The essential fat

Since the early eighties obesity has taken on pandemic proportions. Strange how this coincides with the massive increase in the marketing of fast foods, margarine, refined cooking oil and quick-fix diets....

The first thing the quick-fix diet gurus will tell you when you consult them is to limit your fat intake as much as you can. This means you would have to seriously restrict the intake of dairy products, meat, oily fish, avocados, nuts, seeds and olives. Next they will tell you to replace the butter in your diet with margarine and to use refined salad oils, and oh yes, to also eat only fat-reduced products - those foods with labels shouting 'liter, 'lean!', low-fat!' and 'fat-free!'.

The explanation for this advice will be that if you starve your body of dietary fat, it will start using your body fat as energy and that's how you will lose weight.

In theory this sounds plausible enough, but should you take their advice, things will turn out very differently, I'm afraid. Yes, from then on you will be consuming far too little of the essential fatty acids that actively promote leanness, and at the same time you will be taking in (albeit in small quantities) fat and oils that are known as 'free' fats. Free fats have been through a process of hydrogenation, heating and refining that changes their molecular structure to such an extent that they could become more harmful than any other fat. Studies indicate that free fats could lead to obesity and disease. In addition, you will be depriving your body of sufficient nutrients - especially energy-giving foods - with the result that your body will immediately start drawing emergency supplies from your lean muscle cells. Remember them? They are your 'red meat' cells, alive and well, filled with energy and health-sustaining nutrients; elements your body constantly requires. So losing them throws you right back into that cycle of increased weight problems because losing the good cells means reducing your metabolic activity. Permanently.

The bottom line is therefore that these low-kilojoule slimming diets promote obesity because:

• the restriction of fat causes insufficient intake of essential fatty acids - those fats that are needed to achieve leanness in a number of ways, and
• the restriction of nutrients causes a permanent lowering of the metabolic rate as a result of used-up lean muscle cells,

So what is the truth about fat in thediet:

There are many myths regarding fat in the diet, fat in food, fat added to food and so on. The chapter titled Facing the fats provides perspective and better insight into this matter. Right now we are tackling one myth about fat in the diet: avoiding essential fatty acids if you want to lose fat, is a fruitless exercise. Avoiding those fatty acids is in fact one of the reasons for the yo-yo syndrome of losing and gaining weight!

The truth simply comes in the shape of conjugated linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid. The reason is that, without sufficient conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), your body will be totally devoid of the one essential nutritional element necessary to facilitate the loss of body fat,

No other nutrients than the range of essential fatty acids are scientifically named 'essential'. These fatty acids are found in a wide range of animal and plant foods, but as mentioned before, most of us struggling with weight problems have come to believe that avoiding them in our diets will help us lose weight because they have been labelled by the diet industry as 'too fatty'. But the horrifying truth is that we are getting fatter and fatter despite the fact that we are consuming less and less fat!

So how can I be assured of taking in a sufficient supply of essential fatty acids but at the same time avoid the Wrong ^-Id!? This is where I call in the help of a product called Tonalin CLA 80. It is a dietary supplement of conjugated linoleic acid, one of the most important essential fatty acids. Without sufficient conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) your body will be totally devoid of the one nutritional element required to facilitate the loss of body fat. Its as simple and important as that.

Essential Fatty Acids

Another benefit you receive from eating fats is that they supply your body with essential fatty acids. They are known as the omegas: Omega 9 (oleic acid), Omega 6 (linoleic acid, or gamma-linolenic acid) and Omega 3 (alpha linolenic acid). These little beauties play an essential role in your health: they protect your immunity, have an anti-inflammatory effect and play a vital part in all your cell structure.

(You are what you eat, even if you are a cow! Studies show that grain-fed beef, such as American or European beef, has an imbalance in omega oils, unlike pasture- (grass-) fed beef, which we mostly have in New Zealand, and which contains a more natural ratio of omegas.)

In researching the omegas we were faced with endless data on the importance of the balance between these three fats. It seems that the modern diet supplies us with an overwhelming amount of Omega 6 oils, whereas the Omega 9 and Omega 3 oils are much lower down the scale. Omega 3 oils go rancid quickly, which is why industry avoids or modifies them — hence the lack of them in all processed foods. And like anything in nature, when you isolate a nutrient that is meant to work in harmony with others, you run the risk of increasing your susceptibility to ill health and disease. A healthy balance is what you should try to achieve.

You can get Omega 3 from such foods as fish (particularly oily fish like salmon, tuna, and sardines) and flaxseed oil. Omega 6 is found in vegetable oils, such as sunflower, safflower, corn, soybean and cottonseed oil, so we tend to get a fair amount of it in our normal diet. You can get Omega 9 out of olive and avocado oils.

Extra-virgin olive oil, which has been used for centuries, contains an excellent balance of all the omegas. Extra-virgin olive oil and all cold-pressed oils offer the best nutritional value when used raw and unheated. Use them as dressings over salads and vegetables, and dip your breads into the oil instead of using butter. If baking (cakes or biscuits) we prefer a cold-pressed unrefined oil with mild flavour like almond oil, or unsalted butter instead of margarine.

All cold-pressed oils start to oxidise (go off) from the moment they are pressed. This is the result of many factors, and is accelerated by exposure to air and light. It is better not to buy oil stored in plastic, as some plastics have the potential to be absorbed into the oil or leach chemicals. Glass is a better way to store your oil: ideally buy opaque or dark bottles, which block out the light. The ultimate way to buy your oil is in a tin, and many specialty stores sell cold-pressed oils this way.

High temperatures damage the essential fatty acids and destroy many valuable nutrients in your oil. The best ways to cook are therefore the ones using water, such as steaming, baking in a dish of water or blanching, because water cannot get any hotter than the boiling point of 100 degrees C. Frying, on the other hand, can induce extreme heat.

A good example of this is cooking fish. Salmon is a good source of Omega 3 fat and protein. When you cook it, you shouldn't fry it in oil over a high heat, or, heaven forbid, deep-fry it, because then you not only run the risk of destroying the essential fatty acids in the fish but also turning your oil into a trans fat due to the extreme heat. Cooking methods like steaming are healthier options. Boiling is also a water method, but be careful not to overboil, as you will leach out vitamins and minerals in the water.