Fats, Not Fear

Fats: associated with images of obesity, tipping scales, and for many, fear. For years, fat in food has been blamed for all things bad. Is there any truth to that? What is so terrible about this macronutrient?

True or False?

Fast Fat Facts

Fats are needed to keep cells healthy, provide energy, absorb specific vitamins, and they also play a role in your immune system. Fats have the most energy out of the three macronutrients at nine calories per gram. They are divided into saturated, unsaturated, or trans fats:

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature: butter, palm oil, fats from animal meats, and dairy. Unsaturated fats are mostly liquid at room temperature. These fats can be found in vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, seeds, and fish. Unsaturated fats include omega-6 and omega-3 fats, both essential for the human body. The third type, trans fats, are present in small amounts in both animal meats and vegetable oils. Health Canada states that the largest source of trans fats comes from processed foods like baked goods, vegetable shortening, chips, and hard margarine. A chemical process called hydrogenation used during manufacturing changes the structure of some fats, making them more shelf-stable.

According to Health Canada, however, both saturated and trans fats increase “bad” cholesterol in your blood, while trans fats also decrease “good” cholesterol. This imbalance can stiffen blood vessels and even block blood flow! Hardened or blocked blood vessels can lead to high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks.

Heart disease has been one of the top causes of death in Canada since 2012 per Health Canada.

Facing the Facts

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada suggests healthy lifestyle choices to lower your risk of heart disease by maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active, not smoking or abusing alcohol, and eating a healthy diet. While the mainstream media is quick to denounce certain foods as evil and other foods as miracle workers, the overall diet is more important. For example, Dietitians of Canada points out that although it is good to cut down on saturated fat, replacing it with processed carbohydrates defeats the purpose. The 2016 guidelines by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society recommends substituting saturated fat with unsaturated fats and keeping total saturated fat to less than 9% of your daily caloric intake, as this can lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease.

Fat FAQ

Q: How much fat should I have?

A: The total amount of fat should be around 20-35% of your total calories (AMDR). Canada’s Food Guide suggests a total of two to three tablespoons of unsaturated fats per day for salad dressings, cooking oil, margarines, and mayonnaise.

Q: Is coconut oil good for you?

A: Coconut oil is a multipurpose wonder oil- people swear by it for beautiful hair, younger skin, healthy teeth, rescued wounds, and a plethora of other uses. As a dietitian, I can only testify to it's effects if you ingest it. The pros: Coconut oil raises good cholesterol. It also doesn't raise total cholesterol as high as butter does. The cons: Coconut oil does raise "bad" cholesterol more than other vegetable oils do. It is therefore not recommended for frequent use/replacing vegetable oils by Dietitians of Canada.

*Coconut Oil, ooh baby SOMETIMES yes!

Q: What are practical things I can do to get good fats in my diet?

Try replacing butter, lard, or hard margarines with soft non-hydrogenated margarines made from olive, soy, or canola oil. Even better, switch to unsaturated fats by cooking with vegetable oils made from canola, olive, soybean, corn, sunflower, or safflower.
Canada’s Food Guide recommends eating fish at least two times as week. Vegetarians can opt for these omega-3 fats with hempseed, flaxseeds, and walnuts.
When buying meat, look for lean and skinless cuts, or trim the extra fat off at home if possible. Deep fry foods less often than you boil, steam, bake, and sauté.
Dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt) have saturated fat, but are good sources of calcium and vitamin D. Skim, 1%, and 2% choices can help you cut down on fat while still getting nutrients.
Did you know that another way to lower your cholesterol is to have more soluble fibre? This type of fibre binds to cholesterol in your digestive tract and whisks it out of the body. Dietitians of Canada suggests legumes and whole grains like oat bran.

Q: Should I buy low fat or reduced fat items? What's the difference?

A: Pay attention to labels on packaged foods! Sometimes a "low fat" item may have extra sugar or sodium to make up for the loss of fat. A % Daily Value (%DV) less than 5% is considered little, and anything over 15% is a lot.

No fat/ Fat-free/ Zero fat = less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving

Low-fat = 3 grams or less of fat per serving

Reduced fat = this product has at least 25% less fat than a similar item

Fat, Fixed

Fats are not optional- they have important functions in the body. By ensuring that you choose the right kind of fats as part of a healthy lifestyle, you can maintain your wellbeing without fear.

Images Courtesy Of:

https://www.difference.wiki/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/saturated-fat-vs-unsaturated-fat-800x400.jpg

https://media.giphy.com/media/y7fuMnZFcJSxO/giphy.gif

https://media.giphy.com/media/V0PsoY95g0hxu/giphy.gif

References:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/labelling/food-labelling-for-industry/nutrient-content/specific-claim-requirements/eng/1389907770176/1389907817577?chap=4

http://www.heartandstroke.ca/get-healthy/healthy-eating/healthy-eating-basics

https://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/resources/coconut-oil-and-the-heart-evidence-paper