Polyunsaturated fats - Most are harmful, very harmful!

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In theory, polyunsaturated fats may be good for health. Some, like flaxseed oil, are even marketed as health products. In practice, most are harmful.

The problems, however, are seldom discussed by nutritionists, doctors and scientists. The majority simply accept, without questioning, that polyunsaturated fatty acids are healthy.

Trans fats

Particularly harmful is margarine, which is liquid vegetable oil that has been turned into a semi-solid grease.

Most margarine is made by a high-heat, high-pressure process called hydrogenation, which also involves the addition of toxic substances to act as catalysts in the chemical reaction. During this process, some of the fat molecules get twisted out of shape and these are called trans fats.

Some margarine, however, are made by a cooling process called fractionation. Such fractionated margarine do not contain trans fats, except that they usually come with chemical colouring and other harmful additives.

The dangers of trans fats had been highlighted by a small group of scientists, particularly Dr Mary Enig of the University of Maryland, since the 1970s. It is only now that more scientists are beginning to acknowledge these dangers.

Trans fats versus saturated fats In the past, scientists did not make a difference between saturated fats and trans fats, So they studied people who ate both types. When these people got sick, they blamed saturated fats. More recent research that studied saturated fats and trans fats separately reveal that: the problems previously blamed on saturated fats are, in fact, caused by trans fats. These includes heart disease, obesity, diabetes and various types of cancer. on their own, saturated fat do not cause these problems trans fats are many times more harmful than saturated fats.

Yet most doctors, nutritionists and health authorities continue to recommend that people take margarine instead of butter, simply because margarine consists of mainly polyunsaturated fats. The only change is that they now recommend soft margarine, which contain less trans fats - less harm, but still harmful!

Rancid oils

While there is now greater awareness about the dangers of trans fats, other dangers of polyunsatured fats continued to be largely ignored by the scientific community.

Another major problem has to do with the fact that polyunsaturated fats - unlike saturated fats - are highly unstable and they spoil easily when exposed to heat, light and air. By the time they reach you, most would have already turned rancid. And rancid oils are highly toxic.

A good example is flaxseed oil which is rich in Omega 3, an essential fatty acid, are even marketed as health foods. But flaxseed oil is so sensitive and unstable that, according to some surveys by consumer advocacy groups, most brands are rancid by the time they reach the shelves - of "health food" stores!

To avoid rancil oils, buy only vegetable oils that are:

• cold pressed
• stored in dark bottles
• kept away from heat
• preferably unrefined and organic as well.

Such oils are costly. And even if you can afford them, you need to use them with care. Never use them for high heat cooking, such as deep frying or Chinese-style stir frying, with a big fire.

This problem of polyunsaturated fats turning rancid is a very serious one. Yet it is never discussed by mainstream nutritionists and doctors who tell us that such fats are good for health.

Regular, mass-produced vegetable oils have turned rancid from the time they were produced, because they are extracted using high heat. Having gone bad, the oils are then deodorised and various chemicals are also added to remove the bad smell, give the oil a nice colour, prevent the formation of bubbles during cooking and so on. I ever cook with cold-pressed, unrefined corn oil and it forms so much bubbles that I cannot see my food.

Polyunaturated fats and heart disease Throughout the world, whenever the population switches from saturated fats to polyunsaturated fats, the rate of heart disease escalated. In America, heart disease was rare before 1900, affecting about 8 percent of the population. By 1950, heart disease caused 30 percent of all deaths in America. Today, it causes about 45 percent of all deaths. During the period, consumption butter, which is high in saturated fats, fell from over 18 lbs per person per year at the turn of the century, to about 10 lbs per person per year by 1950. Today it is even lower, yet the rate of heart disease continues to escalate. In the same period, Margarine consumption rose from about 2 lbs per person at the turn of the century to about 8 lbs per person. In India, a 1968 study found North Indians, who ate more meat and used mainly ghee (clarified butter) for cooking, had 17 times more saturated fats in their diets than South Indians, who were more vegetarians. However, North Indians had seven times less heart disease than South Indians. This was because, by the late 60s, South Indians had started the switch from coconut oil, which contains about 90 percent saturated fats, to margarine and other polyunsaturated vegetable oils. More recent studies show that North Indians are finally catching up with the South in heart disease rates – because North Indians have started to use less ghee and more margarine and vegetable oils. Trands such as these are completely ignored by those who advocate taking polyunsaturated fats.

Unnatural practice

So should we bother with the high cost and inconvenience of using polyunsaturated fats? I used to. I used to own an organic foods store that sold high quality organic cold-pressed vegetable oils from France, More recently, I got excited when I found relatively affordable organic sunflower oil at Carrefour supermarket.

But when I delved more deeply into the subject of fats and oils, I decided to stop using polyunsaturated fats for cooking altogether. Now, I only take them in the form naturally present in foods, not as an extracted oil for cooking.

Because I realised that, besides rancidity, there are other issues as well. Among other things, I realised that using polyunsaturated vegetable cooking oil is a relatively new practice, introduced only during the last century.

Before that, traditional societies never cooked with polyunsaturated fats. They used saturated fats like lard, butter, ghee as well as palm oil and coconut oil. In addition, traditional societies used monounsaturated fats like olive, sesame and peanut oil. In the past, no one cooked with corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower oil and other polyunsaturated fats.

I have great respect for traditional wisdom.

Omega 6 : Omega 3 ratio

Another major issue with vegetable cooking oils concerns the two essential fatty acids, Omega 3 and Omga 6. These are said to be "essential" because the body needs them, but does not produce them. So we must take them from food.

In recent years, there has been much talk about the value of Omega 3 and its role in protecting against heart disease. Omega 3 is even supposed to aid brain development and there is so much hype that I once even came across a children's kindergarten called Omega 3!

But why has Omega 3 suddenly become important?

One the one hand, people are not taking as much Omega 3 as they used to, because the modern diet does not have a lot of Omege 3.

This is due to modern agricultural practices, which reduces the amount of Omega 3 naturally found in certain foods. For example, eggs are naturally rich in Omega 3. But modern eggs have so little Omega 3 that some egg producers have developed special farming methods to increase the Omega 3 in eggs. Modern vegetable oils, too, have far lower levels of Omega 3 compared to those from long ago.

The major issue that is seldom discussed, however, is the ratio between Omega 6 and Omega 3. For good health, the ratio should be around 2:1. In the modern diet, however, the typical ratio is between 10:1 and 30:1.

In other words, the typical modern diet has far too much Omega 6. And where does the excess Omega 6 come from? Mainly from plyunsaturated fats in the form of vegetable cooking oils.

In modern diets, as much as 30 percent of total calories can come from polyunsaturated fats. This is way, way too much. According to Dr Mary Enig, a leading authority on fats and oils: "The best evidence indicates that our intake of polyunsaturates should not be much greater than 4 percent of the caloric total."

Dr Mary Enig adds: “Excess consumption of polyunsaturated oils has been shown to contribute to a large number of disease conditions including increased cancer and heart disease; immune system dysfunction; damage to the liver, reproductive organs and lungs; digestive disorders; depressed learning ability; impaired growth; and weight gain."

Click here to read Dr Mary Enig's excellent article about fats, including the dangers of polyunsaturated fats.