I remember the days when I too embarrassed to go to school because I had such terrible acne. Pimples on my face, neck and back that were sometimes as big as cysts. I would try and cover up the redness and swelling with make-up, but that often made it worse. I would hide my face behind my hair in shame. This acne destroyed my self-confidence.
Nothing seemed to help. I tried special soaps, creams and ointments. I saw a dermatologist. I eventually took the, now controversial, pharmaceutical drug Accutane. That made a big improvement, but still the acne persisted into adulthood. I was in my mid-20’s (I am 37 now) and still suffered from acne on a daily basis.
It wasn’t until I changed my diet that the acne began to heal. Unfortunately, nobody told me, none of the doctors or specialists, nobody told me that my diet played such a big role in the manifestation of acne and overall skin health. This is just one story that exemplifies how the foods we eat play such a powerful role, not just in skin health, but in creating a whole healthy body – from the inside out.
All the molecules we eat have the potential to react inside the body to either help us or harm us. Herein I will highlight the facts about fats from my perspective as an organic chemist, so we can better understand why it is of utmost importance to avoid bad fats and eat good fats in order to prevent chronic disease (and improve skin health while you’re at it).
THE CHEMISTRY OF FATS
There are many different kinds of fats that are essential to our health. By the word fat, I mean a long chain of carbon atoms bound together that makes up its greasy, oily property. Fatty acids are one type of dietary fat with many critical biochemical functions (more below). Cholesterol is another type of fat, used to build cells and other hormones (https://www.healthline.com/health/cholesterol/effects-on-body#6).. Triglycerides are yet another type of fat, found in foods and produced by the body when it wants to store fat and energy. They also play a central role in the development of hyperlipidemia and ultimately heart disease (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/295385.php)).
Fat is not bad. Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, everything in the markets seemed to be either “low-fat” this or “fat-free” that, and I and my family, as unknowing consumers, succumbed to the propaganda. In fear of the dietary fat causing not only excess body fat and weight gain, but also due to the supposed connection between a high-fat diet and coronary heart disease, fat was demonized and stripped from foods.
The primary push for fat’s bad reputation is in part due to a couple now highly-controversial experiments that were highlighted in Time magazine in 1961 and 1984, proposing the connection that a high-fat diet could be linked to heart disease, and so the “lipid hypothesis” was born.
But this hypothesis is deadly wrong. And, in 2001, prominent Harvard scientists announced publicly that the low-fat campaign has been based on little scientific evidence and may have caused unintended health consequences” (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/interviews/willett.html).
Instead, it is the imbalance of fats in our Western diet that is a major driver for the progression of disease; an imbalance of omega fats, an imbalance of saturated and unsaturated fats, an imbalance in cholesterol molecules, mainly caused by the consumption of processed foods, refined seed oils, and corn-fed meat.
SATURATED VERSUS UNSATURATED FATS
Fatty acids are a type of fat with a chemical structure that is similar to soap – a long chain of carbon atoms with a polar (i.e. water-soluble) head group. They have specific and diverse functions in the body as a result of this type of chemical structure. Literally “you are what you eat” as they build cell membranes and brain matter and thus are integral to a healthy brain. We see acronyms on food labels like DHA, a specific omega-3 fatty acid that has been studied extensively (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4467567/).
Fatty acids are also important signaling molecules, meaning they are involved in chemical communication between cells. They play a crucial role in inflammation, cell growth (e.g. cancer) and the immune system.
The dietary forms of the fatty acids are diverse, and here is where it gets a little more complicated. There are saturated and unsaturated fats. The unsaturated fats can be further broken down into the naturally occurring cis fats and the synthetic trans fats, that differ mostly in their three-dimensional shape.
It was perhaps unpredictable that the slight difference in chemical structure of a trans fat compared to a naturally occurring (cis) fat could cause such havoc in the body. Trans fats were once even thought to be “a great boon to America’s arteries,” as it was a substitute for the “bad” saturated fat present in butter and beef fat that was often being used industrially. However, the government is now working to ban all trans fats in food products in light of the results from this failed human experiment and the known toxicity of trans fats in humans (https://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm449162.htm).
THE UNSATURATED OMEGAS
The naturally occurring unsaturated cis fats are further classified by chemical structure, omega-3, omega-6, omega-9, etc. and monounsaturated or polyunsaturated (terms that describe the chemical structure). More recent scientific data has provided insight on the functional roles of the naturally occurring cis “omega” fatty acids we have all been hearing about (and why fish oil supplements are so popular). It is the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 to omega-9 that is crucial to our health. In our Western diet, high omega-6 seed oils and vegetable oils are prevalent, such as corn, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, soy and palm oil. Unfortunately, these high omega-6 intakes are not balanced with the proper ratio of omega-3 and omega-9 fats, promoting inflammation, metabolic disorders and chronic disease inside the body (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/omega-3-6-9-overview#section2).
OTHER FATS
There are many other types of dietary fats. For example, the well-known Vitamin E (aka tocopherol) is also a fat molecule. It has a unique chemical structure that makes it act like an “antioxidant” and why it is often used as a food preservative. It can repair and protect the skin and other cells by quenching “free radicals” that damaging the body. (Stay tuned for my future blog, Eat Your Electrons, on the topic of free radicals and antioxidants).
WHAT TO EAT?
It is essential that we eat a diet with plenty of good fats to keep the body and the brain healthy. Dietary fats in general also aid in the absorption of other important fat-soluble nutrients like vitamins, carotenoids and antioxidants that are present in foods.
Stick with whole foods over processed foods. Cook at home when possible instead of eating out at restaurants that often use poor quality refined (usually GMO) seed oils. When humans eat a range of whole foods with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fish for example, all the required nutrients are taken in through this kind of diet. There is no need for supplements (https://www.elephantjournal.com/2018/03/4-reasons-to-avoid-supplements-eat-the-real-thing/).
Completely eliminate trans fats also disguised as “partially-hydrogenated oil” on food labels. Our country relies heavily on corn-based food products and cattle feed, so also avoid these processed oils and corn-fed beef, chickens and their eggs.
Choose grass-fed or pasture-raised because “you are what you eat eats” as one of my favorite authors Michael Pollan likes to say (https://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/). And the above-mentioned poor-quality meat will be loaded with omega-6 and saturated fats. Use butter sparingly.
When I finally eliminated fast food and other processed foods from my diet, and began to eat a diet based on whole foods, rich in unsaturated fats and balanced with the just right amount of saturated and omega fats, my whole body noticed the difference. My skin looked healthier and the acne outbreaks became rare. My digestive problems improved significantly, I had more energy, and I just felt better!
It all started by knowing these facts about fats. But it took some time to change my old habits, it did not happen overnight. I began replacing beef and pork in my diet with salmon (I had to learn how to cook salmon at home, which is quite easy simply bake in the oven with desired spices). I ate avocados regularly and snacked on nuts instead of potato chips.
I use primarily olive oil (organic, extra virgin) for everyday cooking at home and to make home-made salad dressings. Walnut oil is also a nice oil to use on salads. Coconut oil is another good alternative to refined vegetable oils, but don’t load up on it too much as it is high in saturated fat. Balance is always key.
As we all continue to increase self-awareness and learn the scientific facts, I hope we’ll begin to see a shift in our society toward achieving the correct balance. If we ever do, this seemingly small change in dietary fat consumption will result in a significant reduction in the chronic diseases of Western civilization.
~
Image: Phu Thinh Co/Flickr
Browse Front PageShare Your IdeaComments
Read Elephant’s Best Articles of the Week here.
Readers voted with your hearts, comments, views, and shares:
Click here to see which Writers & Issues Won.