{"id":1317913,"date":"2020-01-26T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T03:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/doctors-tip-good-fats-bad-fats\/"},"modified":"2020-01-26T20:28:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T03:28:00","slug":"doctors-tip-good-fats-bad-fats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/doctors-tip-good-fats-bad-fats\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor\u2019s Tip: Good fats, bad fats"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is the final column in a series about the three macronutrients. The first column was about protein, and last week\u2019s was about carbohydrates. Protein and carbs have four calories per gram, fat has nine. For optimal health we need to get at least 10 percent of our calories from fat. Current guidelines recommend somewhat more. But fat tastes good, and most Americans eat too much fat. More importantly, they chow down on the wrong kind of fats. Let\u2019s discuss the different fats.<\/p>\n

Trans Fats<\/p>\n

All meat and dairy products contain some trans fats. By adding hydrogen atoms to vegetable oils, trans fats can also be manufactured. These \u201cpartially hydrogenated vegetable oils\u201d are solid at room temperature, add taste and a pleasing texture, and add shelf life to products that contain them. Manufactured trans fats are found in products such as deep-fried food, doughnuts, cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, cookies, chips, crackers, microwave popcorn, non-dairy creamers, stick margarine and many spreads.<\/p>\n

As Dr. Michael Greger says, trans fats don\u2019t increase your shelf life. Trans fats lower HDL (good cholesterol) and raise total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL (bad cholesterol), contributing to hardening of the arteries \u2014 the cause of heart attacks and strokes. Manufactured trans fats are now banned in Europe and North America, although in the U.S. \u201ctrans fat-free\u201d can appear on food labels if there are up to 0.5 grams per serving, which can add up. It\u2019s important that you check the ingredients on food labels and avoid products that contain \u201cpartially hydrogenated\u201d soy, canola or other oil.<\/p>\n

SATURATED FATS<\/p>\n

These fats are solid at room temperature and are found in all animal products, including meat and poultry, dairy and eggs. They are also found in coconut products, palm oil, and in vegetable oils including olive oil. Saturated fats increase production of LDL by the liver. There is a clear link between saturated fat intake and many chronic diseases we suffer and die from in Western societies, including obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, dementia and cancer. Several organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, recommend replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated (plant) fats.<\/p>\n

MONOUNSATURATED FAT<\/p>\n

These fats are liquid at room temperature, and are found in olives, avocado, vegetable oils and some nuts and seeds. They became popular in 1990s after a study that suggested that people on the Mediterranean Diet \u2014 which includes olives and olive oil \u2014 were healthier than people on the standard American diet. Although replacing saturated fats with monounsaturated fats improves health, Dr. Esselstyn \u2014 one of two doctors who have proven that heart disease can be reversed by a plant-based, whole food diet with no salt, sugar or added oil \u2014 points out in his book \u201cPrevent and Reverse Heart Disease\u201d that \u201cthe medical literature is filled with evidence of the harmful effects of monounsaturated oil.\u201d For optimal health, we should avoid added oil including olive oil \u2014 oil being a fat that contains 120 calories per tablespoon with few to no nutrients. We should also limit intake of olives and of avocado (up to \u00bc avocado a day including what\u2019s in guacamole is probably OK for people who aren\u2019t trying to lose weight or reverse heart disease).<\/p>\n

POLYUNSATURATED FATS<\/p>\n

All vegetables contain these fats, which include the two essential fatty acids that our bodies can\u2019t manufacture: the omega-6 fat linoleic acid and the omega-3 fat alpha-linolenic acid. These healthy fats are important for structure and function of cell membranes and are precursors to hormones. It\u2019s important to have a balanced ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, but most Americans have too much omega-6 and too little omega-3, and this imbalance causes inflammation and contributes to depression, cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Whether you\u2019re an omnivore, a vegan or a vegetarian, increase your omega-3 level by eating more walnuts, soy, flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, beans, brussels sprouts, algae and seaweed. Fish also has omega-3 but is an animal protein (which has its own set of problems), contains cholesterol, and environmental toxins such as heavy metals and PCBs. In addition to a handful of walnuts and a tablespoonful of ground flaxseed every day, vegans should consider 500 mg. of algae-derived omega-3, available at City Market.<\/p>\n

CONFUSED?<\/p>\n

In the media and on the internet you will find recommendations that contradict some of those in this column. In large part this is because the meat and dairy industries try to muddy the waters of established science, and also often influence official dietary recommendations. An unbiased source is nutritionfacts.org.<\/p>\n

Greg Feinsinger, M.D. is a retired family physician who has a nonprofit: Prevention and Treatment of Disease Through Nutrition. He gives a free presentation at 7 p.m. the first Monday of the month at the Third Street Center in Carbondale; is available by appointment for free consultations (379-5718); and conducts a shop-with-a-doc session at 10 a.m. the first Saturday of the month at Carbondale City Market.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the final column in a series about the three macronutrients. The first column was about protein, and last week\u2019s was about carbohydrates. Protein and carbs have four calories per gram, fat has nine. For optimal health we need to get at least 10 percent of our calories from fat. Current guidelines recommend somewhat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1317913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 03:50:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}