11 Flares Filament.io 11 Flares ×

Healthy Fats | Boholistic Moms

I don’t know how you were raised, but if you were raised during the 80’s and/or the 90’s you may have been raised on a low-fat diet. Fats were bad. All of them. Butter was replaced with margarine. Lard was not even mentioned, much less used. Cheeses were artery cloggers and vegetables were all eaten plain.

This was my life from 1983 until around 2001.

I mention in my other post how confused I was about the need to avoid fats and to lessen my calories. Then eventually people began to say to avoid carbs too.  How could I possibly avoid fats, avoid carbs, and lessen my calories to keep my weight balanced?  It became apparent to me that something was awry.  These “food experts” didn’t really have their act together.  In fact, did they even know what we should eat to be healthy?

I found the answer out in 2013.  The answer was so simple that I’m amazed that I’d spent so long trying to figure out the solution to my food dilemma.

Eat real food.

I go into this in more detail here, but in this post I want to speak exclusively about healthy fats.  Eating healthy fats, because truly not all fats are bad.

You need healthy fats to produce cholesterol which is the mother of all hormones.  You absolutely need cholesterol in order to produce hormones in your body.  All of the highest fat REAL foods contain cholesterol.  These two are the dynamic duo of proper hormone production.  Without healthy fats and cholesterol, you cannot function the way that you were made to function.  Your hormones help to regulate your brain, your adrenals, your reproductive system, and more.

Cholesterol | Boholistic Mom

Without fat and cholesterol, you cannot produce hormones.  So much for the low-fat diet idea!!!

Healthy Fats, Healthy Body

Let’s explore what fats you should be eating to help your body to be the healthiest.  I’ll start with the fats that are the easiest to agree with and I’ll move on to fats that we’ve been told are bad.  I’ll explain why they are not bad and why you’ve been told that they are bad for you.  I hope this helps many of you to get your bodies back on track and your lives filled with the best of hormones!!!

 

Organic Olive Oil | Boholistic Mom

Tropical Traditions

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Many experts agree that Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a great choice in regards to healthy fats.  This is a monounsaturated fat and the great thing about olive oil is that it will not turn into belly fat in your system.  Most importantly though is that this oil is cold pressed and the oil is still in tact.

Suggested Uses: Adding to salads with balsamic vinegar, making your own salad dressings with fruits, garlic, or other delicious herbs

Foe: If you buy “light” olive oil, you are not saving calories but rather buying a denatured product that has been heated and damaged.  The effect is bad flavor and it is bad for your health.  Vegetable oils are also considered healthy oils, but are very processed oils.  They are not only not cold pressed, but involve massive amounts of heating and cleaning by chemicals to produce the “clean” seeming oil that we find in stores labeled canola and vegetable oil.

 

 

Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil | Boholistic Mom

Tropical Traditions

Raw Unrefined Coconut Oil (Virgin)

The current trendy healthy oil is Raw Unrefined Coconut Oil.  You can add this oil to your diet as a supplement to keep away hunger.  The raw oil has amazing properties that are helpful for skin and stomach alike.  Coconut oil is antifungal, antiviral, and even antibacterial.  This oil is like the all-in-one for oils!

Suggested Uses: Frying eggs, adding to dishes for a little boost, adding to coffee with raw cream, including in salads

Foe: Refined Coconut Oil (even if it says “organic”) is not the same as Unrefined Coconut Oil.  It has also been denatured and damaged by heat.  Buy it raw and organic, or skip it.

 

 

Grass-Fed Butter | Boholistic Mom

Tropical Traditions

Butter from Grass Fed Cows

Let’s face it, cows are supposed to eat grass not corn.  Today’s American cows are currently fed a diet of genetically modified corn.  Let’s rewind a few decades and look at the grass-fed cow.  The grass-fed cow produced superior butter.  This butter was the result of normally digested grass in a cow’s belly.  This butter was high in Vitamin A and Vitamin D.  This was a healthy beautifully delicious fat!  Butter began to be under attack in the 1930’s by Crisco and later by margarine.

Suggested Uses: Frying eggs, sautéing vegetables, pan frying chicken parts, adding into soups, etc.The Crisco Campaign | Boholistic Mom

Foe: Crisco and margarine are not real foods.  They are highly processed and adulterated fats that are unrecognizable by the human body.  While they may work in recipes, your body cannot put them to work and they have none of the vitamins and minerals that are contained in real grass-fed butter.

Lard

Since the creation of Crisco, lard has been villianized.  In fact, during the early advertising of Crisco, the marketing specifically targeted lard and butter, expressing how vulgar the use of lard was compared to the sophistication and digestibility of Crisco.  Lard has loads of Vitamin D.  What vitamins does Crisco contain?  Oh wait, none.

“[Procter & Gamble] launched an ad campaign that made people think about the horrible stories of adulterated lard. The ads touted how pure and wholesome Crisco was. The company packaged the product in white and claimed “the stomach welcomes Crisco.”” 1

Crisco Advertising | Boholistic Mom

Foe: Crisco, the non-digestible lard alternative.

Other Healthy Fats

Grass-Fed Beef Tallow – Beef fat

Grass-Fed Schmaltz – Chicken fat

Why do some say that saturated fats are bad?

You may have heard that saturated fats are bad.  You may have even heard that saturated fats lead to cholesterol and since cholesterol is bad, then saturated fat is bad.  However, this is not at all true.  Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, but merely found at the scene of heart attacks.  You wouldn’t blame a EMT for being at fault of an accident just because when you got to the accident the EMT always seemed to be there, would you?  The Weston A. Price Foundation explains how cholesterol is the source of aid, not the villain.

“Why does the liver send cholesterol to the site of the injury? Because the body cannot clear the infection, remove toxic elements or heal the wound without cholesterol and fats. Any healing involves the birth, growth and functioning of thousands of cells: immune cells, endothelial cells and many others. As these cells, to a considerable degree, are made out of cholesterol and fats, they cannot form and grow without a good supply of these substances. When the cells are damaged, they require cholesterol and fats to repair themselves. It is a scientific fact that any scar tissue in the body contains good amounts of cholesterol.” – Weston A. Price Foundation 5

All of the best foods contain tons of cholesterol.  Liver is one of the highest foods in Vitamin A, Vitamin D, saturated fat, AND cholesterol.  This is a super food and yet modern dietary guidelines would lead us to believe that this food should be left off the menu.  Consider for yourself what you believe to be true about food.  I believe 100% that real foods are really healthy and the modern alternatives are supported by the FDA simply to sell more food to a deceived public.  Care to heal your body by enjoying some real food and real fats with me?

Please include your questions at the bottom of my post!  I’d be happy to answer your questions about healthy fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol.

Sources

1 Coconut Oil Properties: http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/

2 The Rise and Fall of Crisco: http://www.motherlindas.com/crisco.htm

3 Oiling of America: http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/the-oiling-of-america/

4 Healthy Oils Carried by Tropical Traditions: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/

5 Cholesterol: Friend or Foe: http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/cholesterol-friend-or-foe/

 

Note: I have joined the Amazon affiliate program and am adding in links to the products that I like to use.  Use the links if you also love the products!  I do sell Young Living oils to support my blogging hobby, so if you are interested, please pop over to my post on Essential Oils.  Thank you!

11 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 8 Google+ 2 Pin It Share 1 Email -- Filament.io 11 Flares ×