Avocado and oil [Archive]

sweetgoddess

10-14-2005, 06:11 PM

Here is a great post from Cassy! (askcassyfirst) that relates.

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Lots of talk here has centered on fats, and whether we include them in our diets or not. Anyway, I figured it might be interesting to throw in another thought on raw fats, relating to the actual constuents of the food itself. The science, for lack of a better word.

A preface, this is info I have been reading recently, and I do not claim to be a scientist. However, it does lend credence to the idea that raw fats are healthy, so please bear with me as I fumble with the best language to explain what it is that I am trying to say:)

First, we must recognise that high fat = cardiovascular disease is truly a myth. Interestingly, tHis myth has even been debunked by those folks who eat a high animal product diet, in its raw state. For instance those backing the mediteranean style diet, fish eating asians, and the Weston Price group who eat raw fermented dairy. THe thing is, the elevated cholesterol (the LDL type) that comes from certain high fat diets, is due to the TYPE of oils consumed, as well as the inflammatory response in the body, not the very fact that it is fat. PEople with coronary artery plaque, are in that position due to thier bodies own healthy repair mechanism. The body CREATES and sends LDL cholesterol out into the bloodstream as a means of repairing cellular oxidation, nicks and cuts etc in the artery walls. The body is doing what it knows best to heal. THerefore, reducing the oxidative and free radical damage, can be helpful to reducing cholesterol, and we can achieve this by eating the proper type of fats, rather than reducing fat consumption. And, remember, many cooked fats such as transfatty acids are naturally going to cause oxidative damage...Good EFAs in their raw state on the other hand don't cause such damage, and they help increase the HDL which is the type responsible for going out into the bloodstream and picking up the damaging type of cholesterol, and sending it out through the bile, to the digestive tract for elimination...

I love raw fats, and find that like Alissa, David Wolfe, and many others have written, fats are what tend to satiate me. WIthout them, I get panicy, and will overeat on sweet fruits, consume things like wheat which agravate my IBS, and overall feel anxious and depressed. Seeds especially give my body the EFAs it needs to balance mood, hormones, skin cleansing, etc. Yes, I have tried the 80-10-10 programs, but they didn't agree with me in the long haul. I seem to do best with significant amount of fat in my diet.

I thought it would be interesting to note, that raw fats, unlike thier cooked counterparts, as I understand it, contain natural LIPASE. Lipase is the digestive enzyme used by our bodies to break down fats into fatty acids...Previous cultures realized this, and it is why the mediteraneans who ate/eat raw olive oils, seed oils, nut oils, (and even the eskimos & japanese who eat sushi) had little problem digesting the huge amount of fats in their diets. The food in its raw unprocessed state has the helper enzymes in it to assure that the "weight" of digestion is taken off our pancreas and other enzyme producing organs. And, proper digestion of fats is what allows them to be of use to us, and what prevents the awful indigestion that follows a high fat meal that didn't quite break down properly.

Now, indeed, each of our bodies IS different. Some of us may have better bile flow, and therefore the bile salts are clearly better able to break up our dietary fat into smaller droplets allowing greater surface area for our own digestive lipase to go to work. HOwever, for someone who has compromised fat digestion, due to a removed gallbladder, or a constipated liver, raw fats could be easier to digest because of the very fact that they contain the working lipase. (Supplemental lipase could also be consumed.) Certainly the bile released by the gallbladder is the first step in fat digestion, yet, lipase is what breaks down the fats such that they can be absorbed, and utilized by our body. Without proper healthy fats, our body's cells are not formed soft and pliable. We need fats for hormone production, as well as the cholesterol made within us (not cholesterol from animal products, but the type made "in house".)

So, that is why I personally feel that I need fats in my diet. And, why I celebrate eating them regularly. Just my two cents."

Cassy:)
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