It’s about time we settled the record, after all it seems FAT has been giving a bit of a bad reputation over the last 50 years!

So, were do i start? Well firstly, fats are not all created equal, and the impact of fat on blood cholesterol AND the odds of developing heart disease cannot be ignored! The fact is, fats can be confusing for many people trying to make good dietary decisions. After all, they all sound alike! Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated, Saturated, Omega 3. Omega 6 and 9. The media and low fat campaigns have over the years scared the hell out of people from eating them, the truth is, we need healthy fats in our diet yet people ignore this and treat all fat equal when dieting. Hopefully this blog may shed some light and solve some of the confusion.

Monounsaturated Fat

These fats are good for you and found in olive oil, nuts and avocados; known to lower blood cholesterol and prevent artery clogging or atherosclerosis

Saturated Fat

These fats are mostly bad. They are found in processed meats, whole dairy products and in many bakery items; most of them are known to raise cholesterol. A key exception is a fat called Stearic acid, which, like Monounsaturated fat lowers cholesterol mostly found in meat.

Polyunsaturated Fat

These fats are a mixed bag, some more beneficial than others. For example, Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats (found in fish oil) are healthy fats, which can improve blood chemistry and reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, But Omega 6 polyunsaturated fats (found in vegetable oils, baking goods and snack foods) are not good when you eat too much of them at the expense of the Omega 3 fats.

Half of the problem lies in the food we eat, particularly the meat we eat! One of the biggest problems lies in the cattle that is raised for our supermarket shelves. With an ever growing population the demand for food is growing. Meat is highly processed using the cheap cuts of meat, full of preservatives such as nitrates, typically full of salt, high fructose corn syrup, wheat, grains, and other additives. My advice, avoid processed meats at all costs!

Your best bet is to opt for Lean cuts of meat that are wild, grass fed organic meats and avoid feedlot meats. Why? Wild animal carcasses are lean, have little external fat between the muscles (marbling). In contrast, feedlot-produced cattle maintain a four to six inch layer of white fat covering the animals entire body. These artificial products of modern agriculture are overweight, obese and sick. Fed primarily on grains (corn and sorghum) in the last half of their lives to speed growth and increase size and profit. Many cattle become insulin resistant and sick.

To the point, Fats are smart!

Without the introduction of fats in our diet we would all still be chimpanzees! yes, I’m not mad haha

Evolution shows us, chimpanzees and gorillas eat predominantly vegetarian diet which required huge guts to extract the nutrients  from their fibre rich, plant based diet. About 2.5 billion years ago our ancestors starting trading in their big guts for bigger brains, to the point where today our bellies are 40% smaller and brains about 3 times larger. The turning point was when our ancestors figured out that eating animal food (meat and organs gave them much more energy. Over the years the bellies shrank and energy was used by the brain and we become what we are today.

At first humans were not good hunters at all and started out as scavengers who trailed behind predators such as lions and feeding on left over carcasses. Feeding on the brains and marrow fat. Marrow fat was the main concentrated energy source that enabled the human gut to shrink and the scavenged brains contained specific type of Omega 3 fat called ‘Docosahexaenic acid (DHA) , which allowed the brain to expand. This is the main building block of our brain tissue! Without this, the expansion of our brain capacity could never of happened.

So there you have it, not all FATS are equal. Be smart and eat good fats. Taken from The Paleo Diet, For further details and references checkout this book by Loren Cordain. One of the top global researchers in the area of evolutionary medicine, world leading expert in the Paleolithic diet and Professor in Health and Exercise Science.

Darren Tyrie, North East Personal Trainer and Biosignature Practitioner