26: The Facts About Fats - Part 1

Nothing in this podcast or on our website should be construed as medical advice. Consult your healthcare provider for your individual nutritional and medical needs. The information presented is based on our research and is strictly that of the author and not necessarily those of any professional group or other individual. Hi, I'm Sue Becker from Breadbeckers. Welcome to Sue's Healthy Minutes. I'm so excited you've joined me today and I hope this episode encourages you and allows you to find the answers you have been praying for for the health of you and your family. Today I want to share with you some important facts about facts. So it's not to overwhelm you with too much scientific details in one episode. I decided to divide this topic into two parts. So today the fact about facts, part one. For many years now I have been greatly concerned with the abundance of bad and even nonsensical nutritional advice being hurled at us from advertising and now the internet, particularly on the subject of fat and cholesterol. Even with the promotion of the extreme and very unhealthy high fat diets of today like the keto and paleo, there are still many people that seem to be concerned about the content of fat and cholesterol in their foods and advertisers continue to use the claims of no fat, no cholesterol as their selling points indicating to me that many are obviously still taking this low fat nutritional advice to high fat and healthy food. It is certainly true that a high fat diet puts greater nutritional demands on the body but one must realize that fats and even cholesterol are necessary nutrients for all of our vital biological processes for life. The important truth that is critical to remember about our nutritional and dietary needs is that each nutrient and food group are equally important. Fats, proteins and carbohydrates all play a vital role in our health. I've talked a lot about whole grains and the importance of these complex carbohydrates to our overall health. So today I thought it would be good to share some facts about fats. It is my intent to present to you today as simply as possible some scientific facts about fats and to hopefully shed some light on the information coming to us from the food and advertising industry as well as medical professionals. I will begin with a little fat science. Fats are comprised of fatty substances known as fatty acids which are made up of molecules combining atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in specific proportions depending on the particular fatty acid. Fatty acids are spoken of as chains, some long and some short. Just as a charm bracelet has certain links where charms can be attached, essential fatty acids have certain links, referred to as double bonds where other atoms can easily attach themselves to the fatty acid. This important design of double bonds are critical weak links in the chain that allows the unsaturated fatty acids to combine with other nutrients to help transport them and even perform together with them to be used in building and maintaining the structure and strength of every cell in our bodies. While the ability of these double bonds to break and bind with other nutrients to perform these important functions in our body, this unique design makes them also especially susceptible to the attachment of extra atoms of either oxygen or hydrogen. If enough atoms of hydrogen are attached to these fatty acid molecules at these bonds so that it cannot hold anymore, it is then said to be saturated. A saturated fat will be solid at normal room temperature while an unsaturated fat will be liquid. This is the easiest and most obvious way to tell them apart. There are certain fats that are naturally saturated like butter and there are ones that are naturally unsaturated like your seed oils and olive oil. Now on the other hand if oxygen attaches itself at these double bonds, oxidation of the fatty acid occurs and the oil becomes rancid. This explains the reason that foods with fats and oils can go rancid so quickly. In the food processing industry, this characteristic of unsaturated fatty acids to bond easily with hydrogen or especially with oxygen has determined much of what is being done in the processing of foods containing oil. Let's look for a minute at the processing of fats in the food industry. For example, hydrogenation is the process of bubbling hydrogen gas through a liquid oil until all the double bonds have seized hydrogen atoms and they become saturated. At this point, the oils have hardened to the consistency of butter and have become the vegetable shortneens and margarins that are sold to the American public by the millions of pounds a year. By saturating all of the double bonds with hydrogen, the fatty acid is no longer susceptible to oxygen attachment, therefore preventing what we call oxidation and in turn prevents the oil from going rancid. In the food industry, hydrogenation is used as a way to preserve the fats and oils and to prevent rancidity. If you have ever been tempted to believe that these solid, hydrogenated, vegetable fats are actually good for you or better for you than naturally saturated animal fats now is the time to change your mind. The simple fact is, chemically, these oils have been transformed into totally saturated fatty acids that are now unavailable to bind with other substances within the body to perform their varied and vital roles. We will look at their function in the body in more detail in next week's episode of Sue's Healthy Minutes. But for now, it is important to understand that these unnatural saturated fatty acids are not only useless to the body but also quite harmful. Oxidation of fats and oils also create a serious dilemma for the food processor who wants to preserve an oil in its unsaturated or liquid state. As previously mentioned, when the linkage at these double bonds occurs with oxygen, oxygen takes place and the oil becomes rancid. In order to preserve the shelf life of a liquid oil, the first thing a food processor must do is refine it by removing as much of the unsaturated fatty acids as possible in particular the linoleic acid. Linoleic acid is the most unsaturated of the fatty acids, making it the most valuable to our bodies but the most susceptible to oxidation. We'll talk more about linoleic acid in next week's episode. But with the removal of linoleic acid alone, an oil may still be legally labeled unsaturated yet has now been deprived of its greatest nutritional value. And to make matters worse, a chemical antioxidant, a substance used to keep a fat molecule from binding with oxygen, is then added to further ensure rancidity does not occur, thereby extending the shelf life of the oil. These preservatives are the final blow. For while it is critical for these unsaturated essential fatty acids from our body to be protected against oxidation until they have been absorbed into our system or reach our bloodstream or the cell, it is equally critical that they are then able to combine with the necessary nutrients so they can do their job. The chemical antioxidants, however, used in the food industry for preserving fats and oils once incorporated onto the fatty acid chain, cannot be removed, therefore preventing the fatty acid from combining with their designated nutrients to perform their all important and life giving jobs. I hope these facts about fats has given you a better understanding of these essential fatty acids and the types of fats found in our foods. We've looked thus far at the role these fatty acids play in the food industry. Next week we will dive in and take a deeper look at their role in the food industry. as essential nutrients within our body. Thank you for listening today. And until next time, this is Sue Becker with Bread Beckers with Sue's Healthy Minutes. Sue's Healthy Minutes podcast has been a presentation by the Bread Beckers Incorporated located at Woodstock, Georgia. For more information, store hours and learning opportunities, visit breadbeckers.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 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