Some Fats Are
Good for You!
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Despite
the many public outcries that the American diet is too full of fat, it
turns out that 90% of us don't get enough of the fats that are good for
us. Dietitians and nutritionists call these "essential fatty acids," or
EFAs, and these fats are exactly that: essential to good health.
"A balance of omega-3 and
omega-6 fatty acids are vital to cardiac function, joint health, insulin
balance, mood stability, skin health, and even gene expression, but our
consumption of omega-3 is down 80%, while our consumption of omega-6 has
increased several hundred percent," says Artemis Simopoulos, MD, editor
in chief of World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics and author of
The Omega Diet.
Too much omega-6 can worsen
inflammatory diseases and degenerative diseases. In people with
arthritis, for example, Simopoulos says a diet heavy in omega-6 rich
corn oil can worsen the person's symptoms. Give that same person a diet
rich in fish oils, and their symptoms will improve.
The point here, she says, is
that our bodies need both omega-3 and omega-6, but you need them in a
balance. The ideal ration of the oils is still being investigated, but
the vast majority of Americans need lots more omega-3, and much less
omega-6.
"Through human history, people
hunted and ate fish and ate greens," she says. "Up until 150 years ago,
most people had diets that were very balanced in essential fatty acids.
That's important because these fats work in opposition to each other.
Too much of one or the other can cause a variety of problems in the
body. Modern diets are really poor in omega-3."
Get the Good Fat
Since our bodies do not make
EFAs, we can only get them in food. Omega-6 is found in corn and some
other vegetable oils, such as safflower oil, says Simopoulos. Since
modern diets are full of corn oil, we get too much omega-6. Omega-3, on
the other hand, is found in fish and fish oil, all green leafy
vegetables, flax seed, hemp, and walnuts, and as we don't eat as much of
these as we should, we are mostly low in this fat.
"You have to start with the
idea that all fats are calorie-dense foods that need to be consumed in
moderation," says Elaine Feldman, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at
the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, who has done extensive
research on EFAs. "So it's important to consume healthy fats when you
are eating fats. Choose fish at least twice a week, eat leafy
vegetables, and cut out as much animal fat and hydrogenated vegetable
oil as possible."
Simopoulos says there are three
things we should do to get more omega-3 in our diets:
Dump the Trans Fat
"Just as important as getting
more good fat in your diet is getting rid of trans fatty acids, which
appear on ingredient labels as hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated
vegetable oils," says Feldman.
Trans fatty acids are used in
the prepared food industry to prolong the shelf life of baked goods like
cookies, crackers, and most supermarket peanut butter, to name just a
few. The FDA is in the process of considering adding trans fatty acid
information to labels on foods so consumers will be more aware that they
are eating this fat.
"Trans fats should just be
banned by the FDA as soon as possible," says Simopoulos. "These fats are
just plain dangerous to good health, and we eat them in just about
anything baked or fried item that comes in a package. In Holland, use of
these fats has been banned."
One of the worst aspects of
trans fatty acids, says Simopoulos, is that the body will take them up
more readily than good fat.
"Trans fats interferes with the
normal metabolism of EFAs," she says. "So not only do we not get enough
of the fats we need, but these unhealthy fats force our body to take up
less of what little good fats we do get."
"Mere labeling is
insufficient," she says. "In my opinion
it's outrageous that we allow these products to be used at all."
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