Fat.
Can’t live with it, can’t live without it! I agree that we need to eat fats in moderation, but fats can be so good for us. They have so many beneficial properties and truly every cell in our body needs fat to survive!
Nutritional physiologists recommend that we get between 25, and a maximum of 30, percent of our daily energy requirements from fat. That’s about 2-2.5 ounces of fat a day. So for example, if you eat a Big Mac, you have already covered more than half of your fat for the day. (According to Gulia Ender’s Gut: The Inside Story Of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ) And, the fat you’d be getting out of a Big Mac wouldn’t be the best kind of fat you should choose.
You probably realize that the fat in a Big Mac isn’t the kind of fat you should be eating, but how do you know what fat you should choose?
Today’s #AskJuls video is about picking the right cooking oil!
What should you remember when you’re looking to pick a cooking oil?
1. Look for cooking oils which only have one ingredient listed.
2. Make sure you choose the BEST quality. Look for ‘organic’ and ‘NonGMO’ on the labels.
3. When you think of non organic vegetable, soy, corn or canola just think INFLAMMATION!!!!!!!
There’s so much more to talk about!
There are so many different fats to cook with and there are so many things I could say about them! Here are 2 important things I think you should know.
Why It’s Important To Choose Quality Fats
Just finished reading Gulia Ender’s Gut: The Inside Story Of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ – it was such a great book. Really broke down things into layman’s terms so anyone could understand how our whole system works. I learned so many new things (like what an appendix actually is meant for!) and deepened a knowledge of others.
One thing that Guila talks about in her book is the lymphatic system and how our body processes fat. Fat is something that our body definitely needs. Fat is used in every cell – it’s even used to coat our nerves to allow us to be fast thinkers! Because fat is not water-soluble, it cannot be absorbed straight into the blood from our guts. All of our undigested fat gathers in our lymphatic system so it doesn’t clog our blood vessels and we can absorb the nutrients that we need. Once we eat a fatty meal, the fat is taken into our lymphatic system and sent straight up to our heart.
“So, whether it’s extra virgin olive oil or cheap fat from french fries, it all goes straight into the heart – there is no detoxing detour via the liver as there is for everything else we digest. Detoxification of dangerous, bad fat takes place only after the heart has given the fat-laden fluid a powerful push to pump it through the system and the droplets of fat happen to end up in one of the blood vessels of the liver. The liver contains quite a large amount of blood, and so the probability is high that such a meeting will take place sooner rather than later, but before that happens, our heart and our blood vessels are at the mercy of everything that McDonald’s and similar fast-food outlets were able to get hold of at the lowest purchase price.”(Guilia Enders, Gut)
When you think about it that way, puts it into perspective doesn’t it? Fats really can be beneficial (Guilia even notes that good fats, like a cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, can be good for inflammatory disease such as RA and even can be a protectant against certain forms of cancer!), but we have to remember that every single molecule of fat that we ingest is going straight through our heart. I don’t know about you, but I want to make sure my heart is pumping for years and years to come!
You’re probably asking yourself why EVOO is a good option? One great benefit EVOO can provide for us is that it can help prevent the creation of fat around our midline! EVOO “blocks an enzyme in the fatty tissue – known as fatty acid sythase- that likes to create fat out of spare carbohydrates. And we’re not the only ones who benefit from the properties of olive oil – the good bacteria in our gut also appreciate a little pampering.” (Guilia Enders, Gut, Page 53-54)
Fats Can Help With Pain
There are so many interesting facts and tid bits that Guilia offers, but I’ll leave you with one more. Did you realize that fats can help reduce your pain?!
[su_quote cite=”Guilia Enders, Gut, Page 54-55″ url=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1771641495/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1771641495&linkCode=as2&tag=isjabd-20&linkId=C3UHGLIIWN7IFBSJ”]”The animal fats found in meat, milk and eggs contain far more arachidonic acid than vegetable fats. Arachidonic acid is converted in our body into neurotransmitters involved in the sensation of pain. Oils such as rapeseed (canola), linseed, or hempseed oil, on the other hand, contain more of the anti-inflammatory substance alpha-linolenic acid, while olive oil contains a substance with a similar effect called oleocanthal. These fats work in a similar way to ibuprofen or aspirin, but in much smaller doses. So, although they are no help if you have an acute headache, using these oils regularly can help those who suffer from inflammatory disease, regular headaches, or menstrual pain. Sometimes, pain levels can be reduced somewhat simply by taking care to eat more vegetable fat than animal fat.” [/su_quote]
That being said, make sure you select NON GMO, organic forms of vegetable fats. You don’t want the genetically modified genes interfering with your immune system. You’ll really negate 10 fold the benefits you would receive from such fats.
There’s so much to learn about oils, this is just a little bit of info to whet your palate!!!
Hopefully you’ve found some of this info helpful! If you have any questions, leave them below 🙂
Wishing You A Pain Free Day!
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