Psst! Have you heard the word on the street? Fat is not the devil everyone thought it was after all!
From avocados to full-fat yoghurt to coconut oil, it’s little secret we love us some healthy fats! And author Christine Cronau agrees.
While Christine’s approach is too extreme for us (we don’t advocate cutting out all carbs or pushing your body into a state of ketogenesis) we agree with her (as well as Dr Aseem Malhotra and Professor Tim Noakes) that it’s time to reduce sugar and bring back the fat in our diets.
In fact, it’s time to bring back ALL whole foods and cut out the processed crap! In this edited excerpt from her new book Bring Back The Fat, Christine explains why she believes we should enjoy healthy (unprocessed) fats in our diets.
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Most of us are familiar with the terms “good fats” and “bad fats”.
However, in most cases, we have been taught that the good fats are actually bad and vice versa.
“Saturated” fats have been vilified and are often described as “artery clogging” … These seemingly “dangerous” fats were supposed to be replaced with “good fats”, such as vegetable oil, margarine and other unsaturated fats.
The biggest problem with replacing saturated fats with unsaturated is that in most cases, we are swapping natural fats for industrially produced, rancid, and damaged fats.
Firstly, vegetable oils are not made from vegetables.
They generally come from seeds. Most seed oils are heat-damaged and full of free radicals. They are also full of omega-6 fats, and with the big push for us to consume more vegetable oils, we no longer get a healthy balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fats. Most of the fats we consume these days are now omega-6, with very little omega-3.
Too much omega-6 fats in the diet causes inflammation.
…In addition, the damaged fatty acids in vegetable oils can be stored in our tissues where they oxidise and damage our cells…
Excessive consumption of vegetable oils has been linked to increased cancer risk, heart disease, liver and lung damage, reproductive issues, stunted growth, weight gain, reduced learning capacity, premature ageing, inflammation and digestive issues…
Since the early 1900s, vegetable oil consumption has more than tripled.
The other big issue is that they replace the fats that are good for us.
Which fats are good fats?
Those that are naturally occurring. For example, butter, extra-virgin coconut oil, animal fat from grass-fed animals. This type of fat is essential to good health; we need quality fats for a healthy immune system, reproductive system, for cell rejuvenation, brain development and more.
What about margarine?
Margarine has been promoted as a health food… if ever there was a con, this was it.
[Making margarine] starts with a very cheap vegetable oil… heated to extremely high temperatures … manufacturers need to use toxic chemicals to force the change in molecular structure [to make it solid].
At this point, the chemically altered substance isn’t a replica of butter at all; it is actually grey and smelly. They bleach and deodorize it … then, to make it resemble butter, they add artificial flavours and colours…
But wait? Surely we would see all that stuff on the label? Not so. Much of it doesn’t have to be on the label because it is part of the manufacturing process, not an ingredient.
When will we go back to recommending real food?
I once read an article in a health magazine, where a dietician was interviewed about butter vs margarine … Frankly I am surprised we are still having the debate in light of all the evidence, but health professionals are still being asked to advocate for margarine in favour of butter…
Butter is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet!
Butter is one of the best sources of try vitamin A, and is also full of vitamin D, E and vitamin K2. Butter is also rich in lecithin, iodine, selenium and other vital nutrients…
Like Processor Tim Noakes says, the medical establishment is 20 years behind but “I personally don’t have the time to wait for them to catch up”.
You can find out more about Christine Cronau’s stance on healthy fats in her book Bring Back the Fat.
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