June 3, 2020 // by Dr. Jacque Moser DC
Fat… people once believed that if you eat fat, you become just that. “Well the times, they are a changing.” Fat in its normal healthy form, is incredibly healthy for the body. Our bodies NEED fat for so many different processes from manufacturing hormones, to healing the nervous system. There was a famous Fish Biologist by the name of Ancel Keyes, who was the culprit responsible for fat getting a bad name. They tried to correlate high fat diets, with an increased risk for cardiovascular events. After they cherry picked the countries they could tie that into, they presented the data and he was seen as a hero in the American Medical Association.
Now, you see on the news new diets to go after, high fat low carb; low fat, high protein; you name them Keto, Paleo, Atkins, etc, no one diet is right for every individual. We all have our own needs and deficiencies, but as a whole, if you cut one Macronutrient (carb, fat, protein) completely out of the diet, you will be nutritionally deficient.
So let’s dive into it, 5 reasons why your body needs fat.
1. Your Brain
Your brain consists of at least 60% fat and is considered to be the fattiest organ in the body. If fat was bad, then your entire brain would be bad wouldn’t it?
Without fat in your diet, your brain would not be able to function even close to 100%. Again, starving out such an important macronutrient will lead to a steep decline in cognitive health, or brain function.
2. Your Nervous System
What about my Nervous system? Your neuronal tissue have protective layers on them called “Myelin Sheaths.” These pads are ways to quickly send messages from your brain to every organ, cell, and tissue in your body. When the myelin breaks down, we have conditions that are called “neurodegenerative diseases.” Which is fancy talk for your nervous tissue is degenerating or breaking down.
This can happen quite quickly when a person is put on a Statin Medication which is designed to lower your cholesterol which is why one of the most common symptoms people can have is associated with nerve pain. If you are on a Cholesterol lowering medication, it will lower your body’s ability to regenerative nervous system tissue and can even lead to brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. I bet your doctor didn’t tell you that when they put you on that medication.
3. Your Hormones
Your hormones play a crucial role is how you feel, as well as who you are. If we have too few hormones, it can leave us at risk for infertility, low sex drive, and can even cause heart complications if your Testosterone gets too low.
Your hormones require Cholesterol in order to manufacture hormones in the body. The Majority of your cholesterol is made in your liver, and a fraction of your cholesterol comes in from your diet. Again, without this Lipid (fat) we would not be able to have hormonal regulation in the body and our bodies would again, be at risk for disease.
4. Your Cells
Phospholipid bilayer… what in the world is that? Well, like I said above, a Lipid is a fat. So this would indicate that there are fats in this layer which is the border along every cell in your body. So again, without fat, we cannot have healthy cells, without healthy cells we ourselves can no longer be healthy.
This Layer in your cells is IMPERATIVE to nutritional transport in and out of the cell, without one that is intact, our cells would no longer be able to survive and would die off causing autophagy to happen in our body. Autophagy is when our body cleans up dead cells that are no longer capable of surviving.
5. Energy
Who couldn’t use a little more energy in the body. I am not talking about forcing your body into ketosis, I am talking about additional fuel stores to be able to be used in long duration endurance exercise such as long distance running or marathons.
When our body is under sustained stress for long periods of time, your body has a tendency to switch to burning fat to sustain your energy. This fat can also be used during high intensity workouts as well to help to access your body’s natural Glycogen stores in your muscle tissue.
Trans Fats
I am not even going to waste my time and energy explaining the negative effects of this type of fat. This was a gimmick back in the day to help people to avoid eating butter, so they made things like margarine or vegetable oil which causes rapid oxidation in our body and almost instant inflammation. So if you see any Trans Fat Content, put the cookie down.
Monounsaturated Fats
These are things like your Olives, olive oil, cashews, almonds, and avocados. These can help with Lowering LDL levels and raising HDL levels in the body, so they get less heat when it comes to the fat talk. These types of fats also include things of the peanut variety, which as I state in my practice, I would much rather you avoid any type of peanut or peanut oil, as I know it has an inflammatory nature, high Mold content, and is a VERY common Food Allergy, and Sensitivity.
Polyunsaturated Fats
This is where we get into our Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. However, the food sources are not created equally. We want to stay towards your healthy walnuts, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, tuna and Salmon in this category.
This particular type of fat can help reduce LDL and allows for a proper blend of health fats that can accumulate for an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. Therefore, causing us to have a healthy body.
Saturated Fats
Oh boy, where do we begin here. Again, this is where we get into the big old debate… red meat. This is where we have things like Coconut oil, butter, and animal fat. So red meat is considered to have a high amount of Saturated fat, however, there is a difference between good meats and bad meats.
When we talk about balancing omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, we can have this same balanced approach when we eat Grass Fed/Grass Finished beef. It can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body and help us to build more lean muscle mass. However, this same meat that is force fed grain, hormones, antibiotics… can then cause massive inflammatory in the body and cause an imbalance between our omega 6s causing a large spike up which would tip the ratio off for the omega6-3 balance. Therefore, causing more inflammation in the body.
So if you are wondering, is grass fed really worth it? The answer is an absolute yes. Grocery stores are now storing it almost everywhere. Aldi has it, Walmart is carrying it, so it is no longer a select item one could only find from Whole Foods.
If people still would choose to debate fat as not being allowed in the body, then ask yourself why we have a gall bladder. Figure out that the gall bladder is used to help break down fats and we have enzymes our body naturally creates to do so. We also have Fat Soluble vitamins that we need in our diet and without fats we cannot absorb them.
So in summation, what do I think of fats? I think fats are imperative in the diet, as long as we know where it is coming from and how much we are consuming. I follow more of a Paleo style diet as I feel you are still able to get amazing quality food without restrictions. So my ideal daily intake would be about 25% of my plate being that of a healthy fat source. It could be something as simple as a fish source, or something as easy as a sliced up avocado or handful of nuts. The choice is up to you. My advice, please start to add some fats on your plate and you will notice a world of difference in your life.
Photo: By Unsplash.com by Giovanna Gomes
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