One of the most common problems I see, is that people are regularly consuming large amounts of the wrong fats.
Hydrogenated fats, or partially hydrogenated fats are the main culprit. They are also known as a trans fat.
If you are going to assure yourself lifelong good health, and/or heal yourself from one of the many New Millennium Diseases, you will need to remove these man-made fats from your diet.
So what are trans fats?
It all has to do with Organic Chemistry (which was one of my favorite classes in college). But, I will spare you too much of the details and get right to the nuts and bolts.
As the picture below shows, a fat is made up of carbon and hydrogen bonds. Simple enough, right?
A cis configuration is a bent molecule, while a trans configuration is a straight molecule.
And the human body functions correctly with the bent molecule.
You see, adding hydrogen (hydrogenation) creates the straight molecule. And cell membranes need a cell that is not too stiff. It needs fluidity so that it can move nutrients and toxins, into and out of it.
I won’t get too much into it here, but when you hear about Omega-3 or Omega-6 fats, it just deals with where the double bond is from the end. That’s that thing that looks like an “equals” sign. If it is 3 carbons in, then it’s an Omega-3, and if it’s 6 carbons in, then it’s an Omega-6.
Now, to keep things simple, a trans fat is a poison.
It disrupts hormone signaling, it creates cellular inflammation, and it disrupts enzymes. There is absolutely nothing beneficial from ingesting trans fats, just negative.
And to top it off, trans fats have a half-life of 51 days.
Huh?!!
All that means is that half of the trans fat is still being processed by your body 51 days later. Carry this one step further to 102 days, and you have 25% of the original trans fat you ingested from that packaged or fried “food” still disrupting your cells.
The negative effects include:
- Decreased nerve transmission
- Decreased focus and increase in hyperactivity
- Decreased immunity
- Increased risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease
- Increased cellular inflammation
Cellular inflammation is one of the major problems in our health today, if not the #1 problem, and trans fats are one of the biggest culprits.
By just removing these nasty oils from your diet, your cells will improve. They will function better, have better hormone signaling, and be able to move toxins in and out much easier.
Remember this: an inflamed cell membrane cannot move toxins out, and nutrients in correctly.
When any person asks me to help them improve their health, this is one of the first things I do for them…
help them understand how trans fats are robbing them of their youth.
The correct fats are one of the cornerstones of any good diet. Unfortunately we have been duped for so long into thinking that fat is evil, and we should consume very small amounts of it.
This is absolutely wrong.
Every cell in our body is made out of cholesterol and fat, and so is every hormone. And I think we all know that hormone problems are absolutely plaguing our society. Practically every person you know has a hormone problem to some degree. Some are just much more obvious than others.
So get these nasty fats out of your diet.
Read labels!
Search the ingredients list for these terms:
- hydrogenated
- partially hydrogenated (one common example is partially hydrogenated soybean oil)
- trans fat
- shortening
- margarine
In short, cut out the packaged food, because when you start reading labels you will see these fats EVERYWHERE.
So what oils should you eat?
- hemp seed oil
- avocado
- butter
- coconut oil
- olive oil
- flax seed oil
- fish oil
That’s right, butter and coconut oil. Both saturated fats, and both are very important for great overall health. Don’t be afraid of them!
The low fat food craze did nothing but destroy our health by adding in sugar, artificial sweeteners, and man-made fats. So eat good fats and remove the damaging trans fats from your diet.