What’s more divine than unpasteurized, fresh cheese? Buffalo mozzarella, gorgonzola or camembert, fat tastes marvellous. It is very filling and satisfying to eat as it carries a gazillion calories and the body loves high calorie food. The reward system gets activated because calories signal abundance and, in a world historically characterised by scarcity, calories mean more chances of survival.
Nutrition is a contentious subject, there is science but it is not mathematics. Politics, culture, economics are very important factors in shaping official recommendations. Nutritional guidelines seem to change every decade or so and eating behaviours are increasingly detached from cultural heritage and tend to follow media hype and advertisements.
Some science in the 1940s suggested a correlation between high-fat diets, high-cholesterol levels and heart disease. In the 80s the low fat for weight loss and heart health mantra became mainstream, endorsed by the medical establishment, governments and, crucially, the mass media.
There was never clear evidence that low fat diets prevented heart disease or promoted weight loss and, actually, as food manufacturers increased the range of carbs food and low fat products, Americans started to pile up the Kilos. The “cholesterol hypothesis” remains controversial and reviewing the evidence, it is very likely that incidence of heart disease has diminished largely because of reduction in smoking and not reduction in fat or dietary cholesterol.
TYPES OF FAT
There are 2 different perspectives we can take on fat, depending on its molecular structure.
- Short chain fatty acids like butyric acid from butter are used by the intestine as a ready source of energy, when most fat isn’t immediately used as energy. Great for going to the toilet, butyric acid supports healthy bacterial microflora and might even be beneficial against Irritable Bowel Syndrome, the most commonly diagnosed functional gastrointestinal condition. Most of it is made by the gut itself but I like a little bit of ghee in the diet, from pastured raised cows.
- Medium chain fatty acids such as capric and lauric are also very easy to absorb and recommended. Caprylic acid in particular is great against yeast infections, skin conditions and digestive disorders. The largest dietary source of medium chain fatty acids is coconut oil and cold pressed, virgin coconut oil should be part of your nutrition.
- Long chain fatty acids form the largest category of dietary fat. Oleic acid, also called Omega 9, is found in olive oil and known for its many benefits, including reduction of blood pressure and cholesterol, promotion of brain function and it is anti-inflammatory.
Crucially, we need to eat fatty acids Omega 3 and Omega 6. These are long chain, polyunsaturated and essential because the body can’t synthesise them and need to come from food. Linoleic acid Omega 6 is present in abundance in vegetable cooking oils but the best quality comes from nuts and seeds, it is pro-inflammatory and needs to be moderated.
Omega 3 DHA and EPA are long chain and polyunsaturated. By far the most important fat, they are anti-inflammatory and found in fish and seafood. To a lesser extent they can be derived from ALA present in plant food like chia and flax seeds, walnuts and certain algae. There is research showing Omega 3 might help against insulin resistance, diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, cancer, Alzheimer, depression, schizophrenia and more!
Fat can also be divided into saturated and unsaturated.
- Saturated fats are abundant in meat, eggs, coconut oil, dairy and are beneficial in moderation.
- Monounsaturated lipids from olive oil, avocado or even my favourite fruit, the durian, should be making up the bulk of our dietary fat.
- Most polyunsaturated fat, beside Omega-6 from nuts and seeds and Omega-3, should be reduced to the minimum. They are often sold in low quality formats and inflammatory in nature. Eliminate chemically extracted soy-bean oil, canola, margarine and most other commercial frying oils. Often manufactured at high temperature or hydrogenated, they carry trans fats, very damaging compounds for the organism. They are very cheap and end up in most junk, processed and ultra processed food.
CHOLESTEROL AND TRIGLYCERIDES
If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, particularly from sugar, high GI foods and cheap oils, you will likely get high blood triglycerides (TGs). Fat is present in every cell but TGs are stored away in adipocytes, specialised fat cells. Too many blood TGs and the system will be under threat for pancreatic inflammation. More generally and in the long run, TGs will contribute to atherosclerosis, the deterioration of blood vessels. And more TGs, more adipose tissue you carry around.
What to do about this? Balanced, wholefood nutrition. Fasting and intermittent fasting are also effective at lowering insulin and allow the body to use TGs for energy.
Cholesterol is a more controversial subject. An important and essential compound, it is much and wrongly maligned. Most cholesterol is made by the body and not taken through the diet. It is used for Vitamin D and calcium metabolism, brain chemistry, to build hormones for immune function and stress, sex hormones like oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone and much more.
Hormones are such an important part of our physiology. Take care of your hormones and the whole body will benefit. Oestrogen levels rise during a woman’s menstrual cycle, HDL cholesterol levels also go up, and LDL cholesterol levels decline which is deemed good.
Ageing men with unhealthy lifestyles instead, might have less testosterone and more oestrogens, hormones associated with female physiology. This might lead to man boobs and erectile dysfunction. Estrogens in men are also linked to increased levels of LDL-cholesterol and low levels of HDL-cholesterol which is deemed a risk factor.
There is also a link between chronic high levels of stress hormones epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol and cardiovascular disease. The first two increase blood pressure while cortisol increases blood glucose and, in the long run, inflammation. How do you rebalance? Try a better diet, regular physical activity, a more relaxing lifestyle and Yoga!
In reality, the very bad type of cholesterol that dangerously builds up on artery walls is oxidised. Inflammation starts the process of damaging blood vessels and later on large molecules of oxidised fat build up on the artery linings. Balanced wholefood high in antioxidants, as part of a healthy, active lifestyle, will prevent inflammation, take care of your hormones and reduce the chances of lipid oxidation and cardiovascular disease. Healthy nutrition is truly holistic and effective at re-balancing the whole body.
WEIGHT LOSS
If you want to lose fat, you need to eat less fat. Sounds simple enough and there’s something to it. When we eat protein, 30% of calories goes towards digesting them, it’s 10 or 15% for carbs and a mere 5% for fat. The body doesn’t like to turn carbs into adiposity, a process called de-novo fatty acid biosynthesis or lipogenesis, although this happens if you start developing insulin resistance and the quality of carbs is constantly low.
Weight management can be seen as an inflammatory and hormonal challenge. If your hormones are in shape, it will be a lot easier for the body to effectively regulate weight and find its natural form. Inflammation and high insulin levels lead to insulin resistance and visceral adiposity.
Let’s say you eat some calories above your daily requirement, some from carbs and some from fat. The carbs component raises insulin and when insulin is raised, the carbs are either used for energy or stored as glycogen (glucose in the liver) and fat is saved in triglycerides. If you have insulin resistance, because of an unbalanced, low quality and inflammatory diet, you’ll enter a metabolic trap where fat can’t ever be burnt for energy. Not the fat you eat in your meals and even less the fat you carry in your love handles.
If you want to shed some Kilos you need to fix your insulin resistance first. So please get rid of inflammatory sugars, low quality starchy products and, yet again, refined vegetable oils first.
DIETARY MODELS
What is a balanced ratio of macro-nutrients? A very interesting theory is the metabolic typing diet. According to this model, there are three basic types of metabolism: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph which determine the speed at which food is broken down by digestion and glucose released to the blood stream. Some people will be genetically more prone to do well with low-fat, high carbohydrate nutrition, or a high-fat, high-protein food or anything in between.
The ultimate high fat diet is the Keto diet with 70-80% fat from total daily calories, 5-10% carbohydrate, and 10-20% protein. This was developed for helping children with epilepsy, it is great for balancing blood sugar and lowering insulin. It may reduce hunger-stimulating hormones and it has also been suggested as a possible support for cancer patients and to support brain and heart health.
It works similarly to fasting, when the body has tiny amounts of glucose in circulation and relies on a processed form of fat produced by the liver from fatty acids, called ketones.
The Keto diet is very interesting in many ways and could work as a great reset short term. It is however a difficult elimination diet to stick to in the long run and for some people a lot of fat can be tough to digest.
The wholefood Mediterranean diet roughly proposes 35-40% fat, mostly plant-sourced, 15-20% protein and 40-50% carbohydrate and it’s much easier to follow. Some vegans tend to go much higher on carbs and if you are plant based, you really want to limit intake of grains and sugar.
CONCLUSIONS
Nutrition is a simple matter. As nothing in life is good or bad, fat is essential for life and health promoting in certain forms and inflammatory in others. As always, quality, balance and moderation matter very much. Quality more than anything else.
Whole, minimally processed food from natural sources is rich in micro-nutrients, low GI carbs, good quality protein and fat. Fibre, vitamins and minerals in fruit and vegetables are protective and conducive for health. They are the cornerstone of balanced nutrition.
Beans, whole-grains, whole wild and pastured raised animals pack a ton of nutrients and further help balancing blood sugar levels and the insulin response. Fresh herbs, spices and teas are wonderful to add taste and phytonutrients to your meals.
A food culture and a love for fresh, homemade meals will go a long way towards keeping fit and living a longer, more fulfilling life. Natural whole food tastes amazing and you could become an amateur cook and a foodie, like I am. If you aren’t already, start today, give it a go!