In this blog I would like to show you which fats our body needs and which can be harmful for it. It is also important to know how much fat our body really needs and whether it makes us fat or not.
Fat definitely plays a key role when it comes to our health.
I will not go into biochemical details or look at all fats and oils, as this would go into too detail. Rather, I want you to be able to easily and quickly decide which sources of fat are healthy and useful for you and what point in time.
Historical Background
It is highly unlikely that humans produced large quantities of fat or oil until they became sedentary. The nomadic lifestyle would not have made this possible, as nothing was cultivated and no livestock was kept. For about 1.5 to 2 million years, the fat sources of prehistoric man consisted of natural sources.
This means that the fat necessary for the body came from grasses, mushrooms, roots, leaves, herbs, berries, fruits, wild fish & meat.
It is therefore reasonable to ask the following question:
"Is it really healthy for the human body to consume manufactured fats and oils?”
How much meat prehistoric humans consumed is impossible to answer.
The lead author of a recent study, Andrew Barr of George Washington University, questions the more criticised thesis that Homo Sapiens evolved so strongly because of a high consumption of meat. So do other scientists. There is also the scientifically investigated thesis that prehistoric man was forced to learn to hunt and eat meat due to a lack of food. And it was only through the extremely complex group activity of hunting that language, the necessary communication for hunting, developed.
What is certain is that human health deteriorated considerably with the onset of sedentarisation about 15,000 years ago. Infant mortality, epidemics, chronic diseases and degenerations of the skeleton and dentition increased massively. Experts see this in connection with the loss of valuable wild and raw foods, the impoverishment of the diet and the rise of gluten-containing grains. Couldn't the increasing consumption of manufactured fats and oils also have played a role?
Why does our body need fat?
Without fat we would not survive.
We need it to build cell walls. Fat, or more precisely fatty acids, are involved in vitamin D production, important for healthy and strong bones. If we didn't eat fat, we wouldn't be able to use vitamins A, E and K. Fat is also important as a supportive and vital substance. It is also important as a support and cushioning function. And it supplies the body with energy and counteracts the loss of body heat.
Fatty acids also support muscle regeneration, hormone production, cell renewal and the immune system. In addition, they lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
It is mentioned everywhere that fats provide vital fatty acids that the body cannot produce itself. Of course, today it is assumed that the source of these fatty acids can also be manufactured fats. But this raises the question:
Where then did prehistoric man obtain this fat and where do mammals, first and foremost the great apes, obtain it?
As mentioned at the beginning, neither prehistoric man nor mammals in general consumed artificial or man-made fats!
What humans really need are the essential (vital) fatty acids.
What fat does a human need and in what quantities?
Saturated fatty acids: Are mostly of animal origin (plus coconut fat and palm oil) and promote the development of diseases. Our body can produce them itself. So it is not necessary to consume rather harmful fats (with the exception of coconut fat).
Monounsaturated fatty acids: Mainly come from plant sources. We do not need to consume them either, as our body can also produce them itself. In addition, they are already sufficiently contained in many foods and nutritions.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids: Are of animal- as well as plant origin. These essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid (omega 6) and omega 3 fatty acids (ALA, DHA and EPA) have to be ingested because our body cannot produce them at all or only insufficiently. However, this only applies to omega-3 fatty acids, as we already consume far too much omega-6 fatty acids in our diet nowadays.
Government recommendations for a sensible fat consumption range from 20% to a maximum of 30% of the daily food intake. However, too little attention is often paid to the quality of the fat. In my opinion, the recommended amount cannot be determined exactly. Long-term studies would have to be implemented with people who do not consume any manufactured fats. I personally believe that the recommended amounts are far too high. In fact, a great many people seem to exceed these 30% of daily fat consumption.
Known ingredients of food are quite easy to determine (since they are alive and natural). However, it is extremely complicated and often almost impossible to examine the exact health effect of individual ingredients. Nutrition is so versatile and complex in its compositions and modes of action. I am convinced that not all ingredients of food have been discovered yet. However, it is well known that healthy foods left in their natural state have an unrivalled health effect compared to processed foods and artificially produced food supplements.
Therefore, I would like to pose the question once again:
Why should we consume manufactured fats, when prehistoric man did not do so for about 2 million years?
Nature did not intend this, not even for mammals.
This fact means that it must have been possible to obtain enough fatty acids for the human body from natural fruit, berries, leaves, grasses, herbs, roots, mushrooms, wild meat and fish.
There are no vital foods that do not contain fatty acids because they simply could not exist without them.
By the way, the same circumstance also exists with proteins.
I dare say that it is not beneficial to our health to consume manufactured fats and that we generally consume massively too much fat.
The disadvantages of fat consumption outweigh the effects of the healthy ingredients. So far in my point of view, I do not think it has been conclusively proven that our bodies can actually absorb and use the healthy ingredients from manufactured fats. I do not recommend relinquishing manufactured fats completely, but drastically reducing them. Every now and then it is certainly good for us to enjoy such fatty nutritions with a clear conscience, for example, as part of a convivial feast.
Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids
These fatty acids are enormously important. Whole books could be written on the reasonable quantities and quality of these fatty acids. So I will not go into too much detail here.
Until about the time before the industrial revolution, the ratio in our food of omega 6 to omega 3 was about 3:1 and in this manner it is beneficial to our human health. Today the ratio is 15:1 to 20:1 and this change is causing major health problems. This shift is partially due to the strongly increasing environmental pollution of heavy metals, herbicides, pesticides, etc., the general change in our food (including feed for farm animals), way too artificial nutritions and the massive medication of farm animals, humans, etc.
Nowadays, we humans consume far too many manufactured vegetable fats and dairy products. Most of them contain omega-6 fatty acids which is why we usually consume too much of them. We should therefore not intentionally consume too much olive oil or other vegetable oils. Possible symptoms that can result from this imbalance and lack of omega 3 fatty acids are: High blood pressure, mood swings, dry skin, dry eyes and throat, hair loss as well as dandruff.
The following diseases may be related: Allergies, heart disease, rheumatism, depression, ADHD, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, etc.
It is therefore important to establish a favourable ratio of omega 6 to omega 3.
I will tell you below how you can achieve this.
Some problems that can be associated with the consumption of fats:
Fats and oils are no longer wholesome foods because they lose the natural structures of the original food during the various manufacturing processes. They thus behave completely differently in our body than when we eat an avocado, olives, flax or hemp seeds for example.
Fat causes the blood plasma to thicken very quickly. The blood flows more slowly and can absorb less oxygen. This weakens the performance of the muscles and the immune system. This circumstance is more distinct and longer lasting with animal fats.
Fats and oils increase the blood fat levels much too quickly, too strongly, and thus weaken the digestion. This attacks our heart, brain and other organs in their functions. The adrenal glands are therefore put on alert and they then release adrenaline to thin the blood. However, too much adrenaline in the body is also harmful.
Fat intake causes the liver to stop its cleansing work. This is fatal with today's exposure to toxic substances in our environment. The liver should be able to detoxify optimally so that we remain healthy. Fat prevents the thorough cleansing of the body.
Often the liver is already fatty and can practically no longer perform its function of detoxification. Detecting a fatty liver in its early stages is very rarely successfully discovered. However, many people suffer from the following symptoms, which may be caused by a fatty liver: Rings under the eyes, inflammations, energy lows, insomnia, weight gain, skin problems, hot flushes, migraines, eczema, acne, dizziness, premature ageing, etc. So it is certainly not a good decision to wait until the liver values are bad.
The combination of fat & carbohydrates is harmful for our body. For example, fruit with dairy products, all baked goods - whether sweet or salty, pizza, bread with butter and cheese, nuts and honey, chia seeds and maple syrup, cereal flakes with fruit, dairy products and honey, but also potatoes with fried fat such as French fries, etc., as well as even pure fruit after a rich, fatty meal. This can lead to insulin resistance relatively quickly. This means that the pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin and the cells can no longer absorb enough of the urgently needed glucose. Consequences of this can be hypoglycaemia, tiredness, unstable blood sugar levels, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes and overweight.
Fat and fruit consumed together (or with an existing fatty liver) can also lead to fructose intolerance. In this case, it is not the fruits that are the problem, but an excessively high fat level in the body.
Insulin resistance can be recognised by the following symptoms: Excessive feeling of thirst, tiredness, mood swings, blurred vision, digestive disorders, etc.
Unfortunately, experts warn us far too little about the consequences of insulin resistance.
Exceptions?
Of course, you can make an exception every now and then without having to worry immediately. You should celebrate a party when it occurs - I also like to enjoy that from time to time and then enjoy it to the full. Only - if you celebrate more than twice a week - then this does not count any longer as an exception! It makes much more sense to celebrate festivals with soothing fruits, vegetables, herbs and other healthy foods for a change.
But if you are suffering from symptoms, an illness or if you are on a cleansing cure, it would be better to do without any exceptions. By doing so, you massively support the healing process.
From which sources can I supply my body with the important fatty acids and at what time of day does this make sense?
A balanced vegan diet of fruit, vegetables, potatoes, salad, herbs, wild foods, seeds etc. contains enough of the fatty acids that are important for our body.
The following foods contain particularly high levels of omega 3 fatty acids and should be given special attention (whole foods only, i.e. not as oil): Flax seeds, Chia seeds (be careful, often contaminated with pesticides), Sacha Inchi seeds, Hemp seeds (peeled), seaweed vegetables, walnuts (soak overnight in lemon water because of mould contamination), olives.
Some of these foods contain only traces of fat, but this is precisely why our bodies can absorb and utilise them so well. There is no sensible reason to consume manufactured fats and oils for health reasons. Incidentally, this circumstance is also very similar when it comes to proteins.
The only exception are omega-3 fatty acids. For many people it makes sense to consume these, especially if they suffer from diseases as described in the section on ”omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids”. But please do not take them from animal sources, as they are contaminated with medicine, hormone residues and other harmful substances. Fish or krill oil is also unsuitable because it is contaminated with mercury and other pollutants. It is better to stick to products made from algae. By the way, seaweed does not release pollutants in our body, it even absorbs pollutants in our body, which are then excreted.
Fish used to be a very good source of omega-3 fatty acid. Nowadays, unfortunately, almost all fish are heavily polluted with mercury and other toxic substances or their stocks are endangered, as has been the case with salmon for some years now. Farmed fish are almost universally heavily contaminated with pesticides and antibiotics. There may be some farms that work extremely naturally and produce much less polluted fish. If you eat fish regularly, it would make sense to eat enough fresh coriander to remove the mercury from your body.
Wild trout (or reputable organically farmed) is still a good option, although it too is contaminated with toxic substances from the environment.
The important cleansing work of the liver should be maintained as long as possible in the morning. This means that the longer you abstain from fat (and also caffeine and alcohol) during the day, the greater the cleansing effect of the liver and thus your health benefits.
Remarks
Rapeseed oil is a great example of how an oil is considered healthy simply because of its ingredients.
I simply quote here Anthony William's statement on rapeseed oil: "Rapeseed oil does serious damage to the immune system, undermining the health of the gut and all organs. It feeds pathogenic germs and breaks down all the mucous membranes and other linings in the body, stomach, intestines, blood vessels in the heart, kidneys, bladder etc. and in women the pelvic organs. Rapeseed oil should be avoided altogether if possible." (A. William, Life-Changing Foods, 2016)
Industrially produced oils are often acid-forming and cause irritation in the digestive tract.
They have a pro-inflammatory effect because many different viruses and bacteria can feed on them. Furthermore, they weaken not only the liver but also the pancreas and thus increase the risk of insulin resistance, which prevents urgently needed carbohydrates from reaching the cells.
When heated, these oils transform into harmful trans fatty acids (also found a lot in fast foods, chips, popcorn, baked goods, etc.), which inhibit all bodily functions. This also applies to heating whole grains rich in germ oil, nuts and seeds.
In order to be able to absorb vitamins, we do not need to supply our body with manufactured fats.
The fatty acids needed for this are contained in sufficient quantities in our foods and are therefore already available in our bodies.
Coconut fat contains the beneficial antimicrobial myristic and lauric acids.
It is the only "healthy" fat that can be heated to high temperatures. It even enables human fat cells to burn fat. Nevertheless, it should be consumed in small quantities for the reasons mentioned above.
By the way, it is very easy to sauté onions, vegetables, mushrooms, etc. with a little water.
If you do not want to do without fat, you can add a little of the healthy fats or oils to the finished dish and thus not have the harmful effect of heating. You can also add some avocado pieces, crushed flax seeds, shelled hemp seeds etc. to the finished dish. This gives the dish more flavour and is even healthier.
Perhaps you are now wondering what you can eat and what will repair a fatty liver and chronic symptoms? This can be done relatively easily. I recommend the books by Dr. J. Mutter and Anthony William. You can also find a lot of helpful information in my blog or you contact me.
Outlook
I know that this is a lot of uncomfortable information, as it probably questions your current eating behaviour. I invite you to see this knowledge as a chance for a carefree life. It gives you the opportunity to take your health into your own hands, so that there is a very high probability that you will be able to lead a healthy, vital life in old age.
From this point of view, this information, which is not only easy to digest, can ultimately bring about joy and satisfaction in a positive way, and I would be very happy if this knowledge could give you new impulses, hope and the drive to tread new paths.
Stay healthy and see you soon!
The information for this blog derives from the publications of Dr. J. Mutter, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Thomas M. Campbell and Anthony William. It is in no way a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment. No promises of a cure are made with it.