Good Fats: Unsaturated – Mono and Poly

Some people still argue that we should avoid all fats. No! Fat is essential, necessary for nerve function, protecting the organs, essential for proper brain development and absolutely necessary for the transport and storage of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. So, a low or moderate fat diet, yes. A NO fat diet – no way!

Now it is important that we choose the correct types of fat. There are healthy fats and unhealthy fats.

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans state:

Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.

Why such a range of 20-35 percent? It provides that people who choose the higher range follow a higher mono- and polyunsaturated fat diet with lower amounts of carbohydrates. However, some people follow a higher carbohydrate diet (athletes for example) and the 20 percent fat is appropriate and should still be high in mono- and poly-unsaturated fats.

Why mono- and poly-unsaturated fats?

Polyunsaturated fats have a positive effect on LDL-cholesterol by helping lower it.

Monounsaturated fats have positive effects on LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol by helping lower LDL and raising HDL.

Where can you find the unsaturated fats?

• Nuts: pecans, macadamias, hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pinon/pine nuts, cashews, pistachios.
• Nut butters that go with the nuts above (i.e.: almond butter, peanut butter, etc.)
• Dominant in oils such as: Canola, olive, sesame, corn, safflower oils
• Seafood – such as salmon, tuna, sardines, and herring. Fresh or canned is good. Just don’t fry it.
• They are also found in avocadoes and olives.

These foods and oils are a blend of mono-, poly- and saturated fat, but the predominant fat(s) are the unsaturated fat. Remember that 1-ounce of the nuts contains between 160-200 calories and 1 tablespoon of oil is 120 calories. The avocado, while a fruit and good for you, can add up to 325 calories in a medium avocado.

These are the healthy fats – mono and poly. Make sure these dominate over the unhealthy fats. Unhealthy fats, saturated and trans-fats, next time

Eat Well, Live Well, Be Well – with 20-35% fat.

Dietary Fat – All Those Recommendations!

Over the years dietary fat has been the source of a myriad of messages and recommendations. From recommending consumption of a low-fat (before we knew there were different types of fat) to recommending a low saturated fat diet, to now no trans-fats.

As a nutrition expert it is my job to keep it straight, but I feel the pain of the general public: I too would want to throw up my arms and give up.

However, I will help distinguish the difference between the fats as we know them today and how much of each of them we should have as a portion of our calories.

First, the US Department of Health and Human Services and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) puts out the Dietary Guidelines for Americans every five years. They were last released in 2005 and will next be released in 2010. Here are the recommendations for fats from 2005.

FATS

• Consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids and less than 300 mg/day of cholesterol, and keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible.
• Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.
• When selecting and preparing meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products, make choices that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free.
• Limit intake of fats and oils high in saturated and/or trans fatty acids, and choose products low in such fats and oils.

Lots of recommendations I know, but over the next several weeks I'll cover each of the types of fats, where they can be found, and how much of each you should aim to get (or not have).

As you read about these fats and their respective recommendations, this keep this in mind: a long time ago people thought the earth was the center of the universe; then it was discovered that the earth rotated around the sun and that the sun was the center of the universe…now of course we know the earth and the sun are both microscopic in the spectrum of the universe and nowhere near the center of the universe.

The point is, with science like astronomy and nutrition, things change as we learn through research and experience. As we learn, we have the responsibility to change our recommendations in the best interest of our clients/patients/general public.

What I tell you in this blog is based on the most current information and research we have today.

Coming next – the healthiest fat: monounsaturated fat.

Eat Well, Live Well, Be Well - with a moderate amount of fat.

For Your Heart - Soy Protein

The final installment of my “American Hearth Month” theme for February I continue with heart disease issues on this and my other blog NewMexicoWellness.blogspot.com. Here continues the discussion of heart healthy foods.

Since 1999 the FDA approved a claim on foods containing 6.25 grams of soy protein be allowed to carry a claim on its label/packaging that is can lower the risk of heart disease when combined with a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

However, nutrition is a science. And like any science, we must evolve and as new evidence reveals itself, we need to revise information and be responsible and provide that information to the public.

Research regarding food, nutrition, and how it is beneficial, or not as beneficial as we once thought, to our health reveals itself and we must bring that information forward to the public.

About a year ago, the FDA began its open comment period regarding the claim of soy protein and coronary heart disease. The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association chose to respond based on reviewing scientific literature and the effects of soy protein and isoflavones on the many risk factors for heart disease including blood pressure, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides.

Based on the AHA information and review of research since 1999, research indicates that large amounts of soy protein needs to be consumed, and that more than half of our protein needs to come from soy, and it may have a positive effect on LDL-cholesterol by a few points only when it replaces animal protein. The data also reveals that this occurs mainly in individuals who already have high cholesterol, and only affects the LDL-cholesterol and does not affect HDL, triglycerides, or blood pressure.

In the end, the AHA recommended to the FDA, that the soy and heart disease health claim be reevaluated, especially since the current data is less conclusive than what is once was.

Many people tell me that people in China or Japan eats a lot of soy and suffer very little from heart disease. While this may be true, I don’t know statistics myself, I remind people that we in the United States cannot take bits and pieces of peoples diet and/or lifestyle from another country and apply it to ourselves. If we wish to do that, we need to go to the beginning of our life and start over – or embrace the entire lifestyle: walk to market, work in a field, take on the entire lifestyle and genetic history of the country we wish to emulate. It just doesn’t cross over to the U.S.

Bottom line on soy and heart health: it isn’t as great as we once thought it was a helping to lower LDL-cholesterol. You can continue to eat/drink your soy, but it may not be helping your heart as much.

Eat Well, Live Well, Be Well - and enjoy your soy.