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Good fats are fats that are naturally derived with mechanical means only and generally stable at room temperatures. They should not contain solvents (used for extraction), and should contain all the fat-soluble vitamins and antioxidants that are natural to the source. Good fats should be either stable, because they are mostly saturated or high in antioxidants (like virgin olive or sesame oil), or unstable oils which have not been exposed to light and too much oxygen. Unstable oils should be only consumed when mixed with more stable oils, and should not rely on artificial additives to keep them stable. Unstable oils should never be consumed if they have become rancid (oxidized), especially after cooking.
The best source of fats is in the foods that contain them. Never consume foods that have been artificially fat-reduced. Not only is the low-fat food nutrient depleted, it is often injected with replacements that make the food unhealthy.
Avoid at all costs, fat reduced dairy products and fat reduced coconut products.
Eat lots of high fat whole vegetables, like nuts, avocados coconuts and grains like sunflower seeds. These are a great source of essential fatty acids.
Buy meat with fat in it, not excessively fatty but with some white is good. The lean pork and beef available in our supermarkets is ridiculously low fat, and when cooked it only absorbs the fats it is cooked in. The natural fats contain many essential nutrients which may not be provided by the cooking oil.
When using cooking oils, avoid the refined vegetable oils available in supermarket shelves, they are generally nutrient depleted by the deodorising process, and may contain traces of trans-fats. Soybean oils in New Zealand are generally between 3 - 10% trans fats!
Buy unrefined oils which have all their original flavours. Choose and mix oils according to the flavours you wish to impart to the food. For example, use butter for French style foods, sesame/peanut oil mixed with palm oils for Asian, and virgin olive oil for Mediterranean foods.
If using unstable oils like sunflower oil (unrefined), mix these with other more stable oils with strong flavours (ie sesame oil). This provides natural antioxidants which will stop the oil from oxidising, and thus protect the body from the oxidising affect of these oils.
Never use highly unsaturated oils for deep frying, that includes olive oils and sesame oils. The natural antioxidants will not necessarily provide sufficient protection when re-used over and over again. The safest oils for deep-frying are those that are more saturated, preferably palm oils, though animal fats and gee (semi-refined butter) may be sufficiently stable for a few uses.
Canola oils, sunflower oils and soybean oil are totally inappropriate for any high temperature frying purpose. They are only stable if they have been hydrogenated or have artificial antioxidants.
Avoid eating margarines, heart tick or not, most margarines contain trans-fats varying from 0.5% to 5% and no doubt higher in many cheaper unlabelled brands. Margarine oil is generally refined, are depleted in essential fatty acids, and do not contain many essential antioxidants of vitamins. As a replacement for butter, margarines are a poor replacement nutritionally. If you want a spread that is not butter, a ripe avocado is an option, or a home-made mixture of coconut oil, sesame oil and virgin olive oil can be an option. There is no reason however to not eat butter, it contains a range of useful and essential fatty-acids and fat soluble vitamins. The fats are generally shorter chained than most margarine fats and are therefore less calories, and can help improve the bodies metabolism and immune system. Butter also contains the only identified trans-fat that is of value to the body! So when you hear that butter contains more trans-fats than some margarines, remember that the trans-fat in butter are actually good for you as opposed to the ones found in margarine.
Overcome your fear of cholesterol and saturated fats! There is no solid evidence that natural saturated fats or cholesterol cause heart disease, cancer or diabetes.
Ignore the Heart foundation tick of approval, as it may lead you to purchasing products that have been unnaturally fat-reduced, are more refined or even contain hydrogenated oils.
Try fish-oils, especially natural Cod-Liver oil as a supplement, everyone seems to agree they are a good supplement even for a healthy diet.
Don't use artificial supplements. Vitamins need to be absorbed from the foods we eat, as they occur in natural balances in these foods. Taking artificial supplements only gives a false sense of security.
While it is commonly stated that we should only get 30% of our calories from fat, healthy diets can vary between 20% - 60% of calories coming from fats. Low-fat diets are fine for people who can digest grains well. A diet that is high in carbohydrates will require more nutrients than a high fat diet, so it is essential that the carbohydrates are only unrefined, and properly prepared (ie fermented and/or soaked) before consumption. Whole grain biscuits are a very unrefined source of carbohydrates, but are generally difficult to digest being unleavened.
High-protein diets seem to help people lose weight, but are not recommended for long term use, as they create a strain on the kidney functions.
High-fat diets are fine providing the fats are unrefined, and are mostly saturated and mono-unsaturated fats, with a small percentage of polyunsaturated oils for essential-fatty acids.
Check out this article for more information:
GOOD FATS VS BAD FATS |
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Current Poll Results
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The milk I consume most is: |
Naturalea 4% unhomogenised (
12 %)
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Farmhouse (4%) unhomogenised (
4 %)
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Standard (3.3%) homogenised (
9 %)
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Low Fat Milk Homogenised (
31 %)
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Real Farm Milk - non pasteurised (
43 %)
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