided if one wants to lose weight. Polyunsaturated fats that are beneficial for our health are found in fish and sea food (herring, salmon, mackerel, halibut), soybeans, and fish oil.

The vegetable oils that you can find in the supermarket shelf (soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, canola, sesame oil, sunflower seed oil, palm oil, and any others that are labeled as "unsaturated" or "polyunsaturated" ) are not healthy because they are unsaturated; that is, some hydrogen atoms have been removed, and this opens the structure of the molecule in a way that makes it susceptible to attack by free radicals. People think that industrial processing is what makes them bad, but that isn't the case: whether cold pressed or consumed as part of the living plant material, they are intrinsically toxic, and it is not any special industrial treatment that makes them toxic.

Nevertheless, olive oil is an exception of the above, and it is considered to be healthy and safe for human consumption; but we must look at the cold pressed extra virgin type as it is the one that delivers all the goodies found in this type of oil (phenolic compounds). It is less processed and is made from the first pressing of the olives as opposed to the other categories: virgin, pure and extra light.

I hope you find the mini-guide useful because there is a lot of misinformation about the topic, especially when it comes time to buy vegetable oil for our cooking.


Points to remember:

1. Do no re-use the oil after cooking.

2. Try to minimize the use of oil in food preparation.

3. Replace butter and margarine with avocado as spreads. If avocado is not available use butter instead of margarine.

4. Margarine contains a high-level of trans-fats which is valid reason to avoid consuming this product from life.

5. Avoid the consumption of fast-food.

6. Exercise regularly.