Fats 101

Are you afraid of fats?

Have you always sought “low-fat” options because they are “healthier”?

It’s hard to ignore the popularity of the low-fat diet and it’s impact on our behaviour when making food choices - this ideology has been present in society since the 1960’s.

Only recently (the last 10 years) have we since more diverse systems appear and even the opposite end of the spectrum with a ketogenic diet (high fats).

Rather than get attached to a system, why not seek to understand “what are fats?” and then “how can they benefit my health?”.

Every cell in the body is made of fat, and that is including the brain. Nutrients need to enter cells by passing through the cell walls, which are made of fat.

Fats are an important part of the diet, but not all fats have the same effects on health.

Healthy fats are needed for brain function, hormone production and assist with lowering the insulin response from carbohydrates.

Overconsumption of unhealthy fats can contribute to chronic disease and weight gain.

Fat is also known to be calorie dense, for every gram of fat their is a value of 9 calories, making fat very easy to over consume.

Coconut Oil

Another food which takes on the title of “Superfood”, with the global coconut oil market standing at $2.7 billlion in 2018 - you could say we’ve gone mad for this product. From cooking to hair products, we just can’t get enough of this exotic 🥥

So where do we start with the universal food:

1. MEDIUM CHAIN FATTY ACIDS (MCFAs)

These unique fats include: Caprylic Acid, Lauric Acid and Capric Acid.

Most fats we consume take a long time to digest, however MCFAs found in coconut oil provide the perfect source of energy because they only have to through a three step process to be turned into fuel. •••
MCFAs are:

✅ Easier to digest

✅ Not readily stored as fat

✅ Antimicrobial and Anti-fungal

✅ Smaller in size allowing for easier cell permeability for immediate energy

✅ Processed by the liver, which means that they’re immediately converted to energy instead of being stored as fat

2. IMPROVES DIGESTIVE HEALTH

About 50% of the fatty acids in coconut oil are made up from Lauric Acid.

When Lauric Acid is digested, it forms a substance called monolaurin.

Both Lauric Acid and Monolaurin can kill harmful pathogens like bacteria, viruses and fungi.

An example of this: they have been shown to help kill the bacteria staphylococcus aureus (a very dangerous pathogen) and the yeast candida albicans, a common source of yeast infection in humans.

Their are many more benefits to consuming coconut oil, our suggestion is to maybe try cooking in this as a great way to add this superfood into your daily nutrition.

Dark Chocolate

Known to be one of the best antioxidants on the planet, dark chocolate (not the sugary milk chocolate crap) can improve your health.

When we say “dark chocolate” we are talking about chocolate with 70-90% cocoa solids.

So how can your health benefit from some daily dark chocolate?

May improve blood flow and lower blood pressure - how? - 🤓 - the flavanols in the dark chocolate can stimulate the endothelium, the lining of the arteries, to produce nitric oxide.

Dark chocolate improves several important risk factors for disease. It lowers the susceptibility of LDL to oxidative damage while increasing HDL (Good cholesterol) and improving insulin sensitivity.

In a study of 470 elderly men, cocoa was found to reduce the risk of death from heart disease by a whopping 50% over a 15 year period.

To summarise:

Having something that has health benefits and tastes amazing, this is pretty cool.

In small doses daily, your health will benefit from adding this food into your daily nutrition - at 20-25g per day, this would be a great start point.

Just a side note, dark chocolate is very calorie dense, so be aware not to go crazy and start consuming half a bar 😂 because although it’s healthy, you can still overeat and over consume healthy foods leading to unnecessary weight gain.

Enjoy the chocolate 🍫 gains 💪🏻