 Don’t believe the
spin: some fats are good for you, writes S.M.
King.
If you persist in the use of margarine, do drop me a line. I’ll
send you a stick of gratis butter in the hope that you’ll see sense. The fact
is: we need fats. Fats help nutrient absorption, nerve transmission, and maintenance
of cell membranes. If you had difficulty with any of the words in the last
sentence, you’re not eating enough good fat.
Thanks, in large part, to marketing efforts, fat has
acquired a terrible rep. The prissy, Pritikin 1980s promised us a slimmer
future if only we dodged fat in favour of rubbish imprinted with the word ‘Lite’.
In Australia, as in America,
we swallowed this nonsense whole. In France, of course, no one gave up beurre
blanc for manufactured diet foods. And now we vie for the title of World’s
Fattest Nation with the USA,
while Les Françaises are yet
to alter their modest waistbands.
There are, however, fat nasties. Artificial trans fats were manufactured
by men in white coats. Liquid oils were ‘hydrogenated’ to increase the shelf
life of food and enhance profits. This garbage is deodorised, bleached and born
of harsh solvents like hexane. Hexane, incidentally, is derived from crude oil
and doubles as a very handy industrial cleaner. Yum. Find a trace of it in your
margarine and many commercially packaged foods. Find it in your takeaway. Find
it in your cupboard. And then find a cardiologist.
Not all trans fats are created equal, however. In fact, some
were not created by scientists at all. Natural trans-fats in the diet appear to
decrease the risk of heart disease, and may actually help to protect against
it. Meat and dairy from grass-fed, free-range animals always have much higher
quantities of these beneficial fats than the stuff you can buy at the
supermarket. But the bottom line is that a small amount of animal fat in the
diet is good for you. And the great news for snobs? Wagyu is, more or less, a
health food.
Monounsaturated fats are thought to be ‘healthier’ as they
have a neutral effect on blood cholesterol. They lower total and LDL
cholesterol (the bad one) while increasing HDL cholesterol (the good one). You
find these fats in nuts including peanuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios,
avocado and olive oil.
Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL
cholesterol. Seafood, particularly salmon and trout, as well as corn, soy and
sunflower oils are all high in polyunsaturated fats. Omega 3 fatty acids belong
to this group, and currently wear the superhero cape of the fat world.
Omega 3 is injected into everything from bread and cereals
to milk. A sane nutritionist will tell you, however, that, it is better to have
a serve of sushi than subject your body to all the additives in processed
foods. A great rule of thumb: if your mouth can’t pronounce labelled chemical
ingredients, your stomach doesn’t want you to eat ‘em.
The answer to the fat debate is, in all likelihood, quite
simple. Keep it natural, moderate and varied. If Lean Cuisine is your thing,
it’s time to broaden your horizons. If you live on takeaway, it’s time to
narrow your arse and extend your lifespan.
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