The Facts About Fats and Oils

Fats and oils, sorting out which ones are healthy for you and which are not can be so confusing. We hope to explain the differences in saturated fats and unsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, hydrogenated oil and partially hydrogenated oil and trans fats and triyglycerides.

One fact is clear, there is overwhelming evidence to prove that your body does needs fat, "healthy fat". So now you just need to figure out which fats and oils are healthy for the body.

Chemically, a fatty acid is considered “saturated” when the all the carbon bonds are linked with a hydrogen atom. They are solid or semi solid when at room temperature. A completely saturated fatty acid is also called a steric acid.

They are usually made up of animal fats and tropical oils (like coconut and palm). The body also can produce saturated fats from carbohydrates. Saturated fats are a stable fat for cooking as they do not go rancid when heated. They make good fuel for keeping our body warm and building resilient cell membranes.

Many health care professionals will advise against using saturated fats stating they are the cause of cardiovascular disease. This theory known as the “lipid hypothesis” is usually cited as the basis for this opinion. Before deciding against all saturated fats, you should know, there is the another side to the story.

In fact, there is plenty of scientific evidence that contradicts this theory click here for more about the Framingham Heart Study. The right kind of animal fats are very healthy and beneficial or your health. Don't cross animal fats off your list just yet. The key is to look for animals that are grass or pasture fed. They typically have less fat, but the fat has some health benefits to it.

Unsaturated fats have differences in the bonding factors of carbon molecules and hydrogen atoms. If you're really interested in the chemical analysis of the different fats and oils there is lots of information online.

Monosaturated Fat: An advantage of monosaturated fats is they tend to be more liquid at room temperature but like saturated fats, they remain stable during cooking and do not go rancid. Our body actually makes monosaturated fatty acids from saturated fat.

Polyunsaturated fat:

These fats and oils are always liquid at room temperature. They include all vegetables oils and no animal fats. The television commercials promote these oils, like corn, vegetable, soy, canola as good choices for heart health. But in reality, most of these oils are created by a highly refined process. Exceptions would be cold pressed vegetable oils that are not refined by heat and chemicals.

Toxic chemicals and high temperatures destroy the vitamins and nutrients and turn them rancid. They are bleached and deodorized by more caustic chemicals to make them palatable for human consumption. The refining process creates free radicals which are known to contribute to heart disease, cancer, pre-mature aging, autoimmune diseases and more.

There is also evidence linking polyunsaturated oils (except unheated varieties such as safflower, sunflower and soybean) to the onset of diabetes. This could be another reason (in addition to excess sugar consumption) that diabetes is so widespread today.

Generally speaking, most polyunsaturated oils are not considered healthy choices for your cooking and eating unless they are non-refined varieties.

Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated Oils

As indicated above, hydrogenation is a process that turns polyunsaturated oils (normally liquid at room temperature) into a fat that is solid at room temperature. Partially hydrogenated just means the process made the oil “partially saturated” instead of fully saturated. A good example of hydrogenated products are margarine and shortening.

Side note If you're still undecided in the margarine vs butter margarine vs butter debate, or you ever wondered, how is margarine made? You'd be shocked and would instantly switch to butter! Find out more here!

Getting back to the hydrogenation process. Typically manufacturers start with soy, cottonseed, corn or canola oil because they are usually the cheapest. The initial extraction process makes them rancid from the start but then they are mixed with tiny metal particles like nickel oxide.

Next it is exposed to hydrogen gas in a high temperature and high pressure process. Then emulsifiers and starches are added to improve the consistency. The oil must then be cleaned to remove the unpleasant odor and is again subjected to a high temperature cleaning. This intrusive process substantially changes the chemical structure in the fatty acid chain.

I doubt anybody would consider the above process as “natural and healthy” yet people eat and cook with these products everyday. They are chemically altered, man made fats that are toxic to the body. Hydrogenated oils and fats are not healthy choices for cooking or eating. There is a great explanation of this process in Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon.

Trans Fats

Trans fats are hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. The molecular structure of the fatty acid is chemically altered rendering it difficult for the body to properly utilize it. They are considered unhealthy fats and oils for the body.

Make healthy choices when choosing your fats and oils. If you are going to cook with it, make sure you choose a fat or oil suitable for higher temperatures. Unstable fats can become damaged and rancid at heating points of 320 degrees.

Butter and believe it or not, lard (from grass fed animals)are good choices for cooking. When possible, it's better to cook slowly with lower heats like a slow roasting method.

Olive oil (monosaturated) is a good choice for eating and cooking. In fact you might be surprised at some of the olive oil remedies that many people use.

Coconut oil (a healthy saturated fat) is great for cooking and has so many other body benefits. You might be surprised at the list of coconut remedies that have been used for thousands of years.

Choose your cooking fats and oils based your method of cooking. I typically cook and bake with olive oil and butter. I feel they are the healthiest choices of the fats and oils.

Margarine or butter, which is healthier?

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