Rense.com



The Unpleasant Straight Truth
About Fats & Oils In Your Diet
From 'Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill'
By Udo Erasmus
http://www.udoerasmus.com/

1-6-01



1) All refined oils are bad. These include all cheap mass-market oils (canola, safflower, corn ect) sold in the giant, clear bottles. they have all been processed to death and are equally nonnutritious. They have also been oxidized and damaged by high heat during processing.
 
2) All hydrogenated oils (e.g. the ubiquitous partially hydrogenated soybean oil) are VERY BAD. Always. These are the WORST oils you can eat, because of their trans-fat content. Hydrogenated oils include margarine and vegetable shortening.
 
3) VIRGIN olive oil is the ONLY mass market (i.e. available at Krogers) unrefined oil available. This goes a long way in explaining why olive oil has such a good reputation health-wise. The reason why olive oil is sold unrefined, while other seed oils are not, is because olive oil has so much omega-9 fatty acid, which resists spoiling. But omega-9 is not particularly nutritious. Your body can easily make it as needed.
 
4) Seed oils other than olive often have a lot of omega-6 and, occasionally, omega-3 (e.g. flax oil). Omega-3 and omega-6 are the essential fatty acids. They are vitamins. Your body cannot make them. But they spoil easily. Thats why they are removed from/destroyed in refined oils! Udo (the author) estimates 95% of people are deficient in Omega 3 oils. Cold water fish oil (EPA) is an example of an omega-3 oil.
 
5) Heating fresh seed oils hotter than boiling water will damage omega-3 and omega-6 oils. Damaged omega-3 and omega-6 oils are very damaging to health; they are worse than butter and saturated fats. So, the rule is to use butter for high heat frying (because saturated fats cannot be damaged by high heat unless burned) and fresh seed oils for cooking at less than 212 F.
 
6) Butter is not bad. Butter is far, far better than margarine or shortening. And it tastes better. (Udo is not taking into account the pesticide/hormone/chemical residue or cholesterol in butter, nor the potential, however remote of Mad Cow prions being there. His comparison is made in a 'perfect world' setting.)
 
7) When using seed oils, make sure they are unrefined and fresh-packed in nitrogen and stored in the refrigerator. Unrefined oils are delicious. My corn oil actually tastes like corn! We have been tricked into thinking that seed oils should not have taste.
 
8) Take flax seed oil daily. Buy in small quantities so that its always fresh. Its a chemical reaction that causes omega-3 and omega-6 oils to spoil; its not a microbial thing. Spoiled flax tastes dreadful. In order of preference, oils can be arranged like this:
 
9) Fresh unrefined seed oils with omega-3 and omega-6 2) Unrefined (virgin) olive oil 3) Saturated fats (butter, coconut) 4) Damaged seed oils (i.e. cheap mass market oils in the clear containers, seed oils heated above about 212F) 5) Hydrogenated oil
 
From Udos website:
 
What are trans-fatty acids?
 
ERASMUS: Those found in some margarines, shortening, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. They're in all kinds of convenience foods like the croutons people use on their "healthy" Caesar salads. They're also found in soup mixes, breads, cookies, frozen foods, candies, dry soups - all kinds of things. And the trans-fatty acids have a long list of detrimental effects: they double your risk of heart attack and, in research studies, have been shown to do a number of other not-very-pleasant things. For example, they interfere with liver function and insulin function and make your platelets stickier. They're correlated with low-birth-weight human babies; in fact, they're not allowed in baby foods. They increase abnormal sperm and interfere with pregnancy with animals. Additionally, they reduce the effectiveness of liver detoxification functions, and that's important for athletes and people who are using steroids. When you interfere with liver functions, you interfere with the metabolism of those kinds of substances and many others.
 
Are there any safe fats for frying?
 
ERASMUS: The only "fat" that's appropriate for frying, in terms of health concerns, is water. That means steaming, poaching, and boiling your foods. After you've prepared your food that way, pour on a good oil or oil blend. That way you get the essential fatty acids you need, you get the flavor enhancement fats bring to foods,you haven't made the fat toxic by overheating it.


 
MainPage
http://www.rense.com
 
 
 
This Site Served by TheHostPros