A Brief Explanation of Saturated Fat and What I Love About Coconut Oil

  I recently had a brief discussion with my sister in law regarding saturated fat. She asked me a question about it and I gave her a vague answer. I felt frustrated with myself for not giving her a better explanation. Problem is I don't have a great memory, and I tend to remember bits and pieces but not always details. In a way this gives me a greater opportunity to study more. ( I have read about saturated fats 3 times now). This isn't the case with everything I learn, but the topic of saturated fats involves short chains, medium chains, and long chains. In each of those chains there are multiple key saturated fatty acids and numbers of carbons. There are more carbons in the longer chains. It gets a little complicated. I am going to try to simplify this as much for my retaining benefit as for anyone else who's wanted to know the difference between types of fats. All fat is not created equal
 
  Lets just start by discussing fat. There was a time when all we looked at was calories which is how fat got it's bad rep. Fats contain more calories then any other type of food. An ounce of pure fat like say sunflower oil contains 240 calories. An ounce of pure protein or pure starch contains about 100 calories. Fat is the solution to insufficient energy, but obviously in our current day and age we have depended too much on fat based energy.

  One of the important roles of fat is in transporting the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fats are an important component of the cell membrane, and internal fatty tissues protect our internal organs from trauma and temperature change. fatty tissue even helps regulate body temperature. However in regards to energy storage when we store up too much fat we become obese and unhealthy. When we look at fat in regards to cell membrane component, or as a transport mechanism it is fat quality that becomes more important.
 
  To remain healthy we need short chain, medium chain, and long chain fatty acids. I'm not going to go into too much detail with these, but we need all of three lengths and we need both unsaturated and saturated fat.

  Saturated fat interacts the least with other molecules in the body and provides the most stable structure. Saturated fats stabilize cell membranes, and are not susceptible to damage because they are noninteractive. I hope this is making sense so far. Unsaturated fats are more interactive and more susceptible to damage, but also important in the body as they provide more flexibility to cell membranes. Because unsaturated fat is so delicate we have to take better care of foods containing it. Things that prevent oxidation are refrigeration, storage in airtight dark green or brown glass bottles, minimal opening, and the addition of antioxidants like vitamin E.

  Saturated fats are usually hard at room temperature. Think of butter, lard, coconut oil, animal fat. Unsaturated fats are recognized as liquids. Think of olive oil, vegetable, canola, sunflower oils. There are degrees of unsaturation however, and this is the important part. If there is one spot in the fatty acid where the hydrogen atom has been removed the unsaturated fatty acid is called monounsaturated fatty acid. If there are multiple spots where hydrogens have been removed the unsaturated fatty acid is called polyunsaturated fatty acid. All unsaturated fatty acids are either MUFAs or PUFAs. The more spots where hydrogen atoms have been removed the greater flexibility and also the greater susceptibility to damage of the fatty acid.

  The double bond spots on PFA where hydrogens have been removed act like "hot spots" on the fatty acid. They contain twice as much energy as any other spot on the molecule, and are quick to interact with other kinds of molecules (radicals). Light, heat, and oxygen cause the right kind of energy shift to trigger these hot spots. The PUFA becomes damaged and can no longer function as needed, and even becomes harmful. Think of this when storing olive oil, flax seed and other fragile oil. This is why certain oils are for cooking and certain are not. Even olive oil is fragile although it is a MUFA, so not quite as fragile as flaxseed, pumpkinseed, and hempseed oil which are PUFA. That means you should never cook with them. Got that - If an oil is PUFA it should not be heated as that damages the oil, making it's nutritional status of no value and making it carcinogenic. MUFA can be heated at a very low temperature so don't crank the heat on the stove when using olive oil. It will destroy the oil!

 Just one more thing about PUFA containing products. In the food industry to remedy the problem of shipping and storing these fragile oils they have adopted a shelf life extension process called hydrogenation. How this works is a canister of hydrogen gas is positioned below a vat of oil and the hydrogen gas is allowed to bubble up into the oil. Some of the oil will soak up the hydrogen and the UFA can be transformed into saturated ones. This produces a semi solid fat that is less likely to go rancid, like that spreadable hydrogenated margarine we have all used. This creates health risks of coarse. Hydrogenation lowers the quality of the oil by removing some of its delicate UFAs, it actually converts some of the UFA into a new form called trans fat that increases blood cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol, as well as the risk of Atherosclerosis. So avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated products. They are of no good use to us.

All SFA is not created equal. Short chain SFA offers benefits not in long chain fatty acids. Butyric acid, a short chain FA constitutes about 10% to 15% of of all the fat found in butter. It has been associated with a reduction in cancer risk and in some cases a reduction of tumor advancement. So use butter not margarine!

Okay, I hope I have adequately explained the FA's a bit. There is a lot more to this subject and if you want to know the details then read Staying Healthy With Nutrition, The complete guide to diet and nutritional medicine, by Elson M. Haas. That is my source for this discussion.

       For The Love of Coconut Oil

  Coconut oil is relatively new to my life. I read a multitude of articles expanding on it's greatness after initially being introduced at the beginning of the school year. I love this amazing stuff and I am going to tell you why.

  Coconut oil contains lauric acid, capric acid, and caprylic acid. The benefit of these are hair health, skin health, healthy cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, good digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, dental care, bone strength and cancer to name a few. It is antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, and antibacterial. Are you sold yet?

Hair health- helps in growth of hair and is effective in reducing the protein loss for damaged and undamaged hair. I use a small amount on the ends of my hair to make it shiny and soft. Don't overdo it or you may end up with greasy looking locks. Massaging coconut oil into the scalp will moisturize and rid your head of dandruff over time.

Skin care- great moisturizer for all skin types. Beneficial in getting rid of eczema and other skin problems like psoriasis. Also helps prevent premature aging due to it's antioxidant properties.

Heart disease- it contains 50% lauric acid which helps prevent various heart problems including high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Weight loss- contains short and medium chain FA that help in taking off excessive weight. It is easy to digest, and helps functioning of the thyroid. Increases metabolism which aids in weight loss.

Digestion- helps in improving the digestive system and prevents various stomach and digestion related problems including IBS. The fats in coconut oil have anti microbial properties which helps in dealing with yeast and parasite issues. Also helps in absorption of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

Immunity- strengthens the immune system as it contains antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid which have antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties I mentioned before.

Healing and Infections- because of these same properties it forms a protective barrier when applied to a wound or infection. It speeds up the healing process by repairing damaged tissue.

Dental Care- As calcium is an important part of healthy teeth, coconut oil facilitates the absorption of calcium by the body. It stops tooth decay. I have a mixture of 2 parts coconut oil to one part baking soda I use for cleaning my teeth. I add a drop of peppermint oil to the mixture and have a fantastic toothpaste.

Coconut oil has a high melting point making it ideal for cooking. When purchasing coconut oil look for virgin unrefined coconut oil so that it still contains all of it's fabulous health properties.

I have listed just a few of the awesome benefits of including coconut oil in your life. There are many more, and if you have a use for it that you would like to share, I would love to hear about it. Now go buy some coconut oil!