BSP Nutrition Tip # 6

By Brian St. Pierre

http://brianstpierretraining.com/

Eat healthy fat and plenty of it

• Fat is essential and necessary for proper hormone production, and NO, it does not make you fat
• Do not fear saturated fat, as long as it comes from food following Tips 1 & 2
• Minimize consumption of industrial vegetable oils: corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean, sunflower, etc

The 80’s and early 90’s created this massive fear of fat that still pervades people’s thoughts of healthy eating today. Well I am here to tell you that this is ridiculous. Dietary fat in and of itself is not some evil demon, it is a normal and healthy component of a solid diet, and is in fact necessary for our very survival!

While whole-fat foods are calorie-dense, and you do have to keep that in mind, but they are also generally tastier, have less fillers and synthetic additives and thickeners, and have a better nutrient profile as noted in Tip # 2.

Research has clearly and definitively shown that there is absolutely NO connection whatsoever between total fat intake and risks of heart disease, cancer or anything else. However, the type of fat you eat can make all the difference.

Eating fat sources from real, whole, minimally processed foods that are made from healthy animals or grown in quality soils is vastly different than eating deep-fried trans-fat, refined vegetable oils and sickly animals. These are not one and the same.

In particular I would like to note the polyunsaturated vegetable oils that are often touted as heart-healthy. They are not. Research has shown that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat does decrease LDL-C (the “bad” cholesterol), but it also concomitantly decreases HDL-C (the “good” cholesterol). In addition the lowering of the LDL is accomplished by making the particles smaller, not decreasing the amount of them, and this actually increases heart disease risk!

On top of that these vegetable oils contain huge amounts of omega-6 fatty acids, with little to no omega-3 fatty acids. Excess omega-6 to omega-3’s are thought to contribute to obesity, cardiovascular disease and other diseases. It is thought that humans evolved with a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 of 4:1 to 1:1. It is currently about 25:1 in the Standard American Diet!

The strange part is these seeds are not potent fat sources (especially corn). To actually concentrate the oil and make it usable, it has to be exposed to high heat, degummed, refined, bleached, deodorized, and more to produce a clear oil with a long shelf life. These oils are now devoid of the polyphenols that provide antioxidant protection for the easily oxidized polyunsaturated fats.

Lastly, these industrial seed oils were never a significant contributor to the human diet until the past 50 years, so why should they be now? Answer – They shouldn’t be.

Great Fats Sources

– grass-fed butter
– extra virgin organic coconut oil and organic coconut
– extra virgin olive oil, olives and pesto made from extra virgin olive oil
– avocados and guacamole
– nuts and natural nut butters
– fats that naturally occur is grass-fed/pasture-raised animal products